As I was dozing in my tent in the morning not quite ready to get up I heard a slight noise – kind of like the wind blowing a tent flap or something. I ignored it, then it happened again, then again. I rationalized that no spider would make such a sound so continued to ignore it until I decided to actually get up and go to the loo.

When I turned on my little night light and went to grab my pants something moved right by my hand – I stifled my scream as I saw that it was a little frog that was trying to get back out of the tent! I had – very unusually – left the zipper open several inches and the poor little guy had been able to jump in but was stymied on getting back out. I was able to hold the opening enough for him to eventually make it over and out, and he happily hopped away.

After our usual tea and breakfast we got on the bikes and rode into Foz again, heading for an electronics store I’d seen. I had followed the instructions that I’d gotten by email on how to get my keyboard working again, but rather than fixing the problem I seemed to have lost the keyboard itself.

Asking at one large store the older fellow told me to go across the street to a small store that should be able to help me, and he was right. The young lady inside tried several things, and was eventually able to establish bluetooth contact so that at least my ipad acknowledges the keyboard again, even though the five keys are still ‘dead’.

After that we went to one of the cafes we’d been to a couple of days ago – sitting outside across from the ocean, drinking excellent coffee and watching the people go by.

Back at the campground Colin started a bolognese sauce, and we retreated to the bar to watch another stage of the Vuelta. After yesterday’s rest day today’s stage was the individual time trial, and the order of the top contenders has changed.

Pasta dinner with the sauce was delicious and afterwards we went for a nice walk to the ocean, even going down to the beach. Colin took his sandals off and actually waded in but I chose to stay on a rock and just enjoy the view

When we returned to the campground and I was just turning in inside my tent I asked Colin what time it was and he was very surprised when he went to look at his watch – it wasn’t there. Realizing it must have come off during our walk he retraced our steps and actually had no problem finding it just sitting there on the grass. In any case it wasn’t his Rolex but only an Omega – ha ha.

After another good sleep in the tent I woke to a beautiful blue sky with a nice breeze. We took another nice bike ride into Foz, where we dismounted and walked our bikes along the seaside.

It’s a working port, with lots of little fishing boats, etc.

There are also many interesting sculptures in small parks, as well as some wall murals. After exploring a bit we decided to stop for lunch at one of the many restaurants.

The first one we stopped at only served tapas and they had no menu so we went next door – it was a good choice. Colin ordered the sardines and I got the scallops – they brought the sardines first, possibly as a first course for both of us. I did try a bit and it was very tasty.

Then my scallops arrived, and I have to say they might be the best scallops I’ve ever had. They were served in their shells and had been seared perfectly. Washed down with a lovely glass of Rioja it was an extremely enjoyable lunch.

On our way back to the campground we stopped for a beverage at our favourite cafe, then continued back to the campground facing a bit of a headwind.

Having had such a lovely, slightly late lunch we didn’t do much for dinner, and afterwards took another nice walk to the ocean.

During the night I could hear the wind howling and the rain pouring, even over the sound of the surf pounding, but I was sure I was safe and dry in my tent. Well – it turned out that wasn’t exactly the case. I was safe, and mostly dry, but there was a veritable little river running from right to left under the middle of the tent.

No rain had gotten in from above, but half of the floor of the tent was completely soaked, as was the bottom of my sleeping foamy. Fortunately my sleeping bag, camera and ipad were still dry, but everything else had to be hung out once the rain stopped.

After a much needed cup of tea and a bite to eat we went for a walk along the trail to the west of the campground. After a couple of km we came to a village but there was no cafe or anything open so we returned to the campground.

And I must admit that this was the first time, I believe, that I forgot to take my camera. It’s usually practically another appendage, but I’d moved some of my stuff to my backpack so I could take water bottle, etc, and at the last moment we left with my camera sitting in the campervan. I attempted a few photos with the ipad camera but it kind of sucked – perhaps with practice I could do a bit better, but I do prefer my real camera.

