Estella, Day 6

Estella. His Monday he spent climbing steeply to 450m after leaving Puente la Reina droping back to 400m then climbs again to 500m this time, and finally drops to about 430m entering Estella. This was 21.7k.  This day is much quieter than the last two now that they are away from Pamplona, most of today is along tracks through farmland and sometimes on the special pilgrims footpaths that is constructed from compacted earth. Estella has14,000 people and he will take his first off day and will get the SIM card. The stores were closed in Pamplona. His plan is walking five days, then a day off so after today he will have a new group for awhile to hike with. He has his first blister on top of right big toe. Every pilgrim gets these for the most part and can really cause pain as you're walking such long distances each day. From the diagram below, you can tell Joel is getting his exercising.  He mentioned yesterday when he called he could tell he is already loosing weight. Has gone down a belt buckle. I'm sure he was glad he hiked up El Faro twice a day and then up all the stairs while in Mazatlán this past winter. 
Tuesday pm
"What a great night. Tonight, I first had a couple from Hungary insist I have shot of their national whisky. Then I had a Pilgrims dinner with an English woman whose parents escaped from Vietnam in 1975, an American woman from North Carolina, age 63, a  Korean man, age 23, and an Italian man from Milan. What a great conversation. The Vietnamese woman had the most interesting story. She was a professional woman who reminded me of  daughter Joanne. 10 days before she started the Camino she had not heard of it. She heard of it from a friend and felt a call. She had no religious or spiritual background. She says, now every village she enters the Church and breaks down weeping in a joyous way. A very bright woman, a physical therapist. Another was an Italian man who is full of himself, but t hat story will go untold.  Every day there is another story from another person. I think I have met more interesting people in a week than I could of in a lifetime in church."
Wednesday's
"Another awesome day. In the morning I walked a lot in the rain. I enjoyed it. A little after eleven I hit the wine fountain.

At the fountain a couple shared a glass of wine with me. I ended walking over 32K , about 20 miles because people needed to talk. I felt strong all day with no pain. God continues to bless those around me and sending blessings to me."  For some of you reading this, you may not know, but Joel is an ordained minister. It's been several years since he "minister ed" in a church. This doesn't mean he isn't showing his love and belief in God, it's just shown in very practical way. It's called love in action. Each conversation Joel & I have,  every email I receive, he is sharing with me how he is seeing God at work.  As most of you know, Joel has had a very life changing experience over the years.