Bienvenidos a España

Hello, faithful viewers. This will be a short post, as I have very little time on this coin-operated computer, but we´re finally in Spain, and have been for a few days now. We are in Bielsa, a nice little town with about a million grocery stores and wine in casks to fill for the ounce. Ryan is out looking for a bota de viño as we speak, a leather pouch to fill with wine that you keep strung around your neck.

I will relate the details from a couple of days ago, after the Ordesa Canyon, which is not as grand as the you-know-what. We started the day after a whole 12 hours of sleep, which was awesome, interrupted only by the wails of some creature that could´ve been a bird, pig, demon, something floating down the river past our tent. We hiked up into the canyon and there were beautiful walls striated in shades of ochre and umber, very nice, and nicer as we got along past the trees and could see both walls. We came to the cirque, which is a big glacial bite taken out of a mountainside, and opted for the adventurous route, a steep climb up a series of affixed chains. (Gainesville-rock-climber-friends, you would be proud.) This is the first time we´ve used our arms in quite some time. It was great, though I think it might have made Ryan queasy.

We got to the top of the wall and hiked past a refuge and on down into another valley after being told by one of the refuge-employees that Ryan´s shortcut would be dangerous due to snow. On the way into the valley we could see tiny multi-colored dots in the distance. We made guesses at what they were (colorful tents, a rainbow gathering, zombies dressed for a rave?) and discovered a co-ed scouting troop. We thought, ¨how cute,¨as they hola-ed us. But not for long...

We got into the canyon after hiking approx. 8 hours, set up our tent, and were reading/drifting off to sleep, when we heard the nauseating sound of happy children. The damn scouts had set up camp about ten feet from our tent--all 40 of them. We weighed our options, and moved our tent upriver for some peace and quiet. This is why I am now anti-scout.

A few last thoughts: Things that entertain me while I´m hiking: (1) Ryan knows all of the words to every song he´s ever heard, so he serenades me/himself, and I get to learn Billy Joel lyrics, etc. (2) Our awesome neighbors, Jeanna and Brian, gave us a book of challenges, so yesterday we made up a story involving a dragon, a princess, a banjo-picker, and the discovery of a native plant. (3) I try to remember the words to television commercials and public service jingles from when I was growing up. So far, Pepto Bismal is a good one, as is the jingle about power lines ¨Gotta keep away from those powerlines...Yeah! Gotta play it safe around those power lines!"

Thanks for reading. I hope all is well. Much love to you. Adios!