Back at the campground I set my tent up in another spot, hoping to avoid another flood. Another viewing of the Vuelta in the campground’s bar, with the sky looking stormy most of the afternoon.

The next day we drove to Ribadeo for some groceries, then came back along the smaller road that follows the coast.

We stopped at a nice pull-out and had lunch, then continued on, finding the restaurant La Barrica where we’d been two years ago, just down the road from the campground Gaivota that we’d stayed at.

Everywhere along this coast is just beautiful, but we both agree that the campground we’re now at is just perfect – so near the ocean, can’t hear any traffic and – NO KIDS!

While enjoying our morning tea we discussed the campground we were in and agreed it would be best if we left. If the loudspeaker blasting and children screaming are a nightly occurrence then we don’t want to listen.

Packing up was easy as it hadn’t rained and all my stuff was nice and dry. We drove west and a bit north along the coast as far as the town of Viveiro before deciding that we actually preferred the area around Foz better so backtracked to a very small campground just west of the town.

The campground is right on the ocean and is quiet, and most importantly – no kids! It has a nice little bar/cafe, although unfortunately Mo isn’t allowed inside. And I’ve suddenly got a problem with the nifty bluetooth keyboard I have attached to my ipad mini – five of the keys are not responding anymore. I can probably do without the q and the x, but I do miss the r,y and h.

For now I’m using the keyboard on the screen but it really slows me down – I’m used to about eighty or ninety words a minute and the four finger ‘hunt and peck’ method sucks. A good cleaning of the keyboard hasn’t solved the problem, so I’m awaiting a response from the maker of it.

The day we arrived at the campground we asked if the owner would put the Vuelta on for us in the bar, but by the time we found the proper channel the day’s stage had just ended. It looked like a very exciting stage, too, with Valverde victorious on one of the mountain finishes. At least we now know what channel it’s on, though.

After a blissfully quiet night we decided to go for a bike ride into Foz – the road winds right along the coast next to a great walking path.

We stopped at a cafe for a nice cup of coffee, than rode around looking for a bank.

We wondered if there was a festival on or something as we’d seen more than one person with face paint.

At one point we heard some drumming and came upon a large group that were all dressed up with painted faces and were drumming, along with a couple of tamborines, etc. It was very cool!

We stopped at another cafe and had a small bite to eat – I got some ham and cheese croquettes and they were very tasty, although quite filling.

Upon leaving we had a nice ride back to the campground in time to watch the day’s race on tv – at least as soon as the basketball game ended that Spain won by 40 points. We couldn’t change the channel just in case the other country scored as many points in the last few minutes as they had in the last two quarters.

It was very windy and threatening rain for hours, but didn’t materialize before I retreated to my tent for the night.

We packed up fairly leisurely – all of the tent stuff had to be hung to dry as it’d rained during the night. As we were filling up with water, etc, I walked over to say thank you to the owner. As I told him how much I’d loved staying at his campground and how beautiful the area is he told me ‘I have no words’ and looked like he might cry. It’s certainly one of the places we would come back to in a minute if we are ever nearby again.

Just before we were ready to leave Colin pointed up and said ‘look – vultures’, and there were dozens of them, all moving in the same direction and then circling above a nearby field.

We drove north through San Emiliano and followed the very scenic secondary road towards the coast. Right near where the road peaks we entered Asturia and it was literally all downhill from there. A good part of it has a lovely looking walking and biking trail – perhaps an old rail line – and it looked to be well used. Another place we’d like to come back to when we have time to stop and go for a nice long ride.

As we approached the north coast we turned west, heading for one of the many campgrounds. After being disappointed with the first three or four we finally found a fairly small one right on the ocean – it seemed lovely so we stopped searching and checked in.

There were quite a few kids running around and screaming, and just after 9:30 at night the loudspeaker started blasting for about twenty minutes – we’re not sure what it was about but it was very annoying.

