March 25: Laza to Vilar de Barrio

Today was a short day -- just 12 miles. THANK GOODNESS! Today was another rainy day. Like yesterday, the rain was intermittent and not too nasty for the first two hours. I didn't make good time, though, like I did yesterday (when I ran a lot) because there's a HUGE climb up a really rocky path in part of this segment.

The rain really came down (along with terrible winds again) when I reached the top of the mountain at Albergueria. I stopped in the local bar -- a very pilgrim-focused business -- and found 2 other pilgrims and about 10 local workers taking a break from the elements. I don't normally make stops like this, but I had to get out of my wet coat and poncho and try to dry my soaking wet gloves (yes, today I had 2) in front of the electric fireplace.

I was contemplating staying longer to enjoy a cafe con leche, or even a glass of wine, when I decided I'd rather knock off the last 4.5 miles and get to my casa rural for the rest of the day.

Shortly after I left, it began to rain steadily. This leg is mostly downhill, so things got super muddy and flooded. Then it REALLY began to pour. By the time I got to town, I probably carried 5 extra pounds of water on me. 

Thinking quickly, I decided to hit the tienda to gather dinner supplies so I wouldn't have to venture out again. Got the food, then found the casa rural. It's lovely, but after cleaning up and starting to work on my app updates, I realized it was super cold in here. Indeed, the temp was only about 60.

The owners of this place live in Madrid, so it took some calling back and forth and some difficult English-Spanish conversations for me to be able to figure out how to work their heating system. (You'd think these systems would be easy and intuitive, but they're not.)

In the end, all is well. I'm warm, I figured out how to use my phone to make a hotspot so I can get online anywhere and get some work done, and I'm looking forward to a dryer (I HOPE!) day tomorrow.