We followed the old highway out of town which skirted along the Autovia, and as such the traffic remained on the Autovia while we had virtually none. Nice start to the day. This route out of Caceres was golden fields like we're used to seeing in Northeastern Oregon and Eastern Washington. After a short bit, we turned north onto some small country roads that wander through ornithological delights. Now we really felt like we were in North Central Oregon - actually, a lot of it reminded me of the country highway into Maupin and around Shaniko.
After a lovely descent we encountered this riparian area. As I walked up to the road side to look over into the water I heard a splash. When I looked down there was a turtle swimming and then he came up for air and was fully visible. He was a good size guy. By the time I got the camera out, he had sighted us and stayed under water in the shadows and popped up so quickly that pictures were impossible.
After 5 minutes or so, we gave up trying to photograph him.
Then we continued the descent to the main river crossing. Water is very low around here as Spain is experiencing a severe draught. But it was still very pretty.
Looking down from the bridge directly into the water.
We climbed up the short, but steep grade, and found a village with an open cafe. Today is "Labor Day" in Spain (and France), so towns seem to be quite lively. There was a very small market happening in the square next to the cafe.
We enjoyed another refresco de limon while sitting in the shade.
Once again we were on the road and had another wonderful sweeping descent - oh yes, the ride profile showed a lump at the bottom of the valley. Back down to the river we went and much to our surprise and delight - turtles. We counted at least 12. Hope you can see them.
And this is the best shot. Look at the point of the rock on the left middle of the photo. There's one close to the rock ledge and another one further into the water.
We met a Belgium couple at this turtle sighting area and they told us that they visit this area annually. They explained that last year there were many more wildflowers and the birds were more abundant. The draught is causing grave concerns as there hasn't been any rain yet this spring.
As we continued down the road, we came across this aqueduct
Our usual routine once we park the bike is to retrieve our luggage and find our room. After showers, we get our laundry sorted before heading out to explore the town. Today, "Labor Day", is special in Trujillo - it's the national cheese festival. We wandered through the cobbled narrow roads looking for a cold beverage and kept moving towards the din of a crowd. We came across the plaza where the festival was set up and figured out how to buy tickets. Tickets gave us beer or wine, and bites of cheese from the various vendors.
