On a cloudy day, the sun breaks through and gives the camera a hard time. Jen also seems to be having a hiccup or two.
Trying to make sense of the terrain. I can't fathom how they operate the lawnmowers down at the bottom.
Frequent stream crossings. The proverbial slippery stone-slope.
Are these plants real? Jen closing in on the coast.
Jen reaches the beach...not quite a place to sunbathe on a towel in the traditional manner.
A minute later, she turns on her heels and heads for the local swimming pool. On our way down, we came across a couple bathing in a stream below a waterfall. Apparently the heavy flow of water had washed off their swimsuits. Jenni refused to allow me to help the young woman deal with her dilemma. (Apparently, 'dilemma' is the Spanish word for string bikini.) I now understand why people say that travel is educational, eye-opening.
In a magnificent, but harsh environment, arguable the worst rendition of 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' could be heard.
We make the turn and head up to a peak which is on the way to Taganana.
The path appears to lead us directly to the town icon.
A scene viewed from a multitude of positions.
Nature shows off her obstacles, dangers and her raw, gorgeous features.
Worth the effort of the tough hike to witness this scene.
Turning to face our recent outward path.
Getting close to destination but could be beaten by a heavy mist.
Facing toward the interior.
Mist lifted within moments.
We elect to take the coastal path to return rather than the internal loop. Put on extra distance but gave us extra beauty. Jen enjoying the path.
Nooks and crannies provide multi-faceted views.
This is something we found lying about. It dates to the end of December following our return from Arizona, the Hike-about before Tenerife. It's a story of Hope.
We arrived in San Diego to a warm welcome—actually, that should read a cold and wet greeting. It took a while for the sun to return to the California desert at which time we caught glimpses of what the county’s weather expectations were. It was nice to see the sun again although we do like the rain, too, preferably between 1 and 3 each morning. We allow leeway because after all, we are not spoiled.
On this occasion, we tried different accommodation for the short visit. We were living in Rancho Bernardo but not on a farm. We ‘shared’ a house with the owners, the real boss's name is Hope. Share is a subtle concept which the hostess, Hope, mentioned—we are upstairs, they're down. The split is not quite ‘even’ although we do have a carpet in our place, making for some common ground. We live in a section with a kitchen, a sort of bedroom and sitting area and a terrific patio. It’s been an enjoyable, comfortable stay.
We have always liked the region with the added benefit of much hiking available close by. The views in the county are wonderful as this is in the mountainous region of San Diego. I should have mentioned we also have a fully equipped/functional bathroom with all the usual appurtenances but limitations because of house rules relating to water usage in the desert. Although, should we be desperate, the patio provides flexibility and being on the second floor, allows us scope for improvisation. That the weather prevents us from sitting outside is a negative but at least it offers an outdoor clothes drying facility, between raindrops, of course. What more could we want?
Should there be any limitations, then there is one which is at worst, a minor irritation. When we arrived, our Host showed us the board hanging on the inside of the front door. In order to control people traffic as well as to keep each other informed (all 4 of us) of who is home or away from the house, we sign in on our return and sign out upon leaving. The process involves placing one's magnetic name tab in the appropriate square. Easy enough. After practicing the procedure for twenty minutes or so, Jen had mastered it or is that ‘mistressed’ it. One does not want to use the incorrect terminology these days. I took an extra few minutes, but wanted to ensure I had it sorted out in my head. I'm not privileged to think as fast as Jen on the white-board provided.
Here’s the thing. The couple are very prim and proper about it all. Hope could easily be a high school headmistress. We did not want to come across ignorant or lazy. However, we had a dilemma. When we depart, it’s no problem to move our labels to the 'out' box. However, let's presume we are bringing in groceries after a shopping trip. Each time we pass through the door, should we be moving our names between the two positions. I understand we are only outside the house for a minute or so, but would we upset our hosts, particularly Hope, by not adhering to the rules? Perhaps we should have asked for the detailed book of house rules earlier. Imagine if we walked outside to fetch the groceries but forgot to mark the board accordingly. When our hosts checked the board, noticed we were not inside, and then decided upon doing something private in the lounge area believing we were away and then we walked back inside. It gave us pause for thought. In that situation, we would have hoped that Hope would have had faith in our honest mistake and showed us charity.
We could not bring ourselves to question our hosts of this necessity as it appeared to be an integral part of managing their guests. Unfortunately, on our 10th day of the stay we left for a hike and forgot to move the name markers. When we apologized for this oversight, our host let us know that he had checked to see the status of our car. It was obviously not parked in its usual spot as we don't walk to hiking trailheads. He deduced we were away. Of course, he had no way of knowing whether it had in fact been stolen. The real issue with a system of this complexity is that unless one is confident that the various parties will always mark the board accordingly, one cannot be confident of accurate information based solely upon scanning the board.
Where does this leave us? Could this put a dampener on our whole stay? Who knows? In the meantime, we are currently developing a sophisticated system which I believe could prove foolproof. However, Jenni says instead of their system, we should ring the bell upon entering and should shout 'Hello' or on the way out, ‘Bye’. That’s so simple in this advanced technical age. Wait until she sees my electromagnetic-plasma-3 megabyte-automatic-face reader/odor detector system, currently under development.
By the time we left 'High School', we were ready for a restful vacation in the Canary Islands where we had hope for a wonderful adventure. Shared entries, not a good idea, shared experiences, delightful.
Cheers,
Conclude with a tidy (Teide) corner.
A delightful scene mixing a volcano, ocean and city/suburban life.
Less mixing.
Jenni and Jeffrey
That evening we enjoyed a sunset over a sister island...Gran Canaria.
Less mixing.
Jen shares the limited 'spotlight' with Teide.
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