It was a great trip! I remember thinking when I first got on my bike that I couldn't believe I was actually cycling in Spain, and then when I was disassembling my bike in Hotel Loiu's basement, I was thinking that I couldn't believe it was already over. I guess that's the sign of a good vacation!

I said at the beginning I would comment on the gear I took. For the most part, yes, I would take pretty well the same things if I was packing for a similar trip again.

Referring to my list, here are a few comments:

Garmin 810: I learned when I got home that a corrupt file might have been causing the problems. That file has now been deleted and time will tell. I noticed during this trip that Garmin's search function (for restaurants, accommodation, etc.) often didn't yield geographically close results when it should have, unlike in Germany last year. This is most likely because Openfietsmap didn't have many "listings" in the areas I was in.

Fleece pillowcase: Glad I brought this plus my light down jacket. Very comfortable and there were some evenings I wore the jacket!

Camp washcloth: this is a PackTowl personal towel in size small. I used it as a small towel, as a washcloth, and as a sweat wiper. I clipped it to the cord attaching my Ortlieb map case to my handlebar bag and kept it tucked between the map case and the top of the bag. I could then pull it out when I stopped to wipe my face and keep the sweat out of my eyes. I stopped a lot on the way up those cols in the heat.

Clothes: I wore everything except the shoe covers and I would have worn those had I not been already soaked on the way to Gorliz. Next time, a third pair of shorts since I wore the same ones for riding every day and the others off the bike. That meant that the "off-the-bike" shorts didn't have a chance to get washed since I prefer not to strap wet laundry on my bike while riding.

Now that I'm back, I'm already thinking about where to go next year. I think Al will come with me and his request is "somewhere where it's not over 40 degrees." I think Ireland will fit that requirement!