I am now in a lovely albergue in Ages. We went an addtional 3.5K beyond the recommended stop becuase we were told that this one would be better. It certainly is. Unfortunatley , many others did not know how nice this albergue is and so htey stayed at other places. The positive side is that although this albergue sleeps apprx. 60 people, there are only 8 of us here. Translation: no waiting for the shower or a space on the clothesline to dry one´s clothes. Leaving this morning at 6:40 we were able to cover the 28k in about 7 hours, althopugh it was quite hot and a good deal of climbing. Tomorrow we head to Burgos where I plan to spend an extra day for a rest day. There is a beautiful cathedral as well as the monestary of monks who have recorded a number of Gregorian Chanat albums. I hope to attend one of their services. Following my rest day I willhead out over the dreaded Maseta. All pilgsrims talk about this stretch of the Camino. It is 18 K across a very hot area where there are no towns and no place to stop, rest, and no shade. Basically, a mini desert. The plan is to leave very early in the morning in order to try to cover as much ground as possible before it becomes too hot. Because it is flat, if I move at a steady pace, I should be able to make the trek in about 5 or 6 hours. A listle bit more about the Camino community: Language lessons aboud. All aroundone can hear people teaching each other words of thier native tongue, or teaching those who do not speak Spanish some of the necesssary words and phrases. For those who do not speak the Spanish language, others are mor ehtan willing to serve as translators. That role is also necessary in mixed groups where someone does not know the language being spoken. I cannot begin to describe for you the expereince of being on the Camino. I wish more folk from the United States c/would take the opportunity to follow this amazing path. Most everyone on the Caminos talks about being here for reasons fo discovery; dicosveries about themselves, aboust what they are to do next with theri life, etc. There are some who are here for other reasons: to recover from a broken relationship, to pust their life back together after substance abuse, to meet a mate, to lose weight (I think I could come up with some better ways of losing weight!). I invite any who are reading this to consider is sGod is callig you into a time discovery who you are in the eyes of God, discovering your own physical, spiritual or emotional limits, discovering what it is like to be fully reliant on God. Or, just to know what it is like to explore and experience the incredble majesty of God revealed on the open road. There is a freedom that cannot be describedand in the midst one can discover the song that God has placed within each heart. The song that has been accompanying me the past couple of days is "By Your Side" from Godspell. If you don´t klnow the play or movie, it is the song one of the disciples sings when the Jesus character is preparing to leave them, it is her request to go with him to the place he is going and to endure the hardship of walking with a pebble in her shoe until she can join him. May God bless you on whatever path you are following, and may your camino be filled with unexpected revelations of God.