It eventually got very quiet, though, until all I could hear was the ocean, and it was so warm I barely needed my sleeping bag so I did end up having a pretty good sleep.

In the morning we took a nice long walk on a boardwalk at the edge of the beach, then continued up a small hill to where a little church was, with great views of the beach below and the coast beyond.

There were a few folks camping up there, some of them were surfers, and as we descended we saw a group with boards at the water’s edge getting instructions. The day was rather misty, and the sun never did really burn it off.

We continued back past the campground to the restaurant just up another small hill and had a coffee overlooking the ocean. A little later we went inside and they turned the Vuelta on for us.

After a really nice salmon dinner we were just settling in when the loudspeaker started blaring again – we couldn’t believe it. After several minutes we’d had enough so up we marched to the office and asked what the heck was going on. Apparently this is a nightly occurrence and would be over soon.

Back trying to relax again we realized that the loudspeaker had gotten the screaming kids going again and we just couldn’t stand it. Another march to the office with another unsatisfactory conclusion – they wouldn’t let us speak with the manager or anything. And the kids screamed and ran around for another hour or so.

After a warmer sleep – I used the duvet rather than the black blankie for extra warmth – I had another slightly late morning. We did get going before noon on a nice walk that took us around the large outcropping that’s near the campground.

We navigated around it and to the village of Sena de Luna, which is about 1 km from the campground and across the main road. We thought there was a cafe there, but after wandering around and encountering several of the local dogs we were met with disappointment.

There was a hostel, which we took as a hopeful sign, but upon asking a local old fellow where a cafe/bar was he proceeded to tell us how to get to the campground – ha ha!

On one building was a placque on the wall of the ‘virgen of Covadonga’ – apparently there’s a sanctuary at the top of the mountain, which is one of the hardest climbs in the country and is frequently included in the Vuelta.

The tv in the cafe/bar was turned on for us and we got to watch the day’s stage of the Vuelta, with no interruptions for soccer games.

After a nice dinner of bacon, eggs and mashed potatoes we had an early night, and it was a fairly cold one – glad for the extra warmth again of the duvet in my tent.

The next morning promised a beautiful sunny day. I actually did yoga! There are a couple of cement pads poured to house more permanent structures so I spread out my extra ground-cover and put my yoga mat on that – all in a nice spot of sunshine.

As we were getting ready to go for a bike ride the young dutch couple came to say goodbye to us – they’re heading to Santiago de Compestela then on to Portugal before returning home in December. We got on our ride just before noon to San Emiliano for a couple of things from the store there. It was a very nice ride with no steep or bad hills, and fairly considerate cars – Mo was happy as usual in her carriage, just like a little queen.

Back at the campground I had a nice hot shower, we did some laundry and hung it all out to dry as we retreated inside the cafe/bar to watch another stage of the Vuelta.

We didn’t need to get to San Emiliano that early so we sat down at the cafe/bar drinking our usual ‘cafe con leche, grande’ when a fellow at another table starting chatting with us. First he asked about the wi-fi password, which Colin remembered but I didn’t – I only had to use it the first time and since then my i:pad logs in automatically.

Anyway, the guy is originally from Belgium but now lives in Marseilles so he can see his two daughters, who were with him. They’re leaving for Portugal later in the day and will likely pop in at the horse show first. We had lots to talk about since we spent six weeks in Belgium in the spring.

The two little girls – about five and seven, maybe – loved Mo, as most children do. She’s so patient as they pat her and coo at her – she never gets growly or snaps at anyone, although she will chase a cat if it runs from her.

Just before noon we headed out to San Emiliano, which is under 10 km from the campground. It’s a nice looking little place – just big enough for several cafes/bars, a couple of banks and a supermarket.

It was pretty crowded because of the horse show so we had to park quite far up one of the roads but it wasn’t too bad. We found the showground easily enough – as an english lady at the campground said ‘just follow the crowd’ – no problem!

The show was awesome – lots of booths setup selling everything horsey, as well as booths for local specialities of chorizo, cheese, etc.

