we are in Onda, how we got here ...

we realized that we have failed to include a lot information about our routes. these have been our bike routes thus far. look them up on google street view!

3/28
Sevilla to El Pedroso
via Alcala, Burguillos, Castiblanco
75 km
This included an amazing ride by Rio Viar
We camped at the end of a restaurant/hotel´s (Los Alamos) parking lot, for free!

3/29
El Pedroso to Hornachuelos
via Constantina, Infantes
80km
The downhill toward a lake by Infantes was spectacular, with open pig and bull farms
We camped (urban camping...) by the swimming pool at Hotel Alamos (we had luck with Alamos)

3/30
Hornachuelos to Cordoba
via Posadas, Almodovar
56km
Check out the celebration of Semana Santa ... we have seen a lot of pointy hats, and Cordoba had a strong showing
We stayed in Hospederia Luis de Gongora, a sweet place, and toured the city a bunch that night and the next morning

3/31
Cordoba to Espejo
via Lope Amargo, Santa Cruz
61km
After walking around Cordoba some more, we set out of the city (this is always quite hard to do and takes longer than expected). The first road out of the city was quite rural but well worth it, depite bumbps.
This was the BEST CAMP so far ... between the trees of an olive orchard, looking up at a castle on a hill. We asked the farmer, who was quite nice.

4/1
Espejo to Alcala la Real
via Castro del Rio, Baena, Alcaudete, San Jose de la Rabita, La Hortichuela
98km
This was the night of the rather sketchy stay...still, good for the price. And it did feel rather safe. We originally considered camping near La Hortichuela, especially as we were quite tired (it was at the top of a 15 km/2000 foot hill), but there were too many dogs and we felt like outsiders in a very small town. A bit later we ran into the son of the mayor of the town of Alcala, who led us there with the promise of finding us housing. We wanted to camp in the pine forrest under the castle, but we could not because of a Semana Santa procession. Instead he led us to the police who led us to the free piso.

4/2
Alcala del Rio to Granada
all on a carretera (semi major road)
56km
We stayed at Pension Venecia, where the host was very nice but had an amazingly short temper.
I saw the Alhambra, which was quite spectacular (try and look up photos online of the palace)
Granada is a great city. They do something that everyone should ... free tapas with each beer!

4/3
No biking. We walked around Granada more and then took a train toward Valencia (we decided against Malaga). We made it to Alcazar de San Jose, where we had a lay over. Instead of splurging on a hostel before an early morning (8 am) train, we decided to stay up late as all good Spainards do. Then we slept in the train station (and more on the next day´s train to Valencia). It was not too much rest, but it was worth it.

4/4
Valencia to "Valencia Camping" in Plata De Pucol
via Almassara, platja d´Alboriara
37km
At about 3 pm we decided that we did not want to stay in Valencia, so we picked a camp site and made it out of the city (always the worst part). We thought the camp site would be a free place with open land. Not so. It was where lots of RVs came and family camping went on. We were exhausted, however, and slept about 11 hours, then we woke up and had brunch by the sea!

4/5
Plata De Pucol ("Valencia Camping") to Eslida (real camping)
via Pucol, Torres Torres, La Vall d´Unixo
91km
A really great day leading from the sea up to the mountains. A few big climbs (about 1200 feet, 1500 feet, and 600 feet). We set up camp at 620 meters, at a look out from the top of a mountain. There was a place to pull one´s car in and look out, but there was also an old house foundation that extended the pull over to about 50 feet. We decided we wanted to camp here, went down the hill to Eslida, bought food and filled our water, then biked the 5 km and 600 feet of elevation back to the camp site. Well worth it!

Sorry that we do not have many photos for you. Mike will work on getting some off of his iPhone. The camera memory card to USB port that I brought is not working on these computers for some reason ...