Oh my goodness, what a day!!!! But let’s start at the beginning…

We woke up at 5:30, and tried to leave our room as quietly as possible… in the dark, without disturbing the remaining 2 women… I think we were successful as I could hear snoring at we departed!  I must say it’s quite a feat to get your sleeping bag, unpacked back pack, toiletries, and electronic adapters and plugs out the door without lights or sounds( well we try to keep these to a minimum), but we made it out to the lounge area where Dan and I did our daily foot care, and we all finished packing up for the day… We managed to make it out of the Albergue by 6:05… Not bad all things considered…. Now what is the direction to Leon???

NB… Dan’s stork pose…. Poser is more like it!!!  Now only 6 km to go before breakfast at Molinas de… Our walk started out fine from Reliegos, my feet weren’t too bad, so Lisa and I started out at quite a clip (apparently)…Judith stayed behind with Dan for a short while and then steeped ahead to enjoy daybreak with some solitude…

As we entered Molinas, I fell back a bit and Dan caught up… He mentioned that he would prefer to take his own pace (starting to get a bit of tendinitis) and that I could give him the guide book and the name of our hotel, and he would meet me there… I said no, that my pace was slowing distinctly and that we could travel together… And then we enter the village (7:30), and Dan says that he is going to stop at the bank machine… I called back that we would meet him at the cafe… I met Lisa and Judith, who had just popped their heads into scoffer bar and they said it was a little industrial (Dan heard this comment), but when two other women from the village approached us, and we asked if there were any other coffee places, they pointed to this one!

In we went (assuming Dan would be right behind us), and I ordered a Cafe con Leche for Dan and I, and two pastries ( which were made there, and were divine!!!). When the coffee was ready, I took it to the table and briefly sat and waited… Then I got up and looked for Dan for the second time, and even ran down the street to see if he went to another cafe… No sign of him!  I went back and ate my breakfast, and then Jufith had a look… I looked once again, and then we decided to split Dan’s breakfast and head out to search some more!(8:10)… I walked to the edge of town and up on the bridge… No sign of him in the distance and no sign of him in town… Judith did not feel comfortable leaving as the last time we saw Dan, he was heading for a bank machine….so, we headed back into the village, the 3 of us splitting up and going along the Camino route an other parallel ones, checking out every cafe/bar and bank that was open… No Dan!!! Then, Judith took out her phone and pulled up a photo of Dan taken yesterday and began showing it to the street cleaner, the market owner, and anyone else that may have been there…

At 8:30, I called an audible, and said that he most likely had moved on, when he didn’t see us, and that he was probably a good distance ahead by now!  I sent him an email with the name of our hotel for the night, as well as numerous emails along route to let him know our progress in the event he stopped into a bar with wifi! Now enter our fleet footed Lisa who we sent ahead at a strong pace to see if she could catch up with him…. 8 km later we met up with Lisa ( who, judging by her timing, must have been a good 1.5 km ahead of us before she stopped at the village to wait for Judith and I to catch up… Her disappointment was palpable!!! As was ours… But on we walked, thinking that at every rest stop or village, we’d see Dan sitting enjoying a rest…

I must say, having Judith and Lisa with me was a real blessing!  And, I truly felt the love and support of very dear and caring friends… Whether we talked through alternative search approaches, or what we were going to do to Dan once we caught up to him ( or was he still behind us, having been dumped in some field after being mugged!!!) I felt a true bond with these two very dear women!!!  Lisa even kept me focused on the beauty of the here and now!

  

Sorry, but as long as I can see poppies, there must be at least something right with the world!!!

On we went, until we decided to stop for a quick lunch break outside of Leon…at this point, I was worried that maybe Dan couldn’t get his email to work, so I decided to take a photo of Lisa ( with a very angry face!!!) and post this on Facebook in case he could communicate that way! ( I tagged her as Dan)

On we went into the city… The endless winding of modern city streets and bridges…

  

Until finally, we hit the “Old City”

By this time, Lisa had checked herself into a lovely new Albergue at the edge of the old town, and was able to drop her pack…as we got a few blocks into the old city we ran into Brandan (from the breakfast photo yesterday)… Judith asked him if he had seen Dan, and he told us that he walked out of Molinas with him this morning… Dan told him that he had lost us, and was going to forge ahead, and if Brandan caught up to us, to let us know he was coming along… Another Camino angel… As our options were getting lower, we bump into someone that actually saw Dan safety leaving Molinas!!!

Now we were focused on getting to the square in front of the cathedral … As a general gathering spot, we felt that Dan would probably wait there for us…. As we got to the square, who should we run into, but Sandra!!!! Omg, what a day!

She told us that Dan had just left here to check into the hotel… That he had a pile of emails from us, but didn’t know where we were ( of course, a simple reply to anyone of them would have let us know where he was, and better yet, that he was ok!!!)! Well, time to sit down and take a wee break, and hear the hilarious adventures of Sandra!!!

As it turned out, Sandra was staying at the same convent Albergue that Judith wanted to go to, so we all headed in the direction of Dan and my hotel, and Judith and Sandra went on while Lisa and I saw that Dan was safe and sound with our own eyes!!!

After an hour in the bathroom soaking my feet, having a cool bath, then a warm shower, I felt almost human again.  Time for a little blogging, then a nap, then the final preening before gong out… Ah yes, what you can do with a Barbie doll brush and a hair dryer that actually works!!! I try to make the most out of the situation, then down we go to meet Judith, Lisa and Sandra for dinner…

Judith and Lisa arrive ( Judith with a delicious ice cream cone … A true believer in eating dessert first!)…

 We sit in the square for a few minutes and who do we spy but Catherine and Laura ( and Irish mom and daughter team slogging 38-40 lb packs on 37-40 k days!!! It was Laura’s 26th birthday today, so the international choir sang happy birthday to her!!!

It was 7:40, and still no Sandra so off we went to the next square to find some supper … We no sooner ordered and Sandra appeared on the square and joined us for conversation… Once dinner was done we walked down to the convent where Judith and Sandra were staying and attending a lovely pilgrim blessing… Beautiful reading and songs… Just lovely!

A quick walk with Lisa back to her Albergue and Dan and I headed to our hotel for a much needed rest!  Goodnight all… Will chat tomorrow!