Desert or dessert?

So the day starts with a rush! Rush for breakfast, rush to dress, rush to finish packing and rush for he final bit of cleaning. If this is what an adventure looks like, I’d prefer to experience it from the comfort of the bed. Finally everything is ready and we are ready to set off.

As we leave the house I’m surprised how chilly the morning air is, still damp from the first autumn rain of last night. Luckily the sky is starting to clear and soon the sunshine is starting to peek through. I get settled in my spot in the back of the car and then we are off. My usual spot is taken up by bags, boxes and a host of pillows and blankets that we might need in the next six weeks away, but there is plenty of room for me and I soon get a cosy space from where I can have a good view of everything and fall asleep when needs be – which of course is often.

We pass through the fields of olive trees on the way to the motorway and I can clearly see the boughs of the trees hanging down under the weight of the plump green fruit that will soon be ready for picking. Its weird to think that they will have all been picked and processed by the time we get back in the middle of November.

As we speed along the motorway towards Granada – I always think that sounds so exotic – the green blur gives way to the mountains and the valley along which we are travelling. The rain has given everything a well deserved wash and the air has an fresh, earthy smell. The fields of onions and melons have all been cleared now and I can just see the rich brown earth from the window of the car.

After about 20 minutes I can see the sleeping Indian towering above us. The mountain is over 800 metres high and is also known as the lovers rock. The name apparently comes from the legend that a young Moorish couple from rival clans threw themselves to their death after being forbidden to marry. From the back seat of our car I still think it looks like a sleeping Indian chieftain.

As the motorway continues to wind its way across the passes and through the valleys, we suddenly turn a corner and right in front of us are the Granada mountains that have snow on their tops! Wow! That’s early and a surprise as the tempertaure has still been in the 30s in the valley.It must have been colder than I thought!

After about an hour and a half Dad says we are going to search for bones. That’s something to wake up for and I could do with a snack! 30 minutes later we are turning off the motorway and going down a small road through a very isolated valley. We stop in a small car park and all get out. Snack time I think! But no, we are looking for prehistoric gravesites and not a tasty treat in sight! Although I am feeling a bit disappointed I am interested in all the new smells and views. We eventually find the graves, really in the middle of nowhere – and I do mean nowhere! OK so it is impressive that people have been living in this same spot for over 5000 years, but really, I ask why? No shops, restuarants or even a juicy deer to munch on! Not my choice of somewhere to live. I did managed to get a piece of cheese sandwich for lunch so it wasn’t all bad!

With time pushing on and a hotel to get to we carry on down the never ending road. It passes through the valley between two sets of mountains – one on the sea side and one on the country side. Not much to see now apart from lines of cars and trucks and industrial estates that line the road. Time for a snooze I think.

Finally after 6 hours on the road, we reach our stop for the night – the Ibis hotel in Murcia. I love stopping in hotels and am soon settled for dinner and a snooze. We decide that food at the hotel would be a good choice because we have an early start in the morning. Dad Ken had pork in a mushroom sauce and Dad Neil pizza, followed by apple pie and a cookie and ice cream. Hmm not the best meal we’ve ever had but the beer was good. And as for the dessert – could I call it that? You decide!