Day 23 Aviles to El pinto 28K

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In order NOT to repeat yesterdays mistake. I did my homework on EXACTLY where the Camino was in respect to the highways. I found this out on a Google earth map of Camino Norte. This shows in detain the Camino and where and for how long the Camino is on a highway. Well, good for me after 23 days into the Camino and I finally figure out how to get from town to town using alternative routes. Some on Camino, some not on the Camino. The Camino can take you places that may or may not be of interest to you while adding miles to the journey. I have decided that this is "Ricks Camino," make yourself happy with the route. OK. I love walking, like the solitude, scenery, nature, History, etc., why slog along a highway when I could be seeing and enjoying historical, or other landmarks not on the Camino. With this in mind I opt to take a bus for the first 5K, which turned out to be more industrial crap from the steel mill, and give myself more time in the El Pito area which has a Playa I would like to see and a bunch of old Mansions built in the early 1900s by wealthy Spanish business men who made their fortune in the U.S. I arrive to my Hotel at 2pm, still enough time to explore and keep walking. The Playa is 3K from my Hotel, so a 6K jaunt makes up for the 5K slog on the highway. The Playa was great, it was Sunday (forget what day of the week it is now) and the beach was full of families doing what families do at the beach. Playing ball, jumping waves, playing catch. It was my first snapshot of family outing in Spain. Not much different than Waikiki. Walking back up from the beach I can't help but notice there is another clear cut of trees. The cash crop of trees in Spain in eucalyptuses, they are everywhere. They cut them down when they reach about 12" in diameter, cut them up in 8 Ft. lengths, pile them up and, well who knows. The thing is the clear cuts are everywhere and the trees seem so small to make anything out of them. I have not actually seen the logging in operation, but would love to. The mechanics of logging this kind of incredibly STEEP land would be of interest to me. There is no sign of winching anything, to spar poles, no landings, maybe helicopter. Anyway, great walking day, perfect weather, good trail (after the town) super vista's and great beach to walk on. Another Great day

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