Janelle Yeager

It was supposed to rain, A LOT. Everyone was talking about how horrible the rain would be, how much they were dreading the walk... afterall, we had all just had the longest, hardest walk through the rain, wind, and cold. I mean, I did taxi the last 9kms the day before for a reason!
But, surprise of surprises, the weather report changed. Molinaseca was now supposed to have rain early in the morning, and then it would calm down. Ponferrada was supposed to have heavy rain after 1pm, and Cacabelos was only supposed to have light rain. If I timed my day right, I could avoid most of the rain!
It just so happened that somehow, the vibrate on my watch alarm had been turned off, and I overslept, so instead of leaving the aubergue by 6:45, I left at nearly 8:30. I was a bit frustrated by this but thought "it's okay, I have a long day, I needed the sleep, and now I've missed the heavy morning rain and darkness", and I began my walk. I actually really enjoyed myself, I walked alone I think, I may have listened to a bit of music, and then I got to Ponferrada and really wanted to see the Templar Castle so I could take photos for dad. I did that and visited the Templar store where there was a handcrafted wooden mug with the castle burned into it, but I couldn't bring that back with me, it would be too bulky.
I continued on, and before I knew it, the route felt wrong. It's very easy in cities to get turned around or on the wrong path, so I checked my map and realized I was on the bike path. I turned around, and here comes a pilgrim in a red poncho. I stopped her and told her we were on the wrong path, and she asked if she could join me to get back on the correct way. Her name was Jillz (or Jules?) from Australia, and as we walked, I found out that she's a physical therapist and a yoga instructor and I said "as a PT, you might be interested to hear my story. Have you ever heard of FND?"
She had, she also has had patients with it who just give up on ever getting better, and when i told her that I have it, she couldn't believe her ears, especially when i told her that a year ago, I was struggling to walk. I found out that she became a PT because she had become sick and had gone through a healing journey, learning how to reuse her legs and her body again also. What a connection! And all because my alarm didn't go off, and we both took a wrong turn! We spent the day walking together and just really enjoying the company of each other and realizing that we are both absolute unstoppable badasses.Read more