9th Day/ Navarrete - Najera

we got a late start today beginning @ 11:30 am with dark skies threatening to rain but ended with cloudy skies and breeze so wonderful making it a joy to walk. with only 14 km to walk it was a short day which allowed us to leave later. the landscape was incredible with trees patching the undulating hillsides sharing the land with wheat fields and grape orchards. the birds were singing along with the crickets. we had a great soft moist dirt path part of which was a constrution road with a lot of traffic noise. it was a challenge trying to pee with pilgrims so near and construction workers so close. we´d pick a spot, drop our packs, laugh, pee, grab our packs, put them on and laugh some more as we tried to stay ahead of the pack and keep our place. we laugh a lot. we came upon cairn city...people stack rocks and there were hundreds of them. at 2:20 pm nicole noticed a sign which read Potatas Fritas Aperitivos (french fries and appetizers) we were wanting those french fries! oh no, could the path take us there, no. no potatas fritas for us. coming into najerra nicole discovered a chinese restaurant on the other side of the street; we ran to a crosswalk with out trekking poles tap-tapping away and of course laughing. yes, they were serving dinner now and we didn´t have to wait until the usual 7-8pm when we were ready to go to bed. a chinese restaurant where the chinese family lived in spain and spoke spanish, with irish music playing. again, we laughed but had a wonderful unexpected meal. our clothes are washed and hung outside to dry, we´ve made our phone calls and now i need to turn over the computer to someone else. i think we´ll take a walk around this lovely little village. until tomorrow - LIFE IS GOOD - please anyone send me some mail or thoughts for me to think about. thank you carla i got your e-mail and will write my letters as if you all were on the camino with me. ILY Marc. Have a wonderful day and sweet dreams tonight. tomorrow we will walk from najerra to santo domingo de la calzada 20.7 km. much love - AriZona