Aparthotel Montarto Canillo

... having a beer and watching a man try to dig his van out of the snow. To my knowledge his van is to this moment where it was when I left the bar.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to post some pictures of Canillo when it's snowy and the sun comes out. Don't have too many, but figured it was worth a post.

After a long night on a surprisingly jam packed night train, I arrived at a train station about 1km from the Andorra border. I was slightly worried about my transportation from the train station at l'Hospitalet to my destination 26km into Andorra. The cryptic information information I was able to find on the web about buses told me that there were 2 per day, one leaving at 7:30am and the other 7:30pm. This was a bit disconcerting as my train arrived ...

Le plan original était d'aller à Cahors visiter un vignoble, mais puisque l'on n'a pas de voiture (considérant que les vignes sont dans des champs et non au centre ville) on n'a pas pu y aller. J'ai trouvé sur internet qu'il y avait plusieurs grotte dans le sud donc on en a choisi une pas trop trop loin et on a acheté nos billet de train.

Tarascon sur Ariege est à environ 1h15 de toulouse donc ca se fait quand meme bien. C'est un ...

... What it does mean, we're not quite sure of yet. Still dealing with the shock and going over a few different options. All while kicking myself for not realizing this sooner. Only one thing is for certain - I'm not going to let this spoil our trip, and we're going to have to get cycling! (o.k., two things).

... to laugh at him as he made pathetic attempts at crowing, but not able to since he couldn’t stretch out his neck all the way.

The night they were released I prayed that there were no holes that the martin could get in through. The next morning I gingerly went out to the coop listening for the slightest cluck to indicate that they were alive. Thankfully they were!

But now rounding up the chickens into the new house can be ...

... refrigeration for the meat. With wind-chill, that was absolutely frigid for 45 minutes! And with the winding mountain roads, the weight of the meat kept shifting into me with the occasional trotter popping out from under the covering.

Watching Austin process the carcase into usable joints of meat was truly a work of art. His knife flew, knowing exactly where to cut and slicing with one quick motion. Any small ...

... person above is literally in your hands.

All in all it was a fabulous day! Did 4 climbs in total ranging through the 5a, 5b, and 5c levels of difficulty. I wanted to try a 5, but the day went by too quickly. There was one climb that Brain was sweating out for quite awhile, but in the end his determination conquered it. Rock climbing is the perfect blend of challenge and rest in beautiful mountain settings. I may be hooked…

... and roads scattered everywhere - if you can find them. Driving is a very different than walking. In great contrast to the towns below, the wind howled and ice formed on the road. On foot the walk was extremely harsh and I could see why there were shephards and hikers huts dotted all around for shelter. You can see why farmers train their animals instead of caring for them themselves ...

... with cathedral ceilings, arched entryways, dangling chandeliers, and stone sculptures filling in the corners. Walking through this grandeur with tips of toes and hushed whispers watching as the scenery continually changes. One moment there’s a wide expanse to the right, then it opens all around, then it‘s a tight passageway with new sights only coming into view just as you arrive there. Catching glimpses from different flashlights ...

... wheel and breaks can't be that dangerous right? Wrong! The kid and I get about half way down the hill and disaster, we are going too fast to stop, the kid does 3 somersaults before stopping a few meters further down the hill, but she soon stops crying afterwards. We play in the snow all morning, small scale snow fights and sliding down the hill, the perfect morning. We are quickly joined by the other 2 who were left behind in Toulouse ...