We took the chance of heading out for a walk and into the village of Ameixial, and ended up not getting too wet!
Nice little village...
This area of Portugal is very popular for cork farming.
"How do they farm cork?" I hear you asking. Well, they take the bark off the lower part of the cork tree. Interesting thing is, that after a few years the bark grows back again...
Cork tree with the bark recently removed.
The bark growing back after a couple of years.
In the distance, cork bark piled high.
We walked over to the other free motorhome parking area. Quite a few long termers there taking advantage of the free electricity. And it does seem that these long term campers are really taking advantage. I doubt the system was designed for that, but some of them actually look like they're riding out the winter there. Well, I guess if nobody posts any rules, then there are no rules to follow.
A big American RV. You see a few over here, but certainly not very many.
Came across a couple of old structures on top of the hill. Turns out they were some kind of windmill...
Some kind of old windmill.
Looking inside.
And then we saw the clouds coming in. And it came in quite quickly. We knew we were going to get caught in it, but fortunately it was over just as quickly as it started. Couldn't take any photos of us getting wet, or crossing the stream that was overflowing it's banks! Too funny. The stuff we get ourselves into.
Back at where Louis was parked it started to clear up again.
Not the nicest, but the free electric suited us fine during two days and nights of rain.
But after lunch the rains began again, and well into the evening. Played a few hours of cards with Glen and Steve, and then early to bed.
Moving on this morning though, and the skies have cleared up a bit. We've got a couple of overnight choices to check out, and then tomorrow morning we pick up Helen and Tony at Faro airport.
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Footwear is on deal of the day today...
And in Canada...
Can't imagine driving a large rv on the roads over there, what you are using is perfect.
ReplyDeleteNeither can we but the buses can do it so why can't the bigger RV's! They would definitely be more limited though. In Europe, smaller is better in our opinion.
DeleteWe had a cork kitchen floor in the condo!
ReplyDeleteWe remember that!
DeleteAlways wondered how the MH from Can or US actually empty their sewer tank??
ReplyDeleteNot too sure and we didn't ask him but we have found one or two places where the dump station would work for an American style system.
DeleteToo bad your having so much rain. Hope it gets better soon. Cork tree very interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate but we can't change the weather only our attitude towards it. Hopefully it will get better again :-)
DeleteCork farming? Never thought of how cork was harvested. Love the way the sunlight and clouds bounce over the wonderful countryside view!
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping that we can do a tour of a cork factory and then we can give everyone even more info on it. It is very interesting.
DeleteYou guys are getting almost as much rain as we are! Here's looking for clearing skies!
ReplyDeleteOur fingers are crossed! We haven't gotten too much of the blue skies that they were calling for these last couple of days but at least it hasn't rained.
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