Rain, rain 🌧 go away, come again when I get off the Camino. They say that the rain in Spain falls mainly on the Camino. That was true today. We started walking at 7:45 AM with a clear sky and a beautiful almost full moon. I immediately got lost and spent an hour walking on the shoulder of a secondary highway. I know what you are thinking, not safe and incredibly stupid. I agree on both counts. I finally made it to Ribadiso where I could exit the highway and get back on the much more bucolic Camino just in time for sunrise.
As I was walking through the outskirts of Ribadiso these big black clouds suddenly filled the sky and the wind started howling like a deranged banshee. The rain came down in sheets and before I could get my rain jacket 🧥 and rain pants 👖 on I was soaked. And did I mention that it was very cold this morning? I am a glass half full kind of Pilgrim so I passed by a number of cafes where I could have taken refuge from the storm, but did not, secure in my optimistic conviction that the rain would stop and I would be able to get a great rainbow 🌈 picture that I could share with you. No such luck. It rained for a solid hour and did not cease and desist until I finally gave up and sought shelter in a cafe/bar.
I took off and stowed my rain gear and had my usual chocolate croissant 🥐 and a glass of fresh squeezed orange 🍊 juice. This is an orange juice machine that produces the magic elixir every morning. 
The Camino runs on coffee ☕️, I run on fresh squeezed orange 🍊 juice.
After I finished my breakfast I hit the trail hoping the rain was done for the day. We passed a farm and what did I see in the front yard? You are correct, it is a tractor 🚜 .
If you look closely you will notice that this is not any old tractor, it is a Lamborghini tractor. This baby can go from 0 to 60 MPH in 4.5 seconds. Did you know that Lamborghini started out making tractors? Mr. Lamborghini was the John Deere of Italy 🇮🇹. His real passion wasn’t tractors but sports cars. He owned and raced a number of Ferrari sports cars. Mr. Lamborghini thought his Ferrari sports cars were good but not great automobiles. He set up a meeting with Enzo Ferrari to tell him, in detail, how Mr. Ferrari could improve the look and the performance of the Ferrari sports cars. As you can imagine, Enzo Ferrari did not take kindly to Mr. Lamborghini, a tractor manufacturer, telling the great Enzo Ferrari how to design and build sports cars. These two proud, hot headed, Italians got into a monumental argument that culminated with Enzo Ferrari telling Mr. Lamborghini that if he thought he could design and build a sports car that was better than the world renowned Ferrari sports cars, he should shut up, leave his office and design and build this sports car. Enzo Ferrari was flabbergasted when a couple of years later Lamborghini started to manufacture and sell sports cars that rivaled, and in many aspects, surpassed Ferrari sports cars.
This is a Ferrari.
This is a Lamborghini.
I would say that they both make a pretty sweet sports car.
I got some feedback the other day on my blog post that had a picture of a witch and a caption where I said that apparently in Spain they celebrate Halloween 🎃. One of the people who is following the blog, corrected me and said that they do not celebrate Halloween in Spain, they celebrate the Day of the Dead. I hate to get into an argument about this point but the closer we get to Halloween the more evidence I see that supports my earlier statement that Spain does celebrate Halloween.
A witch in the cafe/bar where I sought shelter from the storm.
After I ate breakfast I stopped by a Super Mercado to pick up some snacks for the road. I bought some peanuts and a bunch of carrots 🥕. I put the carrots in an outside pocket of my backpack next to Abe’s perch on the backpack. As we were walking along the Way we encountered White Lightning.
Abe spotted White Lightning first and ordered me to stop and then asked White Lightning if he would like a carrot 🥕. What horse doesn’t like carrots? White Lightning said that he would love a carrot. Abe made me give White Lightning all my carrots. I was more than a little pissed 😤 about this because the carrots were going to be my lunch. But, feeding the carrots to White Lightning made Abe and White Lightning happy, so I swallowed my anger, disappointment and growing hunger and continued my journey along the Way.
This is a bar/cafe that has decorated the inside and outside of the premises with empty and autographed Peregrina beer bottles. It is quite a sight.
This is the garbage collection station in Arzúa. People throw their garbage down the chutes and the garbage lands in the underground bins. The garbage collectors raise the bins and then wheel them over to the garbage truck and empty them. It is a pretty slick system.
I normally get upset when I see the Camino mile markers defaced by graffiti.
The side of this mile marker was also defaced by graffiti.
I still don’t like graffiti in general, but I am OK with this graffiti.
This is a eucalyptus forest. Eucalyptus trees have a bad habit of losing their branches in a wind storm.
This afternoon we were walking in a Eucalyptus forest when a big storm blew up with howling winds and driving rain. The deafening crack of the wind tearing the branches from the trunks of the eucalyptus trees and the loud thumping sound as these branches hit the ground scared the crap 💩 out of me. I am glad to be dry, safe and sound in my bunk bed at the alburgue in O Pedrouzo. Tomorrow I walk the last 20 kilometers and arrive at the Cathedral in Santiago. Feet 🦶 don’t fail me now.
I hope everyone is having a relaxing Saturday.
Good evening from O Pedrouzo, Spain.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 