It is Monday I will walk today to Arzua not Ribadiso so add about three miles ... It's raining, really rainy.

I am sleeping with the widow open and the sound of the rain pounding on the tile roofs is loud enough to wake me. I take a look and its raining about as hard as one can imagine. My first thought is that perhaps the storm predicted for the morning is moving through more quickly than anticipated and maybe we will miss it. 

I go back to sleep thinking I might get lucky and when I go to breakfast at 8:00 I find out I'm wrong. I return the hairdryer-shoe dryer to the front desk and I ask about the weather and she tells me that it is not good. She then shows me a print out of today's forecast. Basically it shows rain for the entire day, hour by hour. I'm going to need a plan B. There is a Camino shop a short distance from the hotel which opens at 9:00, I will start the day there buying a poncho which will cover most of me but most importantly the backpack.

It's the same shop where I bought my new powder blue running shoes yesterday. The same women who does not speak English is there and as I'm looking at the poncho's she just grabs one out of a box, rips open the bag it's in and hands it to me. She is letting me know that it's the right size as I start to put it on over my backpack. It is the type I'm looking for that has arms and a zipper. I don't want the pull over version with just a hole for your head with an attached hood. As I'm trying it on a women, an American, is also trying on a bright yellow pullover version and asks loudly if there is a mirror? I nearly lost it. She actually wants to see how it looks? The women managing the shop is trying to tell her that what she has on is to small by pointing to me and my backpack. She is repeating the Spanish word fior small and I get it. I turn to the American women who looks like a giant lemon and suggest that what the women is trying to tell her is that the poncho is too small because she is not trying it on with a backpack. The women just says to me " that's not a problem ". I get it. I pay for mine and just leave.

As I start it is raining and within fifteen minutes I have to stop and shed at least two layers, I'm sweating  because the  heavy duty trash bag with arms I'm wearing just locks in all of the heat. I'm as wet inside as I am outside. It's a steady rain and it does not appear that it's going to stop anytime soon. Progress is slow because I'm doing my best to avoid the larger puddles and mud in an attempt to keep my feet as dry as possible for as long as I can. That will soon prove to be a waste of effort.

I'm now four hours into the days walk when the rain stops. There is even a patch of blue sky and I'm thinking it's over. Another wardrobe change is in order. I'm now walking in just a tee shirt and it's wet from the inside. The poncho did do its job, the backpack is dry. This patch of clear weather lasts only for about thirty minutes when it starts to rain again but this time it's raining heavily. It's pouring and it's nonstop and continues for the next three hours that way. The dancing around puddles is long gone as the trail becomes a river. The only thing you can do is just look down to avoid a large rock or a hole. That's it. 

I stop in Melide for something to eat but more importantly to take off the trash bag and cool off. I'm worn out and it's seems that everyone else in this place is in the "same boat" if you know what I mean. I take a look at the map and it's only then that I realize that I'm actually going to Arzura which is beyond Ribadiso by about two miles. Great, I'm actually farther away than I thought.

Photos today will be few if any. My iPhone is tucked away under the trash bag to keep it from the weather and there nothing to photograph anyway. It's just raining to hard. When I finally arrive and walk into the hotel the rain has slowed and it's on the verge of stopping. I get out of my trash bag and dig out my voucher and the clerk just looks at me and says "you look tired". Really? That's a shock. By the way he is correct, I am tired and  my pants from the knee down are drenched as are my Limos. I can't image I will be able to dry them out by tomorrow which by the way has the same weather forcast as today. At least I do have a pair of dry running shoes I can wear. I need to get to the pharmacy, I'm out of bandages. 

Tuesday I will walk to Arca which is about twelve miles away. I'm within twenty six miles of Santiago. Just two days to go! Tomorrow is "G" day.  Good night and Buen Camino.

SANTIAG_