Woke up in the middle of the night to one of the dogs burrowing into my sleeping bag with me – it reminded me of Sly snuggling up and almost made me homesick for a minute. It was little Mo and she stayed with me for the rest of the night.

Got up shortly after 8 to a beautiful morning – clear blue sky, but on the chilly side. There were still only six campervans where we were, but more started arriving throughout the morning. I went for a walk up the hill a bit – we’re not very far from the top of the climb.

I saw the Dutch fellow that had been at the ITT the other day – there are now several of the same folks here that we met already.

The mosquito bites I got on my right arm the other day have really flared up – Colin thinks they might be horse fly or deer fly bites. They were only a bit itchy, but one of them is about 2 1/2 inches across with a much darker red bit in the middle with a blister type thing in the centre. Colin gave me some stuff to spray on it, then later some other stuff to rub on. Hopefully it isn’t infected and looks worse than it really is.

Partway through the morning a service car came by – they were scooping up the cow patties off of the road – the pooper-scooper patrol!

Took the doggies for a walk up the hill in the other direction – a nice quiet side road. More cars coming all the time. Had a nice lunch, then moved the table to the roadside to watch the action.

The cavalcade again came through very quickly, but this time I scored – 3 hats, a packet of olives, and a whole bunch of candies (that I gave away to the kids behind us).

At one time I counted over 50 cars in addition to 11 or 12 campervans in the area – I couldn’t believe how long they allowed cars and cyclists to keep coming up and down the road before the racers arrived.

I moved up the road a bit to watch the race – as usual it was preceeded by the helicopters and cheering from crowds below us.

I got some really good shots, including one of Contador – it was such fun! It took a while for all of the racers to pass in small bunches – probably 15 or 20 minutes from the first to the last.

I was just before a watering station so after the last racer went thru I walked up and asked an Orica Scott guy if I could have a bidon (water bottle) and he gave me one! I should have gone up earlier and asked every team’s guy – I could have a collection.

Colin took down the flags and we were on our way again in about 1/2 hour. We drove north to the coast passing out of Cantabria and into Asturia. They have a very interesting way of slowing down the traffic when you reach a village – rather than having a speed bump or two there’s a blinking yellow light with a red light about 50 metres further on. As soon as you slow down enough the red light starts to blink yellow so you never really have to stop.

Colin consulted his GPS for the nearest campsite and there was one only a couple of km away – right on the ocean. It was beautiful – all terraced and with lots of awesome tent sites.

We went down for a drink and to use the wi-fi, which was very slow. We actually stayed for dinner, which was just excellent – we ordered a starter of fried squid and then shared a main course of ‘cheek of pork’ – it was so tender and delicious!

Face-timed Dominic to let him know I was ok, but still would likely be out of touch for a couple more days, then went back to the campervan and read a bit before hitting the hay.

Had a really good sleep – got up just after 7:00 and went for a shower. Had to wait a few minutes for the hot to kick in, but when it did it was great, although it faded out a time or two it did come back.

The town of Villarcayo was larger than it seemed going by the map – many towns have the same size dot on the map but vary greatly in actual size. We stopped at a store to stock up on food, then headed back south a bit to get on the N232 again to go northwest via Soncillo and Reinosa. Passed into Cantabria, then drove on what was supposed to be an extra-picturesque part of road but could only see about 20 feet into the very dense fog. We passed many signs on the road describing the wonderful sights that we couldn’t see because of the fog.

Once we did get out of the clouds the countryside was very beautiful – fairly large mountains, lovely valleys, very green with lots of trees.

At one point there were some cows on the road – a large bull and a cow – didn’t seem the least worried or interested in us and they were not moving so we just slowed down and passed them by.

We drove as far as the top of the Collada de la Hoz, then back-tracked just a bit to the one wide spot we’d seen – not many places on any of the climbs to park a campervan, but even so we were the first ones there.

Over the next few hours several more campervans arrived – four of them were folks we’d been at the ITT with on Tuesday.

Finished the book I was reading – sleeping in the van again rather than the tent as it’s wet, rocky, and somewhat chilly.

Up nice and early so we don’t miss anything – beautiful clear blue sky to start, that rapidly changed to totally overcast. Saw the first Camino walker around 7:30 – he must have started very early, and they just kept coming – hundreds I bet thoughout the morning. The ones that arrived near noon were likely wishing they had left much earlier – the overcast had dissipated and it was starting to get very hot.

