A Helping Hand

> We woke up to another foggy and somewhat rainy day yesterday but knew it was time to move on. We had a very long climb to 1880 meters ahead of us and were unsure the weather would permit us. Around 10am Carlos advised us that the weather may have cleared enough to make it over the pass. We got on our bicycles and began the 13km climb to the top. Carlos decided to ride with us which we enjoyed very much as he is the first one to do so on this trip. Around 1600m we went into the clouds, and it was so foggy we could hardly see 10 feet down the road. The climb was hard but once at the top the feeling of accomplishment was incredible. We stopped to take pictures at the pass and realized it was so foggy we couldn't even see the ski resort we were biking by. Carlos turned around to ride some trails home since he was on a mountain bike. We prepared for a bone chillig downhill. Once to the bottom we decided to stop for lunch and maybe find a campground even though we had only gone 30km. Georgia and Gen met a man in the bar (the owner)who offered us a free place to stay and we decided to take him up on it. Turns out he lived in the USA for 25 years and his daughter lives there now. His daughter who lives here took us to royal palace and gardens which were HUGE. Then when he got off work he took us on a two and a half hour hike into the mountains. We were exhausted but really enjoyed out time hiking and chatting with someone from the area. Later we feasted on "American" hamburgers before retiring to pass out for the night.
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> If anyone is ever in San Ildenfonso make sure to stop in cafe Route 66 and ask for Juan. We really have been appreciating the hospitality of the people of Spain.
> -Emma
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> Photos: our high pass at 1880m or 6,100ish feet; one of many epic fountains at the palace in San ildefonso: in front of the palace.
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