Isla to Santander and the journey home
Saturday morning we both opted for a lie in and met for a late breakfast after packing the bike kit in preparation for the cabin since it's not possible to revisit the car deck while at sea. I was very slow packing today but Rob was really on the ball waiting patiently for me wearing his helmet in the shade under a tree after he'd kindly checked us out of the hotel. I hoped he wasn't just keen to get home but I don't think so! I then realised we were really cutting it fine to make the last check-in. I needed to get my act together and as we set off on our last short ride in Spain we encountered a fine mist of rain that clogged up the visor. I'd chosen a route to avoid the autopista allowing us to sample the headland and bay in to Santander port from the eastern side but I can't say I saw much of it. On the way we did see a car suddenly change direction though, with no indicators that had us really alarmed for a while while on these wet roads. In the end we arrived with a good 20 mins to spare and while tying down the bike on the fairly new ferry 'The