Possible disruption due to wind.

One of the most common expressions in a weather forecast around here is, “potential disruption due to rain” (or thunderstorms, or snowfall, or hail, or blizzard or fill-in-the-blank).  I wouldn’t be surprised to see “potential disruption due to fair skies and mild temperatures.” All I can imagine is that people here are easily distracted and the slightest thing could cause a disruption, to what I don’t know.

Well, today’s forecast, as well as the next few days’ - as long as we’re on the coast of northern Portugal - is for “potential disruption due to WIND.”  As whimsical as that expression seems to us, I can assure you that today, the wind was not whimsical; there were continuous winds speed between 30 and 40 mph with gusts up to ??!  Happily the temperature topped out at only 70, the seaside scenery was beautiful, the cloudless sky was serene and we felt good for our first serious (12 mile) walking day.  

 

Much of the route on today’s seaside walk was on an elaborate network of boardwalks, reasonably well maintained and always reaching as far as the eye can see.  Thank goodness because walking on the deep, fine sand would be a nightmare.  Believe it or not, there were a few short sections where the railings on either side of the boardwalk were completely buried in the sand blown there by the potentially disruptive winds.  

One of today’s highlights was an impromptu seaside dinner, fresh caught and grilled as we watched.  Not too shabby.

We met several, but not lots, of people from around the world making the journey.  Most were a bit more lively than this crew.  

The number was small because, for one thing, we are walking one variation of one of the many versions of the Camino and not the first/classic/original route across northern Spain from France, and it was just our first day.  Several days from now, we merge with the main Portuguese train and are likely to see substantially more people.

One of the longest days tomorrow - and much more windy seaside.  Catch ya later.