All of the police motos came thru twice – first around noon, then again about an hour later – probably about sixty or more, lights flashing and everything. Quite a few racers did a test run – got some good photos of Vicenzo Nibali and Michael Woods.

Colin ran into an English couple that he’d met at the Tour last year – the cycling fan world is small – they seemed like very nice folks and had a little visit getting caught up on each others’ news.

The cavalcade went thru very quickly, and threw most of their goodies on the other side of the road. I did get a couple of things, but it wasn’t nearly as large or exciting as the Tour’s.

There was a group of folks down near the bend below us that sounded like they were having a really great time – the kind you see on tv almost blocking the road, then running along with the riders up the hill, although I didn’t see any pink hair or orange tutus.

The first racer left the start at 1:32 and we could tell he was coming by the arrival of the helicopters.

First was the police heli, then the tv ones – the first rider got to us around 2, and then after that every minute or so, although sometimes they were closer together and two would pass at almost the same time, sometimes further apart.

I had found a really great spot to take photos from – not where I had originally staked out. It was on the inside of a bend near the top of a small hill and as the riders got near they all veered to that side of the road. I got some really great shots, but was frustrated a few times as well.

By the time Froome passed we had been out on the road for almost 4 hours in the blazing sun. As usual as soon as the last racer had gone by the crowd started to disperse – we were already pretty well packed up and were on the road within about half an hour.

We drove west past Logrono, then followed the smaller highway northwest towards Santander, intending to stop for pizza somewhere along the way. We did pass thru several small towns, but didn’t see much open for dinner, so kept going until we came to the town of Villarcayo. We saw a sign for a campground and decided that it would be nice to stop there so we could have showers, etc.

The campground has a bar/restaurant, but we ended up having pasta in the campervan, then going down for a drink and some wi-fi. The signal was very poor so all I did was face-time Dominic to let him know I’m ok but may again be out of touch for a few days. I didn’t bother trying to load any photos so the blog will have to wait – I’m going to be loading about a week’s worth by the time I’m at a place with a good enough signal.

Colin’s alarm went off at 7:00 and we decided that I might as well go into Logrono with him to get the van checked out rather than waiting by myself at the spot we’ve chosen to watch from.

Found the campervan place no problem – GPS is great and Ricardo did take us to it last night. He met us there at 8:00 in case Colin needed an interpreter, but the electrician spoke very good English.

Ricardo and family had gone to the airport last night when all of the riders arrived from down south – he has photos of himself with Contador, Froome, and a bunch of others. Apparently there were some press folks there but hardly any other fans and the riders were happy to pose for shots with them – I wish I’d been there!

The problem with the van was only a fuse (as we’d suspected and hoped) and took only about 15 minutes to change. One of the problems is that Fiat doesn’t always put the fuse box in the same place on every model so sometimes they have to search for it. Anyway it was quick and easy and not outrageously expensive. I took the opportunity to use the WC and I must say that for an autoshop it was a very nice one – I guess they cater to a more wealthy crowd and need to keep up appearances.

Back at the chosen spot there was another, large campervan parked on the road right at the entrance to the pullout, and several more arrived during the day. Camino hikers by the dozens passed by, many stopping for a rest after the very hard climb getting here.

I took the dogs for a walk down the hill, and it is extremely steep. We walked back up the road – several more campervans are down at the next bend.

Talked to a few of the walkers – one older couple from Calgary, whose son lives at the coast, and a group of four that were two Irish, one Canadian (from Courtenay) and one American (who did admit to sometimes saying he was a Canuck!).

There are some other interesting flag displays, and the folks down at the first bend have written a bunch of stuff on the road. The almost-full moon came up as the sun was going down – colours were spectacular – a beautiful end to the day.

Got up before 7:30 so I had time for a nice hot shower before I packed up the tent – it was soaked from condensation, but I folded everything up and put it all in the wetbag. Headed to the village of Cerezo de Rio Tiron, where we met some friends of Neil’s friends – Colin had met them a few weeks ago in Mansle and they live in Logrono and have a summer house in the village. They are Ricardo, his wife Christina and their daughter Lucy (Lucia). Ricardo is a teacher, and is also very interested in cycling and the cycling races. The ITT of this year’s Vuelta ends in Logrono, so he’s going to help us find a spot along the route to watch from.

