No idea where we'll end up tonight, just the way we like it!

No problems our first night in the motorhome. It doesn't get light until  almost 8:00am here in southern Spain, so we find ourselves sleeping in a little bit. Plus, we don't put any heat on, so it's a little chilly inside the motorhome at that hour as well. Putting the burner on to boil some water warms up this small space pretty easily though.

Speaking of chilly, there was a strong wind when we woke up. And we were heading up into higher altitudes with an expected daytime high of only about 13C (55F).

The road leading through the Sierra Espuña Regional Reserve is fairly narrow...tough for two vehicles to pass one another. So it's a good thing we were there midweek and most people are back at school and work. Saw a few other vehicles parked, but only one or two that we had to pass.

Louis, taking a break.

One of the many viewpoints in the park.

The road we came up on twists it's way up the side of the hill.

We came to a few informational signs, and my maps.me program also said that there was an attraction of some kind up ahead. It took us a while to figure out exactly what they were, until we came to a sign that explained it a little bit.

This one is restored. But what is it??

These ones are in ruins.

It turns out that they are ice wells. 

It snows up here occasionally, and so back through the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century, they built these deep wells to store the snow. They would actually load these holes full of packed snow, and it would become ice.

They would then carve the ice out, load it onto carts and bring it in to towns where it would be sold. Of course the whole procedure became obsolete with the invention of electricity and refrigerators, So the ice wells haven't been used now for about 80 years.

Not really that cold, but it was windy!

Louis, parked up for lunch.

View near the top.

There's one peak that showed a road going to the top. We found it strange that there was no hiking path showing though. Otherwise, we would have hiked up! But instead, we took the road. We could see that there was some kind of weather station or something up there.

But as we neared the top, we found a sign saying "Military Zone - No Trespassing".

Hmph. Well that sucks.

I guess we turn around here!

Coming back down, we spotted this fellow. We think it's some kind of antelope.

Coming back down the other side of the park, we had to do a section of about 10 switchbacks. Glad we didn't encounter any other vehicles. Sherman would not have enjoyed this section, and we're glad that Louis is only 21'!

Switchbacks heading down.

We came to the pretty little town of El Berro. We had seen signs saying there was a campground here, so we thought we'd check it out. Sure enough, we found it. Ruth stayed with Louis while I went and checked the place out. 

There was nobody in the office, but I could read the sign for pricing. Hmm. A motorhome is only €7.00. That sounds pretty good! But reading further on, you also pay per person. So, €7.00 for the motorhome, but an additional €5.00 per person. And then another €6.00 per day if you want t be hooked up to electricity. Yikes...all of a sudden your at €23.00 ($33.00 CAD, $24.00 USD).

Now, this was a full on resort style campground. RV's packed together, and use of a swimming pool (extra) and tennis courts (extra). This was like a KOA (Keep On Adding)!

So, not our style, and we aren't yet in need of any amenities. Besides, they have free "aires" here in Spain...places where motorhomes can park overnight for free, and also have free dump stations. I'll go into more detail about that when we actually use one!

Scenery along the way.

We made it to the town of Pliego...a nice little place of about 4,000 people. They have a castle here, so we walked up to the top for a beautiful late afternoon view. We parked at a free parking area obviously designed for transport trucks, but we found ourselves a little corner. It was well lit, and there was only one big truck parked there.

The town of Pliego, Spain.

Ruth, uphill every step of the way to the old castle.

Beautiful view of the town of Pliego.

Afterwards, we wandered around town. Not much to see, just a nice little town.

One of the alleyways in town.

Louis, parked up for the night.

We decided to spend the night right where we were parked. Sure enough, we were fine. Only one other big truck pulled in overnight, and he was gone by the time we woke up. 

More exploring today. No idea where we'll end up tonight, just the way we like it!

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Nice little step stool on sale today...perfect for the RV or home...

Camco RV step stool