Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo (Camino de Santiago)

May 31, 2012 It was another lengthy day of walking and the temperatures were brutal (over 100 degrees by mid afternoon). Our small group split up with one of us wanting to spend more time visiting the sites rather than the daily grind of walking every day and missing so much along the way. I don’t blame them but I feel like in order to finish the 500 miles I just have to keep on schedule. Even though we had started walking at 5:30am it didn’t take too long for it to get hot. It was four miles to Ponferrada but took over an hour to get through the town of 62,000 people. Exiting the outskirts we entered the countryside following mostly paved roads as we powered through the 19 miles to Villafranca. The day was fairly mundane with mile after mile covered with the usual couple of coffee or soft drink stops. At one point I had to get out of the beating sun and sat under a tree in a small park and took a nice long break. My ankle bothered me today and Mike had stomach issues but other than the blisters and a short case of shin splints our bodies are holding up quite well. Journal: “Beck flies out tomorrow from Seattle to New York, then on to Madrid and then a short flight to Santiago. I hope all her connections work out, the hotel in Santiago is available and the driver gets her the 100 kilometers to Sarria on the date we have agreed to meet. After the miserable time I had getting to Bayonne, France I only hope all goes smoothly for her.”