We had a really nice walk around their village then sat for a drink at a cafe before going to their house for lunch.

They have a black and white cat named Daisy and she seemed friendly enough to me until she smelled the dogs on my hands – then she hissed and pulled away. I’m not used to cats that don’t like me.

Lunch was excellent – tomatoes with garlic, prosciutto, chorizzo, and some kind of mushroom with bacon (or something). The main course was very tender and delicious lamb in tomato and red pepper sauce.

After lunch we took a short drive to another village – Sajazarro (?) which was voted one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. Hardly any cars are allowed so we parked outside and walked in. It was lovely – a really nice park, a castle (now privately owned) and flower-decked winding streets. One of the streets is so narrow they have a sculpture of two arms reaching towards each other and almost touching.

Had another drink at a cafe there, then followed them back to Cuzcritta, where they collected the cat, and returned via a different route back to Logrono.

After they dropped the cat off at their place in the city they led us past the campervan service place that hopefully will be able to fix the blown fuse tomorrow morning. Next they led us out along the ITT course to a place that Ricardo had scouted out as an ideal spot for us to park it for 2 days until the race. It is perfect – at the top of a small hill and at a curve – we’ll be able to see the riders coming one-by-one straight at us. It’s also right on the Camino route – there’s a couple of benches for the hikers to take a rest on, as they come up a very steep hill right at the spot we’re at.

The family left us there – we’ll see them again tomorrow as it’s a rest day for the Vuelta and the riders will all be testing out the course and getting ready for Tuesday. Spread out all of my wet camping gear hoping the black clouds overhead don’t open up and soak it all again.

We decided it might be best if I didn’t pitch the tent tonight – there’s really no flat space, and what there is is covered with thistles and ant-hills. We re-arranged the inside of the campervan so that I have my sleeping space and Colin and the dogs have theirs. I woke up a couple of times in the night to the sound of rain on the roof – just as glad to be inside.

It’s a good thing I went to sleep so early – when I woke up at 12:07 am to visit the WC it seemed that almost the entire camp was still up. A hoard of young girls were congregated at the entrance, sitting all over the steps and inside on the counters. When I left I actually had to say excuse me to get one of the little brats to move so I could go down the steps. At the same time another woman was trying to get in and had the same problem.

I had just gotten settled back at the tent again when the singing from the bar started. It sounded like a bunch of drunk men singing an anthem, or maybe a football club song – over and over. It would be quiet for a few minutes, then start again. It might have been different songs, but kind of sounded the same to me – very loud and a bit out of tune. I think they must have finally packed it in around 1:30.

When I did get up just after 7:30 it was a beautiful, if cool morning. I did yoga then had a nice breakfast inside the campervan. I rode into town around 11:30 to get a haircut. The town is on one of the main routes of the Camino – there are hostels everywhere, and folks with walking poles all over the place.

I had looked up on ‘google translate’ how to ask for a haircut (and written it down on a flash-card), so I would be understood or if I had to ask for help finding a place. I did find the salon that I’d looked up online, but the lady indicated she was too busy. She did, however, try – without speaking any English – to direct me to another place that might be able to help me. I rode down and around a bit, then found the other salon on the main street. That lady said she couldn’t help me right away, but then wrote down ‘12:45’ and I understood that if I came back then she’d be able to fit me in.

Rode back to the main square and sat outside drinking an 80 cent glass of local red. Popped across the street to the market in case it closed for a 3 hour lunch, then back to the cafe to finish my wine. There was some sort of running race happening – they had barriers up and were stopping traffic as runners came thru – men and women.

Got back to the salon in time to look thru a couple of hair magazines. I picked three pic’s of possible cuts and showed them to her – I told her (using gestures) that I wanted it very short and that the colour wasn’t good any more, so she chose one of the cuts and got to work.

It might be the shortest my hair has ever been – most of the faded purple colour is gone and the top now blends in with the sides and back.

Rode back to the campground – Colin says the cut looks ok. We went up to the bar just before 3 and got them to put the Vuelta on the big screen for us. Several Spanish men also watched, but none of the boys that were there were interested – they were all absorbed with their various screens – phones, ipads, whatever.
When I went to do the lunch dishes I tried to turn on the light above the sink and it wouldn’t go on – Colin discovered that we had blown a fuse (trying to power up all of our devices while we had electricity).

