Almagrave to Zambujeira

 We started the morning in the rain. Today was our longest hiking day, 14 miles, and the forecast called for rain all morning. Luckily we just got sprinkled on. We had cloud cover all day and more trail than sand so the miles were not too bad. The cloudy skies made for excellent pictures.

Leaving our hostel, seemed like an old boarding school or jail:)

 

We even walked through a forest area.

There was a lighthouse on our path. We stopped and ate lunch here.

I am always a sucker for rock cairns. There weren't many along the way but there were a few. I tried to capture them all.

We hiked along part of the coast that is breeding grounds for storks. They had these giant nests built on the edge of cliffs. It was really cool to see.

The beaches today were pretty inaccessible. There were a couple that we could get down to because they had built steps leading down. They were steep and so many steps. The beaches they accessed were beautiful.

The road signs of Portugal.

14 miles is a long time without a bathroom. There are no bathrooms along the trail. There also aren't any cities. This is the one day that there was a little fishing restaurant around mile 10. I had to go the bathroom so bad! I ended up buying a coke and drinking it so I could use the restroom:)

We walked through the cutest fishing village.

 I loved this house with all the fishing gear in front.

It would be such a beautiful place to live.

So many plants along the way

Even though it was a 14 mile day we got to Zambejeira pretty early. We checked into our hotel and had a lot of daylight left. We grabbed food and rested. I decided to head out in the evening and see if I could catch the sunset. It was a gorgeous evening and did not disappoint.

It was definitely worth the effort to go back out. It was a beautiful evening.
 

Vila Nova De Milfontes to Almograve

 We started our hike after a great nights sleep. I slept long and well. It felt good. The bed's in Portugal are not soft, in fact the are very hard, but I still slept great. We were in no hurry so we took our time in the morning. We got out the door a little before 9. We had to head to the grocery store to buy some lunch food and then we would begin our trek. Today we were walking ten miles to Almograve.

I loved these beautiful yellow trees all along the way.

The day was partially cloudy. We had lots of beach and trail walking. There was not as much sand as day one so that was nice.

The coast is just so amazing.

Sometimes we walked off the path because the sand was so deep and hard to walk on.

Another beautiful day.

We got quite good at finding beaches to eat on and take a nap. We tried to make it a daily ritual and it was so nice. 

This was probably our easiest walking day. Not as much sand and the least amount of miles. We got to Almograve pretty early in the day. Only to learn it is the smallest town ever with literally nothing to do. It was also our most ghetto sleeping location. We walked the little town and got food before retiring back to our dorm room pretty early.

Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Milfontes

 For spring break Amber and I headed to Portugal to hike the Fishermans Trail or the Rota Vicentina. We had plane tickets to go in 2020 but we all know how badly that ended. We were excited to finally get our chance to visit Portugal. It did not disappoint! 

We flew out Friday morning and the drama to get there started right away. Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed due to weather, which meant we would miss our connecting flight to Portugal, which meant we would miss the bus to Porto Covo, which meant we would not have accommodations the first night in Lisbon. It was stressful for a hot minute! Luckily we had lots of time in the Houston airport to rearrange all our plans. We only ate the cost of one hotel. We got everything figured out before we left for Amsterdam. The major bummer was the 8 hour lay over we had in Amsterdam. Way too long. But we survived. We ended up flying into Lisbon and staying the night in Lisbon. We woke up early the next morning, Sunday in Portugal, caught the bus to Porto Covo and just started our hike. After being stressed and traveling for so long it was great to be on the coast and finally hiking. It was a gorgeous day!

 It was a bummer we didn't get to explore Porto Covo but what do you do.

We followed these cute little signs the entire trip. The path was very well marked.

Once we started hiking I felt great. All the stress and worry melted away. The sights were amazing. the sunshine felt so good. The beach, hiking and sunshine is a great combination for success!

The sandy beaches in Portugal were amazing. The best sand ever. No rocks or other ocean debris, just sand.

The trail alternated between the beach and the cliffs above the beach. I loved all the terrain.

This first day we did almost all of our walking in the sand. That can be discouraging. Luckily the views made up for it. We walked 12 miles to get to our destination for the night. We stayed in the nicest bed and breakfast. The small town was very cute and we had the best pizza for dinner.

Our hotel had the cutest lemon tree in the courtyard.

I thought the architecture was so cool in Portugal. I loved the white houses with the vibrant trim.

The first day was a success. It was great to be on the trail. Our luggage was dropped off at the right place. We found our hotel. We had yummy food. We located a grocery store for the next morning. The shower was amazing. It was a great start to our trip!

Random Things

 Jacklyn sends me pictures of Tyla and they are my favorite. She gets cuter and cuter every time I see a picture. I wish I could see her more often.

Erica and I snuck in a couple hikes to the G after basketball ended.

Erica bought some yummy cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. She is so good at celebrating birthdays!

I snapped this picture of the sunrise one morning as I got to work. So beautiful!

Sam and Amanda's kids came for a sleepover. We watched a movie, used my hot tub and swam at the rec center. Both Audrey and Emerson did not want to go home so that was a good sign.

 

 My cousin Muriel was in town for a family wedding shower. We always say we should hike together. We finally did. It was great!

February Vacation

 After basketball ended I took some days off of work and went to California. I had coached two sports and was physically and emotionally exhausted. It was so fun to leave for a week and get a reset to finish off the year. I went to Aaron and Jacklyn's. We really just hung out and played lots of games but it wasn't work so I was happy.

The Sunday I was there my grandma Brown happened to be in Redding so we drove over to see her. She will be 92 this year. She looks so good!

Tyla is at the best stage. She let's everyone dote on her and is just generally a very happy baby. Gosh I love her. It was so fun to spend so much time with her.

 

 My camera roll was filled with pictures of this cute girl. I love that Aaron and Jacklyn live so close to so many beautiful outside places. We did get out and enjoy the beauty everyday as well. The weather was still pretty chilly but we bundled up and made the best of it!

My favorite picture I took that doesn't involve Tyla was on one of our walks the morning after it snowed. The trees are magical on this one portion of the loop we walked most days.

Nancy came to California with me. It was really nice. I was grateful for the company. My mom came over the first weekend so we got to see her. We went to Redding and saw Virginia and family, Jan and Lou, as well as grandma. It was a nice get away.

Basketball Season

 Before basketball started I was already feeling exhausted. I was seriously questioning if I should coach. At the time I started having these feelings it was a little late to back out. I am glad I went through with it. I had the best girls on my team this year. They worked so hard. We didn't win a game until almost February but they continually improved and we got 4 wins. It was so fun to watch them all progress this year. Coaching is hard, tiring, and emotional but it is also so many good things. 

In our last regular season game we beat our rivals Orem Junior. My team played so well. It was an amazing way to end the season.

These girls really were great. I am excited to cheer them on in the things they do the next few years!