Day 16: Carrion de Los Condes to Moratinos (Deija)

Day 16: Carrion de Los Condes to Moratinos
Miles: 18.6
Total: 250.8 Miles

We woke up a little later than usual today, and ended up leaving at 6:40. Our walking still consists of a mostly dry landscape, and today was no different. Towards the end of our day we passed our Halfway Checkpoint! We were officially halfway done with the Camino! To celebrate, Mr. March bought Auna and I ice-cream, it was delicious, and just the type of break we needed on such a warm day. 

About three miles after our checkpoint, we finally arrived to Moratinos, it was a small town, and walking in you saw a lot of old deserted buildings. Towards the middle of town, it began to look actually like a place that some might live in. There was a cute little church, an Alburgue, and then there was Peaceable Kingdom. Peaceable Kingdom is a home owned by Rebekah Scott and Patrick O'Gara (I really hope I spelled that correctly), Rebekah had donated to our trip earlier in the year, and we thought it would be great to visit the people who helped us get to where we are now. 

The whole experience was amazing! Patrick is originally from England, so Auna and I were able listen to an English accent. Rebekah is from Pittsburg, PA, and they are the greatest people I have met on the Camino so far. We stayed in their home, it was adorable, and when you first walk in you will notice three dogs, Rosy (the small one), Timothy (medium sized), and Harry. Harry is a very handsome Greyhound, but he is shy, and it takes a little while for him to open up. Now, they have another dog as well, named Lulu, she is also a Greyhound, but she is very afraid of men, and new people in general, so she hid out most of the time. When we did see her though, we noticed immediately how amazingly beautiful she was. 

Patrick made us dinner, and it was so delicious! It was a fried rice type of dish, with squash, shrimp, snap peas, soy, and they even had Sriacha to put on it! I was in heaven, it was so great. For desert we had Zuccini bread that Rebekah had made and it was so good. It was so awesome to real food after eating only sandwiches for so long. At least it made their food ten times better. We all pigged out, especially Auna, Mr. March, and I. Thankfully they knew the feeling of hunger pretty well themselves given the fact they both have walked the Camino multiple times. They just laughed and gave us the expression of, "Oh, I know how that feels." 

After dinner and desert, Auna and I tried our best to be good house guests and help clean up, but Rebekah had pretty much finished by the time we got started. I'm not saying we didn't help, I'm just saying that she had already been working for a bit by the time we got in there. After cleaning, we all sat down for a bit doing our own things, Paddy and I began a discussion about no subject in particular, but I think it started when I brought up my parents. Auna and Mr. March watched a funny short on the iPad about Introducing the Book, and Rebekah was finishing up our groups laundry. It was so nice to be able to just sit and relax, it felt sort of like home, and I really enjoyed myself. 

After a bit, Paddy decided with a small push from Rebekah that he was tired and he should probably get some rest. Soon after, Auna went into the room and started to prep her bag for the next day. I stayed behind with Mr. March and Rebekah. Rebekah was checking on things on her computer while Mr. March made up little tunes on the guitar. I was replying to emails, and started reading a favourite (British spelling for uppity emphasis) book of mine. 

A wee bit later Mr. March decided to go to bed, and I chose bed as well soon after. After saying Goodnight to Rebekah, I curled up in a extremely comfortable bed, and slipped into my first night of uninterrupted sleep in a long while. 

Thank you so much Rebekah and Paddy! You two were so awesome! 

-Deija