Sunday, November 09, 2008

Rolling


Day: 410
Albufeira to Lagos
Time: 3:48
Distance: 60 km
Avg Speed: 15.8 kph
Terrain: Rolling
Location: N 37˚ 05’ 42.1”, E 08˚ 40’ 28.4”

Portugal has reverted to its old ways for us. When we first arrived in the north it was warm and sunny. Since then a cold front had blown in and cooled things off a bit for not only Portugal, but most of Europe. Today we got back those clear sunny days with enough warmth to roll in a t-shirt. First thing we had to do before getting out of Albufeira was a little laundry though. The laundromat was on our way out of town so we stopped and did a load of wash. It is always nice to have a couple of clean items swimming in your pannier. Leslie watched the wash while I ran over to the grocery store to get some provisions for the day. We had been spoiled with refrigeration for a week and we really didn’t have anything road stable (or hot pannier proof). I timed my shopping perfect to coincide with the mad Saturday rush. I knew the layout of this store so I quickly got what I came for, but had a hard time finding the peanut butter. Peanut butter isn’t a big thing in Europe (or the rest of the world) but at most big markets you can usually find a jar or two. I was looking in all the aisles and paying more attention to the search rather than my surroundings. I stood up from looking down low when WHOOSH, something hit my little basket and spun me around. No voice, no look, nothing, just the back end of a little old lady rushing by me heading to the fish section. I took that as my cue to find that PB and get out of dodge before a whole gang of them came after me. I eventually found it and timed my arrival back at the laundry to help fold. We got on the road with the sun high and the temperature getting into the 70’s. The landscapes around us changed from busy resort towns, to agriculture lands with orange and lemon trees, to sleepy local towns still in the 1950’s, to large river estuaries teeming with birds and fishermen. We eventually located Lagos and eventually found a place to stay. This past week has by far been the longest break we have had this leg of our journey and both of us are feeling a little bit haggard tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice one and we are looking forward to getting back our bike legs.
CK

ps - Happy Birthday to Makayla!

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