May 14.  3:30 PM.  Day 2:  Walked 26.6km (16.5 miles) today.  Walked 48.3km (30 miles) total. 

Back on track!!  I woke up this morning at around 6:30 in Zubiri, which was about 5km short of yesterday´s goal.  My goal today was to make up that 5km and walk all the way to Cizur Menor, which is a few km past Pamplona.  Spoiler alert:  I made it! 

The morning started with a salami sandwich (I had extra from last night).  And then... hello... there was Pablo!  He had mailed his second pack home and was ready to walk.  And, as it soon became clear, he was ready to walk with me.  Fortunately, even with only one pack, he could not keep up.  I realize more and more that part of the appeal of this for me is being alone.  Even for the 1 or 2 km we were together this morning, all I wanted was to be alone. 

I started today in quite a bit of pain.  My right leg/hip was hurting enough that I was concerned I would not be able to continue.  However, I decided to just try to walk through it and, after about 2 or 3 km, it got quite a bit better.  I guess I just needed to warm up, because soon I was cooking again!  I had to keep reminding myself to slow down so as to avoid a repeat of yesterday afternoon. 

The walk this morning was absolutely beautiful.  Much of the walk was next to a river and it was really peaceful watching and listening to the water.  This area is near the mountains and reminds me a lot of Colorado.  Once again I found myself truly enjoying the walking.  It got warm enough this morning to take off my rain gear and that felt great too.  However, it was not long before it started to drizzle again and the rain gear went back on.

One thing I am grateful for is the excellent job I did of packing.  I am really well prepared.  Everything I read about the trip said that people inevitably pack too much.  I think I may have a few things I won´t need, but for the most part, I did a pretty good job.  The best thing I brought was a last minute purchase, and something I could not imagine that I would need -- walking poles.  However, I am REALLY glad I have them.  It has made a huge difference.

At about 11:00 this morning I arrived in Pamplona and walked right by the Albergue I stayed in two nights ago.  It was a great feeling!  Pamplona is a very vibrant city, but I really just walked right through.  I had this fantasy that I would stop and do the tourist things in the cities I walked through, but the truth is I get so tired I just want to keep going to get to my destination.  Plus, the thing I like doing most is walking, so taking the time to look at some church seems not to be a good use of time.

After walking through Pamplona, it was only a few more km to Cizur Menor, my destination for today.  After checking into the Albergue, I found a little cafe and had a nice lunch/dinner.  I ordered ¨carne¨and hoped for the best.  It was actually really good!  Then I asked for directions to an internet cafe and learned that the nearest one was 1 km away in the next town of Cizur Major.  Ouch!!  But I sucked it up and started walking (I have resolved not to take any buses or taxis at all until the walk is complete).  Once I got to Cizur Mayor, I could not find the internet cafe and, I swear to god, in the 15 minutes I wandered the streets I did not see one person.  Lots of houses and lots of cars whizzing by, but not a human being in sight -- except for one old lady standing in her doorway.  With not a lot of hope I said to her ¨no hablo espanol, pero donde esta internet?¨.  As I said ïnternet, I moved my fingers as if I was typing in the air, hoping she would understand what I was looking for.  She looked at me like I was from venus and said ¨piano?¨

I kept walking and came upon a hotel.  I walked in and asked at the front desk if they knew where an internet cafe was, and she pointed upstairs and said I could use their computer.  Very nice!!!  And that basically brings us up to date. 

One last thing... I am uploading pictures every day that I can to my Picassa account (http://picasaweb.google.com/zalesne).  I will create a new album for each day.  There is one there from yesterday called Camino Day 1.  I went to upload today´s pictures, but it looks like they somehow got deleted from my camera.  Bummer, but oh well.  Look for another batch tomorrow.

And, one last plea... If you are reading this blog, please take a minute and leave a comment.  If you have any questions, ask them and I will try to answer on my next entry.

Until tomorrow ...