1 May Torres del Rio to Logrono

My shared thought of the day given to me by my good friend Kyra,

"Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”
― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass



I departed at 0630 as the sun was trying to turn the night in to day. The early morning air made it a very enjoyable walk. I quickly separated myself from the group and soon was all alone on the trail with no one to be seen forward or behind. It was one of those days that you need sometimes to work on your AMPS. Mental , Physical and Spiritual Health. My legs felt strong and I pushed myself on to the village of Viana some 6.5 miles down the path. I made the distance in just over 2 hours, found a cafe and ordered eggs and coffee for breakfast. My new friends started showing up after about 30 to 40 minutes and when everyone had finished a snack or drink we started on to Logrono. The all most perfect walking day.

We are now in the La Rioja region, finally changing direction to the West in our search of Santiago. The fields and flowers seem just a little brighter and farther along in their gestation than three days ago. The air warmed and extra shirts, coats and rain pants were soon put in your back pack. This region is know for its great wines, the Napa valley of Spain. Logrono is a city of over 130,000 people and provides modern facilities. Today is May Day in Spain a national holiday so the streets are full of shoppers and walkers.

Tomorrow we will do our longest walk, some 30km to Najera. Not to be forgotten, I would like the the St Mary's team to discuss what they think Walt Whitman was saying with his thoughts.

The first photo is del Rio the last photo is the approach to Viana.

Happy May Day to everyone at home. I continue to put one step forward on the journey.