A few nights ago, we were confirming our hotel for tonight (July 5th). They replied that they were excited to see us this afternoon (July 3rd). After a lot of back and forth, we discovered that when we initially asked about July 5th in an email, they replied affirmatively but had mistakenly confirmed 24 beds for July 3rd instead. We didn't catch the date change in their response.

In summary, we were 24 beds short. This put us in quite the pickle, especially since we had already had trouble finding lodging in Logroño. Without much hope for a reservation, we had to enter "bed race" mode. A bed race is where pilgrims race to a town with albergues that don't accept reservations—first come, first served.

So on July 5th, while we still had 10 reservations at another albergue in Logroño, I asked the other 24 pilgrims to volunteer to find another place to stay by entering the bed race.

This motivated my sons and I to get up super early—5 a.m. early. The boys and I hit the road at 5:40am, greeted by a pitch-black sky. I've mentioned this before, but I believe God had something better planned for us than we originally anticipated. The morning was very quiet, and the cool air made for perfect walking weather.

This early start also gave us the opportunity for some great pictures. There's nothing like seeing the sunrise over the hills and picturesque towns of Navarra. Many of the pilgrims took advantage of the golden hour and shared pictures with the group, many of which are now on our Instagram account.

Without the hiccup and forced bed race, we wouldn't have enjoyed these graces. It was also our hottest day here, so getting out early helped us avoid the midday heat. Truth be told, the bed race was the only thing that could get tired morning Al out of bed.

In the end, we all found places to stay, and there were still some beds available even at 4 p.m. when we last checked. I won't mention any names, but a handful of pilgrims took the opportunity to race for a bit finer accommodations, taking a quick respite from our Spartan lifestyle.