Day 22: Rabanal del Camino to Ponferrada (Deija)

Day 22: Rabanal del Camino to Ponferrada 
19.5 Miles
Total: 358.2

My day started off badly, I woke up late, personally rushed myself because I didn't want to talk to anyone, and when I went to the garden to retrieve my clothes, they were all still wet. I had washed everything the night before, so the only clothing that was dry was the clothing I had worn to bed. Now this wouldn't have been a problem if I wasn't extremely warm last night, therefore my pajamas of choice were not trail worthy. I put on wet spandex, pants, and a wet top. This also wouldn't have really made a problem had it not been the day that we were climbing up a mountain, so there was a crisp wind, and mist to deal with. I was cold, pissed off, and my right knee and ankle were bugging me. I slowly fell behind the others, walking at my own snail pace and grumbling to myself about Italy and Castles. (That last bit probably won't make any sense, but it's what was doing.)

My mind went off on a tangent immediately after I brought up to myself how far we were supposably going today. "Miles to Kilometers. Kilometers are used everywhere but the US, this includes Italy. Italians had old mining roads in Spain, well, technically it was the Romans, but Italians none the less. Nathan Fillion was recently in Italy, wow, slightly creepy that I know that. Nathan Fillion is in Castle on ABC. Castles are usually old, so is the alphabet..duh. I wonder if Spanish or Italian came first... I will have to look that up later. Do Italians actually eat a lot of Alfredo? That might be a stereotype. Stereotypically delicious!" 

So those, ladies and gentlefolk, are just tidbits of what I thought about ALL freaking DAY. 

I finally caught up with everyone when we reached the highest point on the Camino, 1505 meters in height. Oh yeah, we just climbed that, that's right, be amazing grasshopper. So, do you remember when I told you I caught up with the group? Well, I did, then I kinda, didn't. They went ahead again, and I still just kept walking at my own personal pace, just. for. me. 

One thing that I did actually enjoy today was the scenery! It has started to become greener here people! Better call the nature police! As it got greener and greener, we also started to descend into a small valley, hereby giving us the disadvantage of less wind and more heat! Whoop whoop! Happy Late Birthday, Auna! 

Okay, so, you're probably wondering why I'm annoyed still, and being extremely sarcastic, well, the answer to that question is in the below sentences/paragraph:

For dinner, Auna and I planned for Alfredo with shrimp! Mmmm! 

This. Was. A. Disaster.

The store didn't have the right ingredients, we couldn't figure out how the stove worked, there wasn't enough elbow room, we were cooking while it was still really hot, we were hungry... Add all this up and you get the crappiest noodle dish known to mankind, and that, is saying something big. It was burnt and the shrimp didn't help, and my salad had weird sour tasting things in it. 

Now, if I read what I just wrote a year ago, I would have told the person to stop the moaning and complaining and just freaking eat it if you're so hungry. But, now, that I've EXPERIENCED this actual moment, I have another opinion.

DO. NOT. EAT. IT. 

If something tastes as gross as what Auna and I ate, it shouldn't even be fed to an animal. Of any kind! 

You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. It was awful.

So, now that we covered our failed attempt at dinner, we can pretty much wrap up my day. Tomorrow is SUPPOSED to be a shorter day because we walked three miles extra today, but who knows. Life can take us in many directions, I just hope the directions are usually on path with the Camino. I'm not a very big fan of backtracking... Or being lost. 

With much love, 
Deija