The horses were in several different roped areas, mostly mothers with littles ones, but also some stallions. They were taken in groups to a lower ringed area where they were judged, with the winner getting gold ribbons.

It rained off and on and we were glad to have our umbrellas. We had a nice lunch under a canopy – bacon sandwiches with fries, washed down with some very nice chilled red.

When the rain had stopped for a bit we walked around some more and saw some of the stallion judging. One of them got a little fiesty and we wondered if the owner would be able to control him – luckily he settled down.

A large ‘brindle’ (?) coloured horse won, and we think he knew he was special.

Other than with the stallions they only have to have a halter and rope on a few of the horses – once the ‘lead’ horse is taken somewhere the rest all follow. As the competition ended many of the horses were led right down the road.

I believe there’s a fair amount of buying/selling/trading of the horses in addition to the show. Once almost extinct they’ve made a comeback – they are Hispano-Breton and are used as work horses as well as for meat.

When we left San Emiliano we passed the campground and followed the road we’d walked on the other day as far as the village of Abelgas de Luna – not that much to see there.

They kindly put the Vuelta on the tv for us again in the bar so we could keep current with the progress of the race.

As I was lying awake early in the morning not knowing what time it was I heard a distant noise that gradually got louder and louder. It consisted of bells with occasional shouts, baa-baa-baaing, and the odd moo. Apparently a group of men were doing a mass move of sheep and cows and it took about 20 minutes for the whole group to pass. They were very near the campground – likely on the small side road that goes into the hills behind.

As I finally looked at the clock on my i:pad and saw it was only 7:30 I promptly rolled over and tried to get a bit more sleep. It had been a chilly night and even with my fuzzy black blankie on top of my sleeping bag I wasn’t really warm.

Having finally arisen just after 9:00 I had a really nice hot shower, then tapped on the campervan door to see about morning tea – Colin and Mo were still abed, although at least they were awake.

After breakfast we got the bikes off the rack, assembled the Mo-bile and went for a little ride. Just a few km up the main road – which is quite nice to ride on – we crossed the Rio Luna to check out the village on the other side – not much to see there, so back to a coffee shop we’d passed.

It was lovely – sitting outside on chairs on the grass, under some nice large trees – almost like being in someone’s courtyard. And the very creamy coffee was delicious.

Rather than heading straight back to the campground – we’d only ridden a few km – we continued down the same main road until we came to a junction. Not knowing what was ahead or how the road was we turned around back to the campground.

After another nice shower we had a late lunch picnic style outside at the table. Colin had gotten a crusty baguette for himself from the bread-man that delivers to the campground every morning, and we’d found some lovely cheddar cheese at the last store we’d shopped at. Together with some sliced veggies it was a tasty lunch.

We saw a poster on the office wall about a horse event of some kind coming up in the nearby village of San Emiliano in a couple of days and have decided it would be nice to go see what it’s about.

The next day instead of going for another ride we opted for a long walk. Colin had picked up a couple of maps from the office and there are trails all over the place around here.

I wanted to see if we could reach the lake so we hiked up the small road that runs by the campground – we did have great views of the Rio Luna just below us but didn’t go far enough to see the lake. It was starting to get quite hot and I was starting to get hungry so we turned back.

We saw a ‘for sale’ sign on one side of the road – it looked like there were at least two little cabins and a bit of land – hmmm!

Back at camp I cut the day-old baguette into small rounds and fried them up with a bit of onion. Some nice cherry tomatoes and the chorizo we got the other day, along with the cheddar cheese made another great picnic lunch.

After spending some time down at the bar – me drinking cold red wine and using the wi-fi – we had a quiet afternoon before going back to the bar for our dinner. The nice dutch fellow that, along with his wife/girlfriend, help run the campground put the race on for us – it’s the first day of the Vuelta a Espana and is the Team Time Trial. That didn’t last long, however, as several local men came in and the tv was quickly changed over to one of the soccer matches that were on.

