2013 Week 31: August already?

Monday was Skye's 16th birthday. We went to visit his other grandma and had a fun time together.
Tomorrow we will have a family celebration.

I think he always liked wearing hats.

As usual Monday evening we went to Stephan and Karen's for their weekly open meal. The food now very much follows the paleo diet concept (except for the freshly-baked bread) and is superb, even including a special dessert--sweet potato pies with almond crust. 

As always happens, the evening is much more than a meal, it is about enjoying the people. The crowd expanded beyond the dining table to the sunny porch. Groups lingered on the way out with the porch people--a pleasent evening for all.

Tuesday I was able to help daughter Leah clean out one of their rooms. They started moving boxes into their new home the next day.

Enjoyed a visit from my lovely granddaughter Wednesday after tap class. She is a great teacher. Class is fun and challenging. 

Kayla just finished teaching a couple two-week classes at Cornerstone Center for the Arts  and will be teaching four different classes during the fall semester.

Look what new blooms showed up this week.

Friday we attended the convention of our church fellowship held in Fort Wayne. The sessions were excellent and meeting up with some of the friends from Illinois who were on the Circle Tour of the Basque Country was very special. It was so good to meet Dave Berry's wife Sue. 

Circle Tour 13 mini reunion

Saturday, today,  we rose very early, picked up Dane, and headed back up to Fort Wayne in time for the men's breakfast.

The women's luncheon was Friday noon. I had taken my laptop to get some work done while the men were at their event.

I posted two favorite photos from the week on Facebook and got many Likes and Comments from all over. Both girls were on the Circle Tour team. 

Ellie, from our town wants to be a cyclist on next year's tour and has been training with Mike.

Chelsea was a rider this year. Notice her earrings. 

Ellie and Chelsea

The cyclists present at the FEC Convention enjoyed a ride together this afternoon and then hung out at a coffee shop. Mike and Dane then rode the 52 miles on home. It was a beautiful day, even got a little sun tan.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was very rainy. We went through heavy downpours on the way home last night.

Circle Tour 13--on to Estella

Another gorgeous day!  I kept hearing people walking by the hotel say, "¡Qué día más bueno!" (What a beautiful day!)

Setting off from Vitoria

 And the scenery along the way was again awe-inspiring.

We stopped in the quaint village of Acedo to walk around, talk with people and, of course, use los servicios.

The chapel was ancient. We wanted to know more. Locals we talked to couldn't tell us how old. They did tell us about el palacio built around the original torreón.

El palacio

I wanted to know more. Wasn't there anybody in the village who could tell us more about its history? They sent us to these houses and this door.

A strange thing happened. A bearded gentleman answered our knock, came out shook a tablecloth and out flew a bird! ¡Magia! he said, then told us that the bird had flown in the house. We told him what we wanted to know. He said if we waited a minute he'd be back to talk with us. The minutes went by and we had to leave. (Did he not know either?)

We went on to Estella, the town near our destination, and stopped for lunch.

I had just one dish and that was more than sufficient.

paella

I walked around the church in the center of the plaza, fascinated by the different doors. According to the signs, Adoración Nocturna (Evening Worship) happens monthly, enter by the side door, I assume.

Talking with one lady I became well aware of the different opinions in Navarra, the province that is not officially part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Many, if not most, do not consider themselves Basque, though the NW border region is mostly Basque speaking and historically it was originally conquered by vascones.

We arrived at our destination for the night in time to settle in to the very nice camp facilities of Seven Oaks Camp--make beds, take a nap, or swim in the nearby stream before the cyclists arrived.

Zaspi Haritzak--Seven Oaks Camp

I happened to go outside just in time to welcome the tired riders and even get video footage!

Mike and I went for a short little stroll before it was time to take off for the town to get some dinner.

The road to Estella

Great dinner and conversation

At the end of another wonderful day we went off to our respective dorm room bunkbeds truly grateful for the blessing of this camp, an oasis for God's people.