Later on in the ‘wi-fi area’ of the bar I managed to spill a whole glass of wine all over the table and floor – without breaking the glass. I went to the bar and tried to tell the bartender but he didn’t understand – he pulled out his phone and when I repeated what happened into the phone it translated it. Spillage cleaned up in no time.

I wanted to go for an evening swim, so got into my suit and headed to the pool – gate locked. A group of folks were outside the bar, which is right next to the pool, and they told me it was 8:30 and the pool closes at 8 – rats – no swim.

Stayed up reading for a bit, and eating peanuts and chips – light out a little later than the last few nights.

Got up before 8:00 after a pretty good, long sleep – sun shining brightly in a cloud-less blue sky. Had a nice hot shower, then did yoga in the sunshine. The tent, fly and ground cover were all soaked from the condensation, so I spread them out to dry while I ate breakfast and had tea.

We got going shortly after 11:00 and headed to Logrono – not too far a drive. Just as we entered the city we saw a big truck with a dragon on the back going around the round-about and under an underpass – it slowed right down but did manage to clear it without damaging the dragon’s horns.

Experienced a bit of frustration in the city trying to find parking so we could go into the market, so we just parked on the street (as the locals do) and set in a course for the campground instead, figuring we would find another market somewhere along the way.

Passed more signs for the Camino de Santiago, so know that one of the routes is around here somewhere. Found the campground just outside the town of Navarrete – checked in, then immediately drove back into the town to get some food. The parking lot across from the store is actually a small bull ring that’s been paved over but the seats are still there – yuck. Returned to camp, setup my tent, then had a nice lunch.

Watched the last bit of today’s Vuelta stage on the big screen in the bar – next to a table of very loud girls playing a card game of some sort. Enjoyed the local red wine – 1 euro a glass. Stayed for quite awhile and ended up having mini-pizza for dinner – I had the ‘tropical’ which included pineapple and corn, and was very tasty.

Sat and watched a bunch of kids of various ages riding their bikes up and down on the paved strip that runs from the entrance past reception and to the far fence. The smallest girl we saw couldn’t have been much more than 2 years old and was going great (on a two-wheeler with no training wheels) until she tipped over and got a scrape on her hand.

Woke up in the middle of the night to pouring rain and howling wind. The rain eventually slacked off but the wind never quit. Just after the sun rose I thought it was going to be ok and everything would dry by the time I was ready to pack up, but then the rain started again.

Got up around 8:00 – rain had finally stopped again so I started to get ready to pack. Colin and I had a discussion over a cup of tea on whether or not we should stay another night, or continue on. We eventually decided that we might as well pack up and go, so I took the tent down and hung everything I could on the fence and the nearest olive tree to dry out as much as possible.

Went to the restaurant for a cup of tea, then back to see how things were drying. Thanks to the wind most of my stuff was ok to pack so I loaded it all in and we left Murillo de Gallego right around noon.

The whole area seems to have lots and lots of wind farms, and we passed a few solar farms as well. There also seems to be a great deal of various kinds of factory-type farming – lots of large covered barns that we guessed were chickens, although some may have been for cows. Didn’t look like any outdoor space for whatever they were.

Headed southwest to Ejea de los Cabelleros, then northwest to Sadaba, where we stopped for lunch in the shade right next to the river in the town. After we left Sadaba we continued northwest to Carcastillo, then ended up doing a little extra driving trying to find a campground for the night. Neither of us was overly thrilled with the first one we tried just outside Villfranca, so Colin looked up another one and we ended up going north to Olite. This one seemed better, so we decided to stay.

Most of the campground seemed to be permanent little cottages, some with very pretty yards, but we were directed to the very back, which was just a large field with two small buildings marked WC.

Setup next to a fence with bushes on the other side next to a small dirt road. The WC’s were nicer than they looked from the outside, complete with shower and plenty of hot water. There are lots of little white snails around – on the ground, one on the shower door, another on the WC wall, but there doesn’t seem to be a mosquito problem – I’ll take the snails any day.

Had dinner, then went to bed very early – it was still light out and I intended to read for a bit but was so tired I gave up and went to sleep. I think it was before 9:00 – the earliest in a long time.

