| Erin's Alhaurin El Grande Journals 6-9-02 Sunday, nothing in town would be open and George had offered to take us off-roading in his Explorer to get a view of the surrounding countryside. We gratefully agreed and started our day with some fresh bread with cheese, butter & jam, as well as some hard-boiled eggs and coffee for me. Around 11 we packed a cooler and some extra oil just in case, then piled into the truck. We only went a few blocks before starting the off-road thing, as George took us through some of the back roads and along some of the 'campos' of the neighbors in town. These are basically country houses, but Glenn and George scoffed at this idea, as they are only about a 10 minute drive from the 'city homes.' What kind of vacation from real life is that, they ask? Well, anywhere that has a garden & orchard and more space would be a 'country home' to a city girl like me! I thought they were charming. Besides, you can't keep your horse or goats in the city home... Then we started getting out into the real countryside. Going up dry river beds, jouncing over last year's potholes, winding around hairpin curves in 4WD was fun! We had the windows open for the cool breeze and hot sun on our faces, so it was great! We finally got up onto the ridges of the mini-mountains across the valley from Alhaurin El Grande, and could see all the way to Malaga and the sea. Then we went further into the ridges to a small town perched on a hillside, and had some great tapas for lunch. After our break, we piled back in the car and bounced on. George knows these back roads really well, as he is a big motorcross guy (used to be mechanic for the professionals!), and used to have his home business giving motorbike tours in the hills here. He even brought us to a natural spring which comes right out of the mountain and is the only water supply for a nearby town. Each household comes up with a bunch of jugs and gets their water supply for the day there! It was cool, good water - we each took a sip. Finally we were heading back, and after about 7 hours in the truck we were feeling ready to get out. We checked emails, made sandwiches for dinner, and watched Empire of the Sun, which George had on tape, until 2am. In the midst of this, Glenn's mom called and got to chat with him, as we were finally at a phone number where she could call US instead of our usual noisy phone booth calls. It was a good day. |
| Another pristine Alhaurin El Grande church, this one with a great valley view. |
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