We said good bye to another wonderful host!
Today as we walked, We had a fun exchange with God. You see, God talks to us all everyday through others, through experiences, our own inner voice. For me, God's voice is the he voice that has a witty comeback or cautionary advice,that I don't always heed.
So today went like this:
Tami, our host says "Do you need anything? Breakfast? Do you want to take something?"
"No. No thanks." I reply. "We'll get something along the way."
It's 5am. The sky is dark, but already beginning to lighten. Tami drives us to the intersection of Santa Rosa Valley Road and Glenside lane. Where she picked us up yesterday at the end of our day's walk. We say our goodbyes with heartfelt appreciation and turn our minds to task of walking.
Santa Rosa Valley Road is a highway like road. Cars and big trucks are whooshing past us. The sunlight brightens the sky but it's warm rays are diffused from behind the San Gabriel mountains. We walk at a brisk pace in the cool morning air. Whoosh! More trucks thundering and rattling past us.
Then the road is flanked by some kind of citrus orchard. I leave the road and roar of traffic to investigate a path through the orchards. I can see a path through.
Aaahh. Peaceful walking among,what I can now see are lemon trees.
The trees look like they have been recently picked. There is a little fruit left on the trees and a bit more on the ground. I pick up a lemon from the ground. I turn it over inspecting the fruit for rot and bugs. The fruit looks fine. I wonder if lemons that have fallen off trees on their own are sweeter than ones that are picked earlier. Only one way to find out.
The lemon is juicy, tart, and sweet. I eat two.
We continue to walk. We pass a sign that says "Welcome to Camarillo." "Good" I think, I need a bathroom and I am getting hungry.
We walk on.
After about another mile of gated Camarillo communities, I pull out my phone and open the Yelp app and search for nearby businesses. There are a few, but none are open. It's only 7:30am.
So we walk on. The feet complain. The hips threaten to spasm. My husband asks "How are you pilgriming today?" "I am alright. I feel it though." I think, 'soon we will get someplace to eat and rest. Then I will feel better.'
We walk on.
The bladder is not as patient as the stomach. Finding a bathroom becomes priority number one. I find myself side-glancing bushes, even though I know I won't go there. Finally, we reach a Taco Bell. Relief!
We are hungry but do not want fast food. We hardly eat fast food. It will likely make us sick.
We walk on.
We have now walked seven miles. Usually we stop within the first 3-7 miles. We walk on looking on our phones and down streets for restaurants or cafes. There are none. There won't be any until at least the ten mike mark, unless we get lucky.
Now we are on Lewis road. Highway 34. Cars whoosh past us again. But we have a sidewalk along a wall with houses on the other side. Up ahead I see orange trees.
Oranges it is then. But they are all just out of reach. We could get them, if we really wanted to, but that would require more effort than we were willing to put in at that moment.
We walk on. The bellies complain. We see two, yes, two avocados on the ground. "What?! Avocados?!" I exclaim and motion toward them. "There's a tree. See?" Says my husband. We try to get an avocado. These, too, are all just out of easy reach.
I hear God say "Now you're just being picky."
I laugh out loud and tell my husband. He agrees saying" We would have ate those in Spain going up to Roncesvalles, and been grateful."
I nod in agreement, remembering the 11 hour trek up the Val Carlos route, hungry, injured and in bad weather. "Yat. Guess we are not THAT hungry."
We both laugh. My husband says, "God gave us oranges and avocados and let's not forget the Taco Bell."
"It gets worse" I say, "I left a banana on the counter this morning."
"Oh Geez."
We pilgrim on to Old Town Camarillo to a place called Dorothy's Chuckwagon Diner, where we eat ALL THE THINGS- and then go "Ugh, why did we do that."
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