17 km Merida to Aljucen

Another short day, another late start. Truth be known, I wish all days were this length. No need to hit the trail till 10:30. Pretty easy to be in by 3:30pm with leisurely breaks. Lots of sun time remaining to rinse out dirty clothes and hang them out to dry. Time enough to scout around for a store or bar and buy provisions for the next day. This town, though, is so small it doesn't have either or store or a bar. But praise be to Santiago, it does have a vending machine right in the refugio amply stocked with cold Amstel Malt for only 1 euro per can. And fortunately for me, I've got a pocket full of coins. Everyone else has left on other errands, so its up to me to sit out in the courtyard and keep an eye on the clothes while they dry and line the pockets of the vending machine operator. This refugio is a bit expensive at 10 euros, but its a nice setup. The grounds could use some attention. Its clean and well appointed inside. The kitchen, however, lacks a stove. But sinc!
e the town lacks a store, that isn't a huge problem.

I'm looking over the wall at the obviously vacant, and perhaps abandoned, building next door. It is the largest estate on the street, and was once obviously a showpiece. Its built as a fully enclosed estate, with turrrets on two corners, a huge interior courtyard and a coat of arms on the entry gate. The window glass is mostly broken out and the shutters are flung open. Doves are flying freely in and out of the second floor windows. The vegetation has grown quite thick on the tile roof. I'd love to know the story behind it.

The French couple have invited the group to the RV for dinner. "The group" has dwindled since the last entry. The diaspora had already started, unbeknownst to me, while I was composing the last report. The Vascos decided yesterday that 16 km to Merida was too wimpy, so they pushed on through to here yesterday and are now a day ahead of us. Cristof had previously planned to end in Merida, and leaves tomorrow for Lucern. Werner left early this morning to walk two stages, so he likely caught up with the Vascos. So we're down to six; 5 walkers and one driver.

About a km out of Merida this morning, we saw Michael emerge from a car and head toward us. Turns out he'd left town with both sets of keys to the RV. Fortunately, both he and Danielle have cell phones, and she was able to call him before he got out of range. Even still, he walks so fast that it wasn't long before he caught up to us, and we walked together for about an hour until Conchi and I simply had to stop to refuel.

It is now 7pm and the sun has disappeared below the roof line. Since the altitude here is about 240 meters, its cooling off quickly. We started climbing right out of Sevilla, which is practically at sea level (12 meters) and hit our peak of 752 meters at Monesterio. We've dropped some, but we're still at 270 M. The evenings have been chilly.