Rain rain, go away, come back when Kevin has flown away.

So. pretty interesting on the dorms last night.  As I get nearer to the end of the Camino, we pick up more Spanish nationals - they tend to walk a week or two, boy the whole thing, at least not at once.  So the Spanish culture is eagle late, siesta on the afternoon, and late bed...  Invasion their surprise when the Camino flow is no siesta - chores instead, early bed - no staying up late, and 6am wake!  Ooh, that last one...  PRICELESS!  Half a dorm of newbies and WHAM!  6am long-haulers are up naturally and packing for the days walk...  It's kinda sad, I came prepared for this routine, they seem to jump on with little preparation and in their own country get a culture shock...  At least it wasn't one of the albergues with auto lights, THAT would have been a sight to behold.
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Oookayyy....  I wouldn't call this a tradition, first bedbug sighting of the Camino... :/ ...  This albergue has all the anti-bedbug measures, so u do not suspect they are infested, rather one hitched a ride in...  It's dead now.  We'll be on the lookout, but my liner is freshly laundered and retreated, so I'll be resting a little more assured :), but we'll see if I have bites in the morning....
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Anyways, today was a wet walk, out early in the dark with drizzling rain.  The rain would come and go, sometimes being dry for an hour, other times waiting until you JUST take your poncho off to start raining again.  Luckily, I have a little system where I can easily reach my poncho and easily flick it over me and my pack :), I don't even have to break stride.

Well, this worked out great up until the real ascent started...  Then the hard rain started, then the Camino left the country road and headed down a dirt path...  A dirty path that soon became a river...   Yep, I walked up 600 meters in what is essentially a drainage ditch when it rains.   The Camino is SO heavily traveled in this section, the ground is literally worn down to bedrock on many places...   It's a groove in the ground, a perfect drainage system...  A drainage system I walked against the flow...  And that just got me soaked, squishy socks and all...  Luckily, I did not have far too walk, only 4.5 km but there closer I got, the worse the weather got.  I arrived at the albergue soaked to the bone in a driving rain and heavy wind - it actually stung my shoulder at one point.

But this albergue has BIG showers and lots of hot water :)...  That and splitting the cost of a €8 wash/dry made for a happy pilgrim...  That and ensalada mixta (salad with corn, tuna, and asparagus) with a big bowl of garlic soup...  Go ahead bugs, suck on my blood, see if you can stomach that (evil grin)!

Ooh, on the bugs issue, that, line so many Peregrino topics is beat to the death.  I have a system to make sure I don't introduce any back home.

So, tomorrow is the final ascent to O'Cebreiro and most of a days travel before the STEEP descent on the far side.  I have essentially, minus the descent, conquered the geographic challenges the Camino Frances offers.  This climb, which weeks ago would have kicked my ass, only succeeded in getting me wet - energy wise and I climbed it with no problem.

Ooh, before I sign off, I need help calculating how long a sound from the top of Muxia would take to get to Portland, Maine.  I can't get a good distance from the top of Muxia to Portland.

Ooh, another thing of interest...  Every bar in Spain. The great ones all the way to the dives have two things guaranteed:
An espresso machine and skilled operator...  Seriously, I saw pasta water prepared with one!  And hot chocolate is steamed milk and a package of coca cao.  And brewed coffee doesn't exist.
And the other thing is ice cream treats!  Every place has a sign with all the ice cream treats they have to offer.

And that does it for tonight...  OOH 648km down, 170 to go!  It's gotten real!

Buen Camino!
Kevin last three days photos - enjoy :

https://goo.gl/photos/GjUnt2wN3F57ftXj6