It was later than I thought when I got up – I hadn’t heard the 7:00 alarm which was apparently because Colin’s phone had run out during the night. We had a kind-of-weak cup of tea as we were down to our last bag, then got on the road west towards Leon.

We followed a somewhat familiar route – past Najera and Burgos, then continuing west past Sahagun until just south of Leon.

The Camino de Santiago was almost always nearby, going alongside us, then crossing over to the other side, while occasionally veering a little south or north from the motorway.

Miss GPS managed, once again, to get us off track at the very end – we knew we were being misled and had to fire up Miss Wayz to get us back to where we were actually heading – the place that hopefully will be able to fix the fridge in the campervan. We don’t have a lot in the fridge right now since unless we’re hooked up to electrics it barely keeps things cool – the blue cheese is bluer than it should be, if you know what I mean!

We eventually located the place we were looking for – closed for lunch, of course. Just as I was looking up a phone number a lady walked up to us and told us a friend of hers ran the shop and he’d be back in about an hour, but we could wait where we were until he returned.

Promptly at 3:30 the fellow came back to open up the shop – he had a quick look at the fridge, then went indside and made a bunch of phone calls. The quickest he could get the necessary part was 10 days, so since we can’t possibly wait that long he decided to try to fix it himself.

I took Mo across the road to a cafe to wait while Colin assisted the very nice fellow. After about an hour they were done and the fridge is working – at least on gas, but not sure about battery. Colin came over to get us – we enjoyed some free tapas, including some local chorizo that the bartender was particularly pleased about.

We’d picked two campsites to choose from about an hour’s north of Leon – one right on a man-made lake/reservoir and the other just north of it. We passed on the first one – it looked very pretty but was squished in right between the highway and the lake.

The second one was perfect – very quiet, not too big, really nice people. It has a small bar with a nice outside sitting area, as well as wi-fi, although the signal’s not great.

After a nice hot shower and a nice hot cup of tea we locked the bikes and the Mobile to a tree, unhooked the electrics and drove into a town to get some groceries and find a bank.

We could find both about 25 km north in the hillside town of Torecilla en Cameros. We took a minor road in off the highway and wondered at times if we were going to make it through the narrow streets and closely packed cars – apparently there’s a much larger road in a little further along.

We stopped and asked a local man where the supermarket was and he told us in pretty good english to cross the bridge, turn right, park the campervan and walk up. His instructions were good – we turned a corner and went up and over a very narrow, steep stone bridge, turned right and found a nice little parking area about ½ mile on. After parking we walked back a bit to some wide stone stairs and climbed up to the ‘main’ road.

We didn’t walk very far before we saw everything we needed – cafes and bars, a bank and a supermarket that was actually open – it being the lunch hour by now. When we were doing our shopping it was kind of funny – we were looking at the veggies and talking about what we had and what we might need. I then asked the young girl for ‘dos tomate’ and she laughed and said ‘you can ask me in english’ but of course that was an easy one and she did understand my attempt at spanish.

We picked up a few other things, then retrieved Mo from where she’d been tethered outside and strolled back along the main road. We stopped at one of the cafes for a drink – it was a really nice little town, with lots of folks walking around or sitting together chatting. So nice to see the locals out and about and socializing during a weekday.

Heading back towards the campground we decided to continue on past it and check out the ‘Ermita de la Virgen de Lomos de Orios’ that was just 5.5 km further up the road. Along the way we had to stop for a flock of sheep – they were milling around on and beside the road, and two of the three large sheepdogs were actually lying on the road. They had no inclination to move until their owner made a hand gesture, then they immediatley got up and herded the sheep all to the side.

The ‘Ermita’ was in a very lovely spot but I’m not sure how old the building was, and the satellite dishes on one side kind of ruined the ‘hermitage’ idea of it.

The next morning was slightly brighter and eventually turned a bit sunny. We took our time packing up – I had to dry the tent fly out a bit and aired out my sleeping bag and tent.

