Old Dogs and New Tricks

Darwin said something along the lines of It’s not the smartest or the fastest that survive. It’s those with the ability to adapt and change. Today, we adapted. And it’s so much nicer.

We are on the way to Barcelona to pick up our Happiness Cafe food truck. Normally, for something like this, we would get up at 4:30 or 5am. The car would be packed the night before with road snacks (we do have a new electric cooler for travel). Then we would point the car east and put the pedal to the metal, driving the 1000+ kms in one day. We are Americans. Long, tiring road trips are mandatory. But not this time.

Yesterday, I let my best friend, sprits animal, and next door neighbor, Marie Carmen, know we will be away for a couple of days. She’s better than a mastiff and has a sixth sense about strangers. Patrolling our property, she will call the Guardia Civil if she smells any funny business. I booked a hotel in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and we eased on down the road well after sunrise, at a civilized 8:15am. I know what you’re thinking – we are no spring chickens. But this just proves old dogs really can learn new tricks. We can change our ways.

We stopped in Burgos for lunch. Walking around the city a bit. Jeff had never been there and I was there just two months ago. It was snowing in late March. Today, it was hot and sweaty. Just like I remember it from before.

It was just another hour beyond to our hotel in Santo Domingo. Again, Jeff has never been here before. It’s a small town but an important one on the Camino Frances. It sports two Parador hotels in old church buildings. Last time I stayed in the Parador across from the Cathedral. This time, we are staying in the one on the edge of town adjacent to the Convento de San Francisco. Which I highly recommend over the one by the cathedral. No noise of the narrow streets with bar patrons spilling out into the pavement during the wee hours of a Sunday morning. We are just two of a handful of guests. This far up the Frances the season isn’t in full swing. But the wave is coming. It turns out that traveling slow is the way to go.

Tomorrow we head into Barcelona proper. I committed to driving to Barcelona. On Monday morning we pick up Bessie the food truck at Skulls Garage, where they handcrafted her to our specs. Jeff will drive home, towing the trailer. We shall see how far we get Monday before we commit to where we will stop for the night. Or if he just decides to push through the full 700 miles in one day. Either way, by Tuesday night, she will be parked by the front gate. At long last. Darwin was right – and I’m about to prove it in a big way. Big changes are coming and I’m here for all of it.