We’re back in a land of church bells – no less than four separate bongings to tell us it was 8:00. I don’t think the village across the road is large enough for four churches, so maybe it was two churches ringing twice each – all at slight intervals. And the last one – at about 8:04 had five sets of 3 bongs – not sure what the count of 15 was about.

Had a nice hot shower then did yoga under an olive tree with the sun shining thru. Ate a leisurely breakfast, did dishes, then started out on our walk to the village under the red stone formations.

It was only about 4 km altogether, but the walk took us over an hour – it was downhill to the river, then across a bridge and mostly up from there. We climbed so high that we were looking down across the river to the campground as well as the village that’s across the road and up the hill from it.

The ‘Mallos de Rigos’ were even more impressive up close – although I must say I actually wouldn’t want to live there. At least there was a restaurant in the village of Rigos once you got up the climb – we had a small pizza, one cup of tea, one cup of coffee and a small beer – 18 euros (!). There are vultures around the peaks of the Mallos – they soar effortlessly on the uprising currents.

The walk back was much less taxing than the walk up had been – it actually looked much steeper going down than it had coming up. Stopped at the restaurant before the campground and had a nice cold bottle of water, then went up and did a bit of laundry.

Changed into my swimsuit and went down to the pool for a swim – it was very refreshing and not crowded. Awesome to float on my back and look up at the red rocks.

Joined Colin at the restaurant for a nice glass of wine before I went up to check how my laundry was drying. It was dry enough to get changed back into the shorts I’d washed, so I took the doggies back down with me to the restaurant – they’d begged me not to leave them – I couldn’t help it!

Came back to the campervan for a light dinner, then back to the restaurant for another glass of wine and more free wi-fi.

It rained, thundered and lightninged off and on all night long. The lightening was, I believe, sheet rather than fork (although I never poked my head out the of the tent to look), and the thunder was way behind it so I concluded it was fairly far away. The rain came and went – every time I thought it was going to stop I would hear it coming again – like a train in the distance that got closer and closer and then was upon you full force.

Everything was totally soaked when I got up, but I packed the tent, fly and ground cover up and just stuck it in one of my waterproof bags hoping I could dry it out later.

We were on our way right at 10 – as we left Dax there’s a large figure of local sprinting hero and Tour de France green jersey winner (in the sixties) Andre Darrigade in one of the many traffic circles. Traffic circles (round-abouts as they call them here) are really big everywhere in Europe, and many have arrangements of trees, flowers, statue, etc.

Headed southeast towards Pau, but turned off the main highway before we got there. Stopped at a road-side park for lunch – beautiful little pond and lots of trees in a very lovely valley in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

It was a nice day so we decided to keep going down into Spain. Went thru Oloron Ste. Marie then took the road over the peak of Col du Somport rather than going thru the tunnel, and passed into Spain somewhere near the summit. We did hit some rain along the way, but it wasn’t too bad.

Continued south to the town of Jaca then turned west for a bit thru very flat, dry countryside. It already seems very different here than the French side of the mountains – smaller, scrubbier trees and drier looking.

Turned south again onto a quieter road and after a bit came upon some spectacular red stone outcroppings and mesa – saw a sign for a campground and decided it looked like a place we could stop for a night or two. It’s a very lovely place in the middle of an olive orchard.

Spread my soaked tenting stuff out on the wooden fence to dry, then we went down to the restaurant for a drink – sat on the outside terrace looking across the swimming pool and on to the red rock formations – not a bad spot to relax! The wind started to pick up so I went back to check on my hanging tent gear – it was dry enough so I set up under an olive tree and went back down to the restaurant.

Colin left at one point and when he came back told me I better peg down the tent again – the wind had uprooted it and the only reason it hadn’t been completely blown away was that the campervan was in the way. He had stuck a couple of the pegs back in to hold it in place until I could get back and re-set it. Once I’d pounded the pegs in again and thrown all of my bags in to hold it down I figured it’d be ok.

Had a lovely dinner of steak with mushrooms and rice, then went back down to the restaurant for another glass of wine – very nice dry red, probably local. The wind had picked up again and the sky was full of black clouds so we moved inside the restaurant. There are lots of paintings right on the walls that are very colourful and interesting.

Back at the campervan we chatted for quite a while, then I moved back to my tent intending to read for a bit but was so tired I just turned my little light off and fell asleep.