Day 2: Vejer de la Frontera to Arcos de la Frontera
The weather forecast says that the afternoon is going to become rather warm … we’re hearing a heat wave is on its way. So, we were prompt and ready to ride by 9:00 - bags were loaded on the van, sunscreen on, tires full of air, and we were ready. Starting in Vejer means your have a nice downhill start to the day and downhill we went. About 14 kilometers into the ride, we realized we still had the somewhat large room key with us. Sigh! It’s too long a day to turn back, so we’ll just have arrange to return it by mail.
After our descent from Vejer, we found ourselves riding through a variety of fields: wheat, sunflowers, and something that looked like chard.
About 15 kilometers into the ride we came across the first ranch that raises bulls (as in bullfighting bulls). Our timing was perfect as the caballeros were exercising the bulls.
As we were climbing we came across this corral full of bulls.
As we rode along an area being converted to a solar farm, we noticed a nest up high. In Oregon we would have assumed it was the Osprey, but here in Southern Spain we saw two storks in the nest. We watched them for a while and the male flew off. He was beautiful, but sadly I’d put the camera away.
After more hills and towns, we came across a beautiful lake. All I could think of was how refreshing a swim would be. However, we needed to keep focused and find our final destination of Arcos de la Frontera.
Once we entered the town, the roads were cobbled and STEEP. We ended up riding all the way up to our hotel because if we stopped, we’d never get started again and we deciding riding would be easier than walking. We’re staying in a Paradore - quite a lovely one, too, I might add.