We left the little campground around 12:30 – it was a lovely place and we were a bit sad to leave it. We headed north to Logrono to meet Ricardo later this evening, but with some time to kill we parked the campervan and walked into the city centre/old town.

We walked around some, then sat at a cafe and got a drink – once again incredibly tasty rioja. I had to restrain myself – with some effort – from getting into a verbal confrontation with four women at a nearby table. Two of them were smoking and I really, really wanted to say something like: ‘if you want to commit suicide by cigarette – go ahead! I don’t care! – but you have zero right to pollute the air that I breathe and give it to me second hand’.

But – I did restrain myself and chose to leave instead of having another lovely glass of rioja.

We went back to a lay-by and had a nice dinner of pasta and salad, then went out to meet Ricardo to pick up the three cases of rioja he’d gotten for Tony. We met him and his lovely wife Christina and their bellisima daughter Lucy just at the edge of town. Ricardo’s grandparents owned a place there and they still have it which they use now in the summer.

We had a really nice visit over a drink, then loaded the cases of rioja up – Lucy had left to go out with friends – she’s fifteen now and getting her wings, so to speak. She’s a lovely young lady and seems very well brought up so I’m sure she’ll do well.

Had a great sleep and didn’t get up until quite late – it’s very quiet here – all I could hear was the distant ringing of cowbells and the murmuring of the nearby creek. No traffic at night either, and blessedly few squawking children.

After a late breakfast we took a ride down into the village of Villoslada de Cameros to try to find a bank – no luck, but did find a nice cafe for a coffee. It was a fairly busy square and many of the people that came and went through it had dogs. The little girls were all dressed in their Sunday best with cute little shoes and bows in their hair.

One of the little dogs sat at the door of the cafe and waited very patiently for his owner to come out – he was so cute (the dog, that is).

Many of the houses had banners/posters up of the madonna and child. At first I thought they looked kind of like a buddha, but on closer look we figured out what it was. The madonna looks kind of Chinese – with a very large head – and the baby Jesus looks like a teenager in miniature – altogether a bit freakish.

Back at the campground we did some laundry – free! Well, I’m not sure it was supposed to be but when I asked the lady in the bar she told me to wait an hour then ask again. We waited, and since the machine was empty we filled it up – I didn’t see anyplace to put coins or tokens so took a chance and pressed some buttons. Eureka – it started.

A little later I checked on the progress and the machine had stopped – full of water but seemingly dead. Colin got the helpful man with the long hair to get it going again – he kept saying it was ‘no problem, no problem’ and that it was the machine’s fault. Eventually the laundry was done – free in the end, and hung to dry on the rack.

Another dinner at the cafe/bar – this time they were out of the chicken sandwich I wanted as well as the lamb chops Colin ordered. We both settled instead for the scampi and chips – very nice and crisp again.

The wi-fi isn’t too bad up near the cafe so I was finally able to start posting again – over a week behind, but better late than never.

After another very nice quiet night I roused from my tent around 8:00 and did a tiny bit of chi gong down at the creekside listening to nothing but the water and the birds. We went up to the cafe for a coffee and some wi-fi, then a bit later went for a walk up the road.

It was a lovely stroll and we shortly came to a nice creek-side park with gravel path – there were signs every now and then with descriptions of the local flora and fauna. It was totally peaceful until two cars arrived and discourged about eight people, including two very loud children – how to destroy the peacefulness.

A small shrine just aross a bridge was our turning-around point. Once again it was the large-headed madonna with the freakishly old looking baby – funny but kind of creepy at the same time.

Back at the campground we stopped at the cafe – it was quite busy and so loud I almost went back outside, but it was too cold to sit outdoors.

A little later we went back for dinner, having to leave Mo in the campervan again. We had to wait until 8:00 to order, and once again they didn’t have what we wanted as first choice. However my second choice of pizza was the best pizza I’ve had in ages – very nice crust and with toppings of ham, artichokes and olives – a really tasty combination.