First, a very special happy Cinco de Mayo to Shona and Chrissy.? Ah the gift that keeps on giving!

OK, you all get to hear about how beautiful this Cathedral or landscape is, or how I get to drink a beer guilt free at ten o?clock in the morning if I want to.? Well for this journal entry you get to hear about the not so fun stuff.? I am not asking for sympathy as I am no different than anyone else on the Camino, but here are some things that really happen......

BLISTERS:? You are gonna get ?and you are gonna get lot?s of them.? What?s more fun is that you HAVE to pop them every night and deal with the one minute of burning like hell because that one minute is far better than walking on them (as in not just one blister at a time) for 5-6 hours the next day.? When putting?Vaseline on your feet is an essential part of your day then you know that you have problems.

PAIN:  That God for Spanish ibuprofin.  At 600mg per pil it works miracles.  On top of the general aches and pains in your feet and back, almost everyone develops a limp for one reason or another.  I of course manage to injure both legs.  My left calf feels like there are a thousand little needles going through whenever I spend too much time going up hill.  To solve this little problem I used to try to walk up hills backwards whenever possible.  That was until I managed to develop a nice lump on my lower right shin.  Now this one is ball of laughs.  It pretty well hurts from the beginning of the day until the end, but it is late in the walk when it gets really exciting.  I am cruising along and take a step just like the one before and the one before that when all of a sudden my right shin feels like someone just hit it with a hammer.  I proceed to let out a curse word or two and then hop around like a little girl playing hop scotch on the school yard.  Two or three steps later everything is back to normal.  I just have to wait around until the next random dance occurs.

RAIN:? This rhyme about how the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plains is absolute BS!? I have been here for four months and it rains not only everywhere but also often especially on the Camino.? I still need to get a picture of it, but after one day of misery, I bought myself a supersized, red poncho.? I look fabulous in it, but it is effective.

CLOTHES:? If I could have ONE person with me on this trip, it would not be any of the usual suspects that I call friends.? Instead it would be Gabi hands down and second place is not even close.? I have washed my own clothes BY HAND everyday while on the Camino.? Yes, I know that I am spoiled, but I am absolutely sick?of it.? I long for the days when I return to Alicante, Spain where I have 6 t-shirts to choose from as opposed to 2-3.?

SICK:? I have had the misfortune of being commode hugging (throwing up), fever stricken, and cold shivers sick not once but twice on the Camino.? Once because I always manage to get food poisoning no matter where I go and a second time because it was my turn to get the virus that was going around among the fellow hikers.? On the second day that I had the virus, I was almost done for the day with about 5-6KM left to go.? I was feeling like crap so I decided to taking a nap in the sun.? In less than a minute of laying down in the sun my entire body erupted into cold shivers and did not stop for at least ten minutes.? Now I am a bit crazy but I am not stupid so I proceeded to walk 2KM back into town to check into a hotel.? Despite the fact that there were tons of buildings, there were no hotels (Spanish Villages are filled with buildings but no people as most villages and buildings are empty).? After waiting an hour or so, I finally get a taxi.? A good nights rest and one easy day on the trail and all was right with the world again.

I have three days of walking left.? It is not all of box of chocalates, but it beats the heck out of having any?real responsibilities and I can?t wait to do it again this August-September!?