24 Astorga to Rabanal del Camino - 12 miles

Rain rain go away; come back another day. 

Well, the song worked for a little while. 

We started out today knowing that it was going to rain because the forecast just didn’t look good. Actually, we have been very lucky because we have not had any rain in the previous 23 days. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

The day started off dry and we popped into the Hermitage of Ecce Homo.  There are several of the small chapels along with the Camino.

But,  after a quick breakfast in Murias de Rechivaldo, heavens opened and it really started to pour. Luckily, we hadn’t moved on yet and the café had a little awning in which many pilgrims could huddle under. 

It started to light up and so we took off only for the rain to start to come down even harder. Oh well. If we were kids we would’ve been in hog heaven. And this is why you pack a raincoat, a backpack cover, and put a lot of your stuff in plastic bags. 

We also passed the 250 km to go mile marker. You might remember that we started with 800 km to go. 

The rest of the day pretty much alternated between dry weather and rainy weather. 

Ironically, at one point there were clear skies ahead… 

clear sky behind us… 

and a big gray cloud right over us. 

A bright spot (pun intended) was the Cowboy Cafe in El Ganso. The owner, Ramiro, has run it for 30 years and it is decked out with all things western-americana. We met a few other Americans who were in the cafe, and one of the guys’ comments pretty much summed it up: “I wasn’t expecting this!”  There were also teepees in the town…???

The last four miles were pretty much a constant downpour. , There was no shelter anywhere nearby and we were getting soaked. But, at a little rest area Sarah found a large table umbrella, and with a few bungee cords she and I were able to get it rigged so it would stay open.  It provided a little respite until we had to go back under the rain.

Towards the end of today’s hike, the trail became more of a creekbed, and we had quite a bit of puddle jumping to do. 

In the evening, we took a stroll around the little town. Not much going on. We stopped at the “supermarket” which was smaller than a one-room schoolhouse!  However, there is a small Benedictine monastery here. I guess this is one way to get away from it all. 

Despite the rain, it was a pretty good day!  After all, we accomplished our task: we walked and made forward progress. 

Buen Camino!