Quick Conclusion

Final Entry

Our trip back home consisted of a taxi ride, bus ride, 2 airplane rides, another bus ride, train ride, and a car ride from a friend who picked us up at the train station. All our bags made it with us even though there was a 30 minute delay in delivering the luggage to the terminal in Toulouse.

Spain is a country rich in history and has been plagued with much unrest from the beginning of time. The people are welcoming, friendly, and fun. The food is very different from France and we were lucky to sample the variety from the south to the north. The terrain is varied and it seems to have a bit of it all: arid, desert, mountains, green, and wet. It's a diverse place and it has been well worth the visit. Traversing the Iberian Peninsula has been a special treat and we look forward to visiting more of Spain over the years.

Being away from home for 5 weeks in springtime has its issues . . . overgrown gardens! Wonderful friends watered our potted plants and mowed (& weeded) the garden for us. When we left Foix, the trees were leafing out and now everything is green with full canopies of trees providing shade. Our roses have gone bonkers! And then there's our honeysuckle hedge - it grew so much while we were gone that it's falling over.

Incredible number of rose buds on these two bushes.

Happy roses with lavenders growing between. Lavender is supposed to keep the aphids at bay. We shall see.

My lemon tree with its two lemons still attached. It bloomed while we were gone.

The jasmine doubled in size while we were away.

The geraniums that I wintered are happy.

The peony has several blooms on it and the bay tree is growing.

Potted plants thrived with all the rain.

Flower bed off of our kitchen. Yes, it was laundry day - 3 tubs worth!

And the honeysuckle hedge that is falling inward.

The strawberries have started flowering, our cherry tree has green cherries on it this year, and the pear tree has pears again. Yeah!!! It'll be a fruitful year.

So, while we recover from our ride, gardening is the name of the game. The tandem is fully built out and sparkling clean once again just waiting to go for another ride. Tomorrow . . .

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Bill BogueThanks so much for sharing your adventure with all of us! It was interesting to see what the country was like, particularly the stretches that Kathy & I went through on last year’s Camino ride. Look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
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11 months ago

Sanna PhinneyTo Bill BogueThe Wild Atlantic Way … coming next May/June. Self-supported touring again.
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11 months ago

Rich FrasierAmazing ride! You two are my heroes! Thanks for keeping this journal. It was so fun to follow along, even if I got distracted by our own touring at the end. Welcome home!
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11 months ago