What a wonderful trip

Here we go on our week long tour of Austurias to find out what the province is all about, besides the cider.

Day 1.... we headed out on Saturday, once we had finished packing and everything, which of course means around 6 pm.

Destination number one was a town called Llanes, located on the eastern side of the province. (We more or less went from east to west during the week and totaled about 1000 kilometers).

We arrived late and went to sleep next to the beach. The next day we woke up and walked all of Llanes, Below......(upper left) Llanes is famous for those painted cube things that break the waves. (bottom right)There are tons of fishermen, just chillin and fishing for 4370673 hours.Bright colored houses are typical of the region. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, and oranges... or in this case, pink. We went for a walk along the coast. The weather here is strange, one minute its rainy and then the sun comes out the next. I can´t say there was any day that wasn´t sunny, but there also was probably no day that wasn´t rainy....These trees caught my eye because if you look closely they are all interconnected... I guess the branches must just crash into eachother and fuse together?

Heading out

Today I am going to Asturias....... (highlighted in red) I think its like a 4 hour drive. Its supposed to be beautiful and very green.

So I´m back in Spain again.

So I´m back in Spain wrapping things up. I got in a few days ago and I am just realizing how much I missed Madrid! I am happy to be here and to be on vacation. The other day I went for a run in a park and around a lake and through the city. Something I had been meaning to do for the past year, but never found time or motivation to do. :)

The day before yesterday we went climbing. I climbed pretty horribly, I think its not gonna be long before I lose any eurostyle that I had..... but I enjoyed what was probably one of, if not the, last glimpses of Patones (its been my homefield these past couple years, as far as climbing goes).

Today I spent the entire day moving. It´s crazy saying goodbye, but I am happy that I will be returning to my family and my city........

Anyways, as long as I am over here I am gonna take full advantage of my vacation. In the next few days Javi and I are gonna head up to Asturias, an area in nothern Spain. He´s told me that it´s green and beautiful. I know that it´s famous for cider and has beaches..... the rest I will have to report back to you. OHHHHH and of course I am trying to relearn to climb. Ive got private lessons and everything. My wrist injury has already been diagnosed as the result of poor climbing technique ( and a lack of back massages).

Apart from Asturias, I have also added three more countries to my travel list: Rome (to revisit an old home), Morocco (inspired by seeing the movie Sex in the City 2 on the plane ride over here), and Malta (for beaches and, why not?)

Thats the story for now.

Ohhhhh today I was with Javi´s family and his niece. She is absolutely adorable. :) ANNNNND we had a paper airplane flying contest off the 6th story balcony. I´m glad I got to do this before leaving Spain.

State Fair

Unfortunately I think Peta put a stop to showing the giantly obese pigs that need to be moved around with the forklifts. However, we still got to see the cute little guys....

THE WORLD"S TALLEST HORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE WORLD"S MOST AWFUL FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Other stars inthe lineup this year were the krispy kreme cheeseburgers (which you can get the chocolate covered bacon on) as well as sheperds pie on a stick and anything else greasey that you can put on a stick. We only got the fried cheese curds. mmmmm. mmmmm. Oh and we also tried ostrich sausage.

These guys were pretty cool...........

Just testing the waters, I think I might need to get a motorcycle someday.

Aug 8th. an important day in my ancestry.

Today was my dad's birthday..... We went out to Dinner at Mr. B's. It was the nicest meal i have had in a long time and probably will be for a while. I ordered Saltimbocca Chicken, which is chicken wrapped in proscuitto and grilled with spinach and rosemary potatoes. Mark got the ribs, mom salmon, jim scallions, rick & dad steaks.

Oh what a night.

Dessert:

We will be celebrating his birthday a second time next weekend.

KY

I went to the red. as in red river gorge.... and it was awesomee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The people were wonderful, the inter-climbing activities were spectacular and my body is more-or-less broken.

Anyways I went in a car with J.J. and Lauren (remember them from before? They visited Javi and by default me in Spain) and David Nimmer. David Nimmer is a climbing super hero. I know, that was a bold statement, but I'm gonna stick with it.

We met up with 3 other goons who came down in another car: Greg, Alex, and Chubs.

This is Alex and David Nimmer.... They are so silly.....

According the David, "the best climber in the world is the one that has the most fun."


After the trip nature and I are not on the best terms in the world......Day 1 Lauren, JJ and I all got stung by a species of killer bees. It really hurt, but probably not as much as when Alex got bit by a copperhead snake.....



After a hard day of climbing we headed out to an authentic Kentucky Ho-down. We learned a lot of ho-down dances. It was interesting to say the least. They also gave a step-by-step lesson on how to do the hokey pokey :) Right after the hokey pokey Greg got a phone call..... Alex got bit by a copperhead snake. (above picture)



While Alex was in the emergency room we decided to stop by the drive thru liquor store....

That's Greg and JJ. As you can see Greg has the best car for a drive thru liquor store, as well as off-roading. (Sorry if this gives you a headache)

In lieu of the snake-bitting incident we decided to stop by the reptile zoo to see snakes in cages, alligators and turtles.

As it was a climbing trip we did climb some. The picture below is the closest to proof of climbing that I have. Notice we are in the forest. I'm not sure why JJ was so sad.

Here is more evidence that we at least climbed a caboose....

We did do a lot of real climbing. Seriously, but I know that most people that read this dont care about it.....

The big question.

So I have been asked about the celebrations in Madrid upon winning the World Cup...... My correspondence in Madrid sent me the following pictures:

It appears to be a lot of people and a little craziness. :)