On the Road: Dia Cinco

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we got a later start on our travels than we had intended. We left Toledo around 4:30 to tour Northern Spain. With the delayed start, our itinerary changed, and we intended to drive halfway to Soria to rest for the night. We were both a little nervous about driving Victor’s car for fear that something could happen to it. Just as we were both settling into our roles as driver (J. Santiago) and navigator (me), the oil light came on. We were at a very small town (La Torresavinan) on the Route of Don Quixote where we spent about forty-five minutes locating the car manual, putting in oil, and making sure that everything was going to operate smoothly. The town was hardly a town at all. There were a few houses, but there were no businesses that we saw.

The "town":

The view:

The first of our car woes:
Once we got back on the road, everything went smoothly as we went to Soria. Perhaps Saint Christopher helped guide us along the way…

Since our plan was to conserve money and camp during our tour of Northern Spain, we had to drive several kilometers outside of Soria to a tiny village called Valdeavellano de Tera to camp. The village was simply charming and was like stepping back in time one hundred years. It was so tiny and peaceful, situated perfectly atop a mountain. Spain in this region and further north is known as Espana Verde (Green Spain) because it is strikingly different from the brown landscape seen further south around and below Toledo. When I retire, I can see myself living in a quaint town like this. Unfortunately, my batteries died on my camera while I was there, so I only have a few pictures of the campsite. The campsite was nice but very empty since the traditional holiday period for Spaniards is mid-July through August. We were there with about four other people. It got extremely cold at night, and our meager preparations for camping did not prepare us for the cold of Northern Spain’s evenings, especially on top of a mountain (where you could see snow further up the peaks!). We borrowed Victor’s tent, had seats used for bull fights as pillows, and blankets. Needless to say, without individual sleeping bags, it was very chilly!

The campsite (notice there were only two other cars):

The delicious restaurant at the campsite:

The campsite and J. Santiago with Victor's "totally awesome headlamp." (Seriously, I must get him one of these for Christmas...you should have seen him walking around with it! :) Actually, I was kind of jealous considering my only flashlight came from a compact that I brought with me...). By the way, notice all the empty camping sites: