i can hardly believe it but today was my last day walking the meseta.  tomorrow i start with gently rolling hills, heading towards the mountains.  the day after tomorrow i will reach the highest point of the camino.  i walked about 28 kilometers (or clicks, as the cockneys would say) and reached hospital del orbigo in the late afternoon.  i chose the less traveled, original camino route, and was rewarded with long stretches of seeing nothing but the beautiful meseta, though now ringed by snow-capped mountains, and hearing only the crickets, birds, the gentle wind, and frogs in the nearby stream.  the frogs here don´t make a ´ribbit´ sound at all.  in fact the first time i heard it i looked around to find what strange bird was making the sound!  but i tracked it lower and lower until i realized it wasn´t a bird at all, but a beautiful green and brown frog.  anyway, now i recognize the sound and am often pleased to be able to find the frogs perched on the bank of the stream looking at me looking at them.   throw in a big handful of beautiful butterflies, and that is pretty much how my morning went!

i found the meseta to be wonderfully peaceful and serene, and i think that my fellow pilgrims and i have been doubly blessed by having the perfect weather to walk it in (sorry, time is running out, but i know that sentence needs work!).  each day has been sunny with big puffy clouds offering shelter from what could have been - and in the summer surely is - unrelenting sun.  today, along with the mountains making their appearance in the distance came a refreshing breeze.  there is definitely snow in those mountains.  how recent is is i do not know, but it may get c-o-o-o-ld!  don´t worry, i have plenty to keep me warm, and also, i think there are lots of villages every 5 km or so, in case i need hot tea. 

sending lots of love and gratitude your way - we don´t have that much further to go!
peace and blessings-
annie