Losing Lisa

Sunday, May 20, 2012

9:25 AM Arizona, 5:20 PM Spain

Yesterday, May 19, 2012, we left ---- and headed down the Camino path yet again.  This was another rough trail of dirt, rocks, twists and turns along with lots of climbing.  I keep looking behind me to make sure Lisa is doing O.K.  I reach a top and can no longer see Lisa, but in the past she has shown up so I continue on to the town of Cirauqui.  While waiting I purchase an apple and some Pan.  I walk up a road, which overlooks the Camino path where I see peregrinosstretched out but no Lisa.  After walking around a bit I ask others that we talked with the night before, if they have seen Lisa and they report not seeing her.  I ride back down the Camino looking for my friend but she is nowhere to be found. My choice is to go on or turn back to where we started.  I’m thinking she has either turned back or has chosen to get off the trail and use the road.  So I switch to the road in hopes of running into her.  I get about five minutes down the road and the sky’s open up with loud thunder and a deluge of rain. 

I’m looking for a place to get out of this down pour and spy a gas station.  It is cold, wet, and rather uncomfortable however I’m out of the rain and still scanning the road for Lisa.  After about ten minutes the rain lets up so it is time to move on.  I keep hoping to see Lisa either ahead of me or behind me but no luck.  Upon reaching Estella the sun is out and a nice park presents itself for lunch.  During the ride my camera tells me that its memory is full so it refuses to take anymore pictures.  Sitting in the park offers an opportunity to load the pictures on to my computer.  However, the weather quickly changes as storm clouds begin to roll in again along with more thunder.  By the time I get my gear packed safely away it is pouring again.  It is time to hang out in the bus station while waiting for the storm to pass.  I keep hoping to hear Lisa calling my name as I ride on.  I reach a town outside of Estella called Ayegui when it starts to pour yet again.  I am cold, wet, tired and standing under an overhang looking at Hotel Irache across the street and it looks really looks good.

After spending time watching several pilgrims entering the establishment it is time to follow.  Three Frenchmen have just checked in and now it is my turn.  The clerk tells me 50 euro which causes me to cringe.  Shades of times gone by when I’ve spent more than that to get warm and dry along with a decent meal.  “Bike” I ask and the clerk points to a room where my bike will spend the night.  Despondently I agree to the price then he tries to sell me a dinner for 22 euro.  “No thank you!”  Pay tomorrow I’m told and given the key to my room.  After wheeling my bike in and unloading the two panniers that hold my clothes one of the Frenchmen approaches me.  He indicates that we have been charged too much and we all go back to the desk.  I haggle with the clerk and he agrees to 30 euro for the night.  Opening the door to my room gives me quite a shock as this is more like a suit then a room.  I’m in to a hot shower before the door closes.  Then I check Facebook and SKPYE to see if there is a message from Lisa but find none.

 After dinner it is time to check the internet to see if there is any word from Lisa as I am quite worried about her and mad at myself for not waiting for her to catch up.  After a while, there is a message that she is safe and somewhere in the same town, I am.  I leave a message on FB that I will be using the road tomorrow so we can get back together then I’m off to bed.  It has rained most of the day and the forecast for tomorrow is not much different.  But I hope to find Lisa so we can continue our journey together.  There is a fountain in town that I had wanted to see from which one-half of it you can get water, from the other half wine.  The wine half gets a new barrel daily from a local vineyard, but I have lost interest at this point.  All I want to do is fine Lisa!

May 20, 2012

After breakfast it is time to hit the road.  During breakfast I watched out the window as the Camino passes by the hotel.  I have also been checking the internet but have not seen or heard from her.  The country side is beautiful however it is still full of major ups with very few downs.  It seems I spend more time walking then riding.  I have given up hope of seeing Lisa anytime soon.  So I ride the highway which runs parallel to the Camion path.  The highway goes through the same small towns that the Camino does.  I cross paths with other pilgrim’s when the road meets the Camino.  At times they are familiar faces from previous Albergues, or stops along the road.  We wave in passing like old friends passing during a walk through town.  This seems to be wine country as there are vineyards every ware.  As you pass them some vineyards have marked the rows of grapes with the name of wine they will produce.  There seem to be more bike riders on the road today and all of them pass me.  Repeatedly I look around for Lisa, but there is no sigh of her.

The rain stops and starts sometimes heavy or just a few drips.  The road dry’s then turns wet again which always makes me nervous.  I keep waiting for the tire’s to slip out from under me.  I reach Logrono and wander the city for a bit, stop and listen to a band playing in the middle of town, then ride on following the Camino out into the countryside.  It is a paved route which meanders through some farm fields before beginning its climb yet again.  I seemed to be riding more of the “ups” that walking which at times surprises me.  But there are times when yet another “up” is too much and it is time to walk.  I reflect on the movie “The Way” and how easy Martin Sheen made the walk seem.  The movie shows no struggling as I have seen pilgrims do, no blistered feet which make we wince when I see them.  The movie seems like a set up for those who watch then head out without checking the reality.  I think back to Natasha, from our train ride to St Jean who had seen the move three weeks before and decided to make the walk, wondering how she is doing.

I wonder if Lisa has turned in her bike, sent her stuff ahead as she has been saying, and now is walking the Camino injuring her feet even more.  Upon reaching Navarrete my odometer shows that there are now 56 less Km to travel.  The Albergue De Peregrinos is in the middle of town and only 7 euro; however, I have to sequester my bike at the bar on the corner for another two.  There is another bar up the street which has all this wonderful looking food on display.  The mushrooms with garlic are to die for.  I am staved and eat much more the needed.  I am told the Peregrino dinner, or Meal of the Day, is at 7 PM and cost nine euros.  The fellow who runs the Albergue assures me I will not be disappointed in the meal; I was not.  While I am waiting for 7 PM to roll around I am sitting in the common room with several young people having a grand time.  There are two young women from New York City, along with a signing Frenchman, and drumming Spaniard, plus numerous others.  The girls are quite annoying and certainly give good reason for calling American obnoxious.  The man running the Albergue comes up with a bowl of batter and begins to make crapes for everyone.  They are wonderful and I indulge in several before heading over to get dinner.  I have eaten far too much today.  Tomorrow I have to get my bike from the bar no later the 7 AM, and be out of the Albergue by 8 AM then it appears there are more hills to be conquered before hitting the plains of Spain.  By the way the rains in Spain do not fall mainly on the plains

BuenCamino!