Day 14 - Boadilla del Camino to Carrion de Los Condos (27 km)

A great day's walk today. The official distance 27 km, though a slight detour added just a few more kilometres - more about that later.

With the cooler weather and flat terrain, I would have liked to have walked a little further, as would some of the others I walked with at various times during the day. But after Carrion the next town is 18 kms further along. That's way too far so here we are. That 18 km stretch will be a challenge tomorrow as it means no coffee break! It also means buying a little food tonight and ensuring I have plenty of water when I set out tomorrow as I'll likely be walking for around 4 hours before Caldadilla de la Cueza.

As it turns out I got my chance to walk a few extra kilometres on my way here. You may recall that about a week ago I discovered a good way to get lost is to not pay attention to the markers when you're walking on your own with no-one in sight in any direction. Today, I discovered another good way to get lost - follow a group of walkers who are lost and don't know it! No harm done, after walking through a farmer's fields for about half an hour, the farmer arrived in his tractor to point us in the right direction. By this time we knew we were lost, though it seemed I was alone in admitting it. Once we were back on track, the three (male) walkers I'd followed went to some efforts to assure me (in varying standards of English) that although it may have seemed we were lost, they knew where we were all along. Sound familiar?

Though this town (pop 2,400) is much larger than the villages of the previous three nights, it has a lovely atmosphere. I arrived at around 2.30 and settled in to Albergue Santa Clara, a lovely old building which I was told was first a monastery and then a hospital.

The streets were deserted until about 5 when the locals emerged from siesta, but I enjoyed a lovely afternoon with some fellow pilgrims who have been walking pretty much the same stages as me for the past few days. I'm including a photo of us - and a few others I hadn't met - at drinks tonight before we headed off to dinner. Quite a group - from Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Canada.

So all in all a good day's walk ending in a delightful town, with fine company.

And now a bit of silliness - you've been warned - which gives you some insight into the important matters which occupied my mind today. Exciting news! My backpack has a name. Follow, if you will, the inspiration and strange logic of the creative process.

My call for suggestions (in yesterday's update) gets some readers thinking Before heading out this morning, I visit my blog to see if there have been any comments overnight.

It begins with Gemma. A designer and artist, she visualises my backpack as potentially a monkey on my back, albeit trustworthy and with good intentions, and suggests possible names in honour of famous monkeys, like Albert the first monkey in space.

My sister Julie likes Gemma's thinking. She's on board immediately and posts a follow up comment, identifying the possibility of a Spanish moniker - Mono, Mona or Picaro or Picara for mischievous monkey. I like where this is going. I see the possibilities.

As I head out for the day, an idea is lurking, a memory, something familiar, but what? And then not far along the track it comes to me.

Backpack, Monkey, Spanish. Suddenly, though inevitably, I know it. I can scarcely believe it has taken this long to recall that iconic literary character. Of course, I'm talking about Dora the Explorer.

I was introduced to Dora some years ago by my niece Georgia Cooper, then barely more than a toddler. Visiting in New York, reading the adventures of Dora the Explorer with Georgia was a daily event. At that time, Dora's fame had not reached Australia but she was to a child being raised in America as The Wiggles were to every Australian child.

Dora is a young Latino girl who travels the world, helping people and teaching spanish along the way. She has a backpack called Map who helps her find her way - though I immediately discount Map as a suitable name for my backpack. But Dora also travels with her best friend who shares her adventures. Mischievous at times but trustworthy to the end, Dora's best friend is a monkey.

I like where this is going. As I walk the Camino this morning I send a text to sister Cathy, mother of Georgia, to let her know I've found a name for my backpack and Georgia has played a part. She confirms the monkey's name.

At day's end about to start this blog I see another comment from another sister, Pam. She too likes the monkey idea and observes that when I reach Santiago de Compostela the monkey will literally be off my back.

The metaphors are inescapable and I can't deny the logic. And that's how my backpack came to be known as ... Boots!

More literal types may think it odd that a backpack would be named Boots but I am confident that my creative collaborators, readers and fans of Dora the Explorer and Boots the monkey would say - es perfect!

That's more than enough from me. And happy birthday, Georgia

J x