The Day: We stayed the day in Villafranca but not really by choice. Somewhere over the past two or three days we got into bed bugs. We have no idea how since we have been careful (we thought) and have sprayed our beds every night before using them. Betsy got bitten more than me but we both have multiple bites. So, we stayed in Villafranca to deal with it. The people at the albergue were wonderful and washed all of our clothes & sleeping bags in ammonia and they sprayed our backpacks & sealed them for 24 hours. The good news in all of this is that it rained all morning long so we avoided the challenge of walking in our rain gear. That is the first rain we have encountered and because of the bed bugs, we were able to dodge it.
The People: Most everyone we have met has moved on with the exception of Christian who had to take a day off for a sore tendon. We ran into him in the main plaza in Villafranca and sat at a cafe and shared a pitcher of sangria.
A special blog from Betsy: Hello everyone. God, once again is reminding us, maybe me, that he is in control. Having bed bug bites on the Camino feels a little like being a leper. We only have a few bites but it causes a systemic reaction so spots appear all over. My legs and arms were covered yesterday and I had a couple of spots on my face. It has been a very humbling experience for me. The one thing I was really worried about for this journey was getting bed bugs. Not being able to walk gave us some extra time, so we spent some of it in a beautiful church. I was catching up on some daily readings, and one from 9-4 was Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons. It helped me to accept these spots as sign of the inward cleansing that God has been doing on this journey. It also is a reminder that He still has a long way to go. It is hard to believe that we are less than 2 weeks away from Santiago. I miss you all but would not change a thing, except, maybe the flies. I do not understand why God created flies! We are praying for you all and the special requests that you have given us.