In the last post, I described how the kids stayed amused. The balcony was absolutely invaluable.
But enough play time. It’s time for our final day in Spain, which we decided to spend hiking. The hike shouldn’t be that difficult, except it seemed to have rained recently and there was so much mud!
Here I am leading everyone down the wrong path.
Luckily we found our way again and got back on track. Look at that sky!
We ended up splitting up from Grandma and Grandpa about halfway through. They wisely took a spur that led more quickly back to the visitor center while we plunged ahead into more mud.
The kids were just amazing. I can’t believe how much of the trail they were able to do on their own, particularly little Mina with her teeny legs. But they just kept going!
Last time Yen and I did this trail, we saw lots of mountain sheep and even stumbled across some cows. This time we only spotted this guy from far below. I guess they don’t like the mud either.
This may have been the kids’ favorite part of the whole trail. Into the mountain!
In Linus’s hand is a digestive biscuit. They lived on those through the entire trip. Of course one does need fuel for adventuring!
I should give credit to myself too, I suppose. I did a pretty significant stretch of climbing with Linus on my shoulders. The secret is single-leg squats!
The home stretch! We were back on the main trail by then, and the mud was profound. Linus told me he was a little mud owl.
Back safe and sound in the visitor center! Luckily it had a restaurant – which also turned out to be surprisingly good!
On the way home, we stopped off at a neolithic site.
Here’s Linus bravely heading into the site. I was proud of him, because the dark isn’t exactly his favorite thing.
This photo really doesn’t capture what you’re seeing. It’s a huge, perfectly round, and very deep hole in the middle of the chamber. Barely covered by this grate, I might add. No idea what it was used for, though the chamber seems to be for funerals.
Here’s a shot of the outside.
And there were cats, of course! Mina offered this one a stick. It declined.
The next morning, the Trans boarded a plane at 6am, and Grandma and Grandpa set out on a road trip. We would meet back again in Lisbon.