The Three Amigos!

 Hiking Day 24    May 2

Oviedo to Grado

Miles    17.7

Total Miles    332.9

Ascent    1153’

Descent    1700’

There are now three of us with the addition of our friend Bill…his first hiking day of the Camino. Previously, Scot and I were often asked if we were brothers and several times we would hear passerby's on the sidewalk refer to us in Spanish as “Dos Hormanos”—“two brothers”. Now perhaps we will be called the “Tres Amigos”—the three friends!

We head to the hotel lobby for our 7:30 breakfast only to learn that today is a national holiday, called “Worker’s Day”, our version of Labor Day, which means that most businesses are closed today and that our breakfast will be delayed for at least a half hour or more. We are able to get some coffee right away and then sit and wait for breakfast.

We eventually depart the hotel wearing full rain gear. Today could be a wet one. We backtrack a bit across Oviedo to the Oviedo Cathedral where the “official” Camino Primitivo begins. But Scot and I have already hiked two full days on the Primitivo…how does that work? We take a couple of photos and turn around and start hiking southwest towards Grado, our hiking destination for today.

All day we walk in the rain, sometimes just light mist, then light to medium rain; it never seems to completely stop and the skies are covered in low clouds. No distant views to enjoy today. The paths are a mix of quiet roads, paved paths, rocky trails, grassy tracks, and the usual mud.

After almost 18 miles we approach the small town of Grado., The rain almost stops as we march into town, a rather rundown and somewhat unappealing place. While it is our hiking destination, we are not staying here tonight. We are to meet a taxi at a local cafe at 4 pm for a ride to our night’s accommodation which is in the smaller village of Sama de Grado which is 11 km away. We hustled today but arrive only 10 minutes early, just enough time for each of us to drink a fast beer to celebrate our hike before the taxi driver appears.  

A VERY fast taxi ride and we arrive at an old restored house in the country which is now a Casa with several rooms. The owner couple welcome us warmly. There are only the 3 of us and one couple staying here tonight. The owner/wife serves us a great dinner at 8 pm and we exchange conservations of a mix of broken Spanish and English. What a great place to stay! 

Another long day tomorrow but the weather forecast improves for the next several days. And the serious climbing begins!!

On a sad note, I ate my very last Honey Bunchies bar today. I brought about 2 dozen of these with me on the trip and have enjoyed one each day at morning break. Now they are gone!. I do have a few remaining Kind Bars, but my energy bar supply will expire before the miles are completed. And there seems to be no sport bars or energy bars anywhere to be found in Spain. Two sport bars per day are mandatory on the Camino…