We went to bed last night with what I thought would be a decent nights sleep, there was no reason not to be. We showered, or should I say those that WANTED to shower showered...
There was no one really at the campsite, it was dark but clearly not the greatest. We spoke often how we should have gone and stayed at the church gite but we wouldn't have met this lovely French couple and I went to sleep feeling at total peace with where we ended up.
Then...
Through out the night all I could hear were mosquitos, I looked around and the kids seemed asleep while I literally was going crazy! I was very hot in my sleeping bag but didn't dare let any part of my body out of the bag. The kids looked bundled up so I thought we would be good.
Remember the natural spring I passed yesterday that was said to help cure eye problems under the guidance of Saint Faith? Remember how I thought I have no eye ailments so in no need of that...
well, I woke with my eye lids swollen not completely shut but atleast half way. I looked awful! Amazing how such puff can change your whole look, the top lids hurt slightly and I can only assume I got bitten on my eyelids. The French couple saw me and suggested that I was," just tired" at which I knew I was but let's be honest a tired on the Camino is way different then tired juggling home,school, life etc... And I knew my eyes were not a reflection of being tired. Then the kids woke and pretty instantly their faces showed massive amounts of red bumps. A good hundred atleast. It was pretty gross and scarey looking.
Today would just be a crappy day all the way around, I hate to use that word on the Camino, how can one have a crappy day walking through gorgeous scenery with those they love the most? But there was a pretty perfect storm of a situation and I think it best to admit this can happen as it is a huge undertaking walking with six people. That's six people that need to stop and go to the bathroom, this involves waiting, making sure there is toilet paper deciding if you should remove your pack etc....
My phone was not charged, my GPS watch was not charged and I had no cash on me as I emptied my wallet to pay the inflated camping fee last night. With that said I wouldn't have had much anyway even if not inflated... My planning when passing an ATM machine was not the best. This, not having cash, is very common on the Camino, it's difficult to predict when you'll pass a cash machine or know who won't take a card. Many pilgrims get caught in this situation, this was my first but a mistake that is easy to happen. This campground won't take a card, most have , maybe even all have. I do know some people tell you they don't but that is due to fees,many times you'll find they do when push comes to shove.
So no coffee, no cash for the full day as we would not pass an ATM all day unless we made it to Figac, a long day of walking! No phone, no watch to help me see what we have done.
Things were decent as the kids found hazelnuts and I let them collect them under a tree, but this can be pretty time consuming and we had to make our destination. Days of stopping and collecting hazelnuts and then fighting over the fairness of whose they are, who gets to crack them was festering in me like a blister. I even thought maybe I should just book a trip to pick hazelnuts and save our feet. I have caught myself as picking hazelnuts is the kids Camino, it clearly has proven important to them. Their days are spent picking blackberries, raspberries, apples, pairs, plums and some peaches! We ran into Enayet and Patricia which always brightens my mood and we proceeded to walk together and all was great. Reichen was ahead with Enayet, what great conversation to be had as he is so wise and insightful. I was behind with Patricia thrilled to have adult conversation with a women as we started to discuss parenthood and children. She said something about my kids not fighting at all and I guickly said you'd be amazed at what they can argue about out here. She thought things might be more tame in this setting but I offered up how amazed I was that they could talk for an hour about who gets what flavor yogurt. Or how a crumb can literally be argued over and cut into fifths. We were just getting our conversation started when Tristan yelled," my umbrella!!!!". He quickly tossed off off his pack, ran up the hill desperatly backtracking to find where he left it. These umbrellas are not just umbrellas, I splurged to get hands free umbrellas that have been worth their weight in gold. Tristan was in a panic, I was left to stand still in the hot sun wearing my pack looking over his and my walking partner was encouraged to walk on so I didn't hold her up. Then Tristan comes back without his umbrella, I was crushed and Bronwyn said," Reichen took your umbrella, he said not to tell you". I guess Reichen took it upon himself to teach Tristan a lesson for maybe forgetting it. Here Reichen was ahead of us and I just about lost it!!!! I prepared the kids that jokes involving safety, security, equipment or even pretending you were pushing someone off a cliff would not be tolerated on this trip and here Reichen did it while now infront in great conversation while I am cooking in the hot sun. It ends up Enayet suspected a problem and telephoned Patricia who shared what had happened. Reichen now was, I assume, panicking as he knew I would not tolerate this behavior. He was trying to teach Tristan a lesson and forgot about it ( not the first time) and I was furious. His discipline would be that for the remaining part of the day he would follow all of us, no taking the lead. I was really mad that his actions interrupted my conversation with Patricia, my one on one conversation. Needless to say this won't happen again.
Then we approached a small chapel that had a stamp for our pilgrims passport. This is always a hi light for the kids, we travel with a credential that gets stamped from destinations in the way. They, in the end, are art, treasured for life and proof in the end that we completed the pilgrimage. Tristan grabbed Aynsleigh 's accidentally and stamped it so Aynsleigh wanted to stamp one and asked if she could do Tristans. I wasn't really thinking through this request and said," yes" ( why not?)... Well...she stamped it and it didn't come out clearly, it was missing the smallest bit of the stamp. No one new to this would understand the beauty is still there if stamped upside down, in part, overlapping another... I try to convince them of this, I do have three caminos under my belt each with credentials, they are gorgeous! Well Tristan started crying right there at the alter! This added to my already stressful day had me with tears too.
We seemed to do better when we pulled out our pizzas that we had been carrying. We were going to experiment with cooking pizza with our emergency blankets. Not the greatest luck but they loved the pizza anyway!
Things did get better, but this was a hard day!!!!
We finally pulled into Figac to a wonderful campground right on the water at the entrance into town. The bar ( restaurant) was closed for a private party and I decided we all needed a GREAT dinner. We washed up walked the thirty minutes into the old town and had a very memorable evening of eating and talking and laughing. We skyped daddy and Loftin which always makes us happy and we strolled back to the campsite arm in arm singing songs in the dark back to our campsite, a nice 30 or forty minute stroll that we would be doing again tomorrow.
I have found food makes all things better!!!!!
No pictures of the walk as my phone had no charge...
We all agreed this campsite was so fabulous we were going to sleep in tomorrow morning. We didn't even study an agenda for the day, after today I really have zero desire to get anywhere fast.
Pics showing previous faces filled with nasty bug bites...
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