Depart Time: 7:45. Temp: 44F RH: 95%
Walked: 5.9 mi. Camino 2024: 154 mi.
Linda still had her doubts, but when she woke up at 7:00, she said “lets don’t talk about it, just get going”. And so we did.
At the 5 mile mark we walked into El Rancho Ranero.
All the other places to stop on nearby streets were taking Wednesday off, except this one small Grocery store. The owner had coffee and croissants and a restroom and chairs, a bench and few tables… meeting all our needs!
To reward her good business sense and her loyalty to pilgrims, we encourage you to stop here on your next Camino!
Linda made the five miles to El Burgo Ranero by literally putting one foot in front of the other and felt good about her progress and this morning’s accomplishment.
We have made a habit the last two Caminos to skip the next 13kms to Reliegos via taxi. A Tesla taxi, we might add.
Today, we decided to terminate our walk for today, reward our recovery process and opt for a 19kms ride in the same Tesla taxi to Mansilla de las Mulas, our destination for the night.
The taxi dropped us off at the Mansilla bus station, where we checked the bus schedule to Leon for tomorrow.
Since 2022, we have skipped the walk along and on a busy highway to Villarente, then through the highly industrial environment along the rest of the Camino into Leon. After doing the walk on two of our first three Caminos, we decided it took away from our otherwise positive experience with Leon.
After leaving the bus station, we walked to a nearby bar/albergue for a late breakfast and to wait until checkin at 1:00.
On the way to breakfast, we stopped at Iglesia de Santa María.
We hung out at the Bar/Albergue Jardin del Camino, having a late breakfast and waiting in the comfortable dining area until our host texted us that our room was ready at 12:35, earlier than the normal checkin.
We stayed at La Casa de Mansilla last year and decided it deserved a repeat. It’s an apartment mostly frequented by tourists and not pilgrims.
It fits our needs perfectly for Camino 2024 because we can continue our recovery process by preparing our own meals and have the space to rest and relax conducive to our needs.
For example we prepared chicken noodle soup for our main meal, something not readily offered in the local eateries and our eating times are not restricted to eatery schedules. We purchased meal fixings in a nearby grocery story when we arrived and prepared them in our kitchen.
Today has been another good day with getting back on our feet again and living in a nice environment that supports our continued recovery.
Jimandi 