Heat Wave

Imagine, if you will, a 95-degree summer day in Sacramento. The heat is thick, sticky and oppressive. When you breathe, it feels like you're choking on hot tea. Ten minutes outdoors, and your skin burns hot enough to iron a t-shirt. Have the image in your head? Good. Now imagine calling up a friend and asking her/him if they'd like to take a 13-mile walk in this soul-draining heat. Preferably on a trail with no shade trees so that you can cook your body both inside and out. Your friend exclaims, "Of course!" and suggests bringing two 23-pound bags of potatoes to haul on your backs the entire way. She has a potluck to attend that night, and she's supposed to bring baked potatoes. You are thrilled at the idea, and ask her if she wouldn't mind also bringing a sack of dirt so that you can bathe in it to look as disgusting as possible for the walk. "No problem," she answers. It would be her pleasure.

What? This doesn't sound like a fun hike? It sounds miserable? Well, I couldn't agree more. This was our walk today from Serria to Portomarin. Hot. Boiling. Grimy. Skanky. Stinky. Exhausting. Scorching. Skin-blistering. Dehydrating. Brain-deadening. 95-degree walk.

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The hot-as-Hades walk from Serria to Portomarin. Don't let the beauty fool ya...


Sunrise over Serria.


Sunrise spotlight. Notice Lizzie's shadow making an appearance.





Camino love letters. Looks like someone other than me fell for the ol' Belgium charm.





Pizza on-the-go.


Coke is always so enterprising. Here a Camino themed soda machine.








Sauce, taste, toss! Our official Camino emblem makes an appearance - the artichoke. (See 'Sauce, Taste, Toss' blog if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)





This guy deserves two pictures as he posed for us for about twenty minutes. As if he'd been waiting for this moment his whole life.


Still life of pilgrim offerings.


This one's for you, dad!





Cutlery art.


Our 130 bed albergue.


Branded like pilgrim cattle.

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Location:Portomarin, Spain