Day Nine

Yesterday evening and throughout the night i am no longer able to straighten out Baby, literally my leg will not straighten. I contemplated what to do and decided last night to take the bus from Najera to Belerado. This allowed me to skip the walk from Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada and from there to Belarado. I had to say goodbye to Rosa, Bernd, and what I called the Fab9 (4 best friends from Winnapego, father and daughter as well as 3 others from Australia) who traveled as a pack, literally inseparable. I left Donal and Hazel 2 days back..I think of them each day and hope they are finding great joy on this adventure shared by 2 best friends! I met Isabeta at the bus station- her feet are infected and she is no longer able to go on and was going to go ahead and try and rest one village ahead- my heart goes out to her!! After arriving, I dropped my pack at the Albergue to be taken to Burgos forcing me to trek past San Juan de Ortega and end in Burgos. The day was very long just at 30 miles but I kept thinking I could walk the stiffness out of me; mitigating Baby's temper tantrum. The good news it was beautiful for most of the day walking in the mountains of oak and pine before the endless trek through the city of Burgos. The blisters who are my companions are no longer quiet. I sat at a crossroads as I can no longer walk without my sticks, even to cross the room...I then met Petra a German woman working as an occupational therapist in Switzerland, who left 8 weeks ago from her home town and has logged more than 1000KMs. She has a fever and the start of blood poisoning from an infected blister, she is going to have to finish on a bicycle only after she spends a day or two recovering. I was awed by her spirit to continue (total side note: there are more than 30 hospitals dedicated to the Pilgrims here). I cannot decide what my now what looks like as not getting my Pilgrims Passport in Santiago seems inexcusable, therefore I will see how far Pete, Baby and I get tomorrow before determining if I must just simply proceed to Sarria (the place closest to Santiago to still get a passport) and complete the last 100KMs. I am sad that Baby is simply not having fun and walking for the absolute joy of it...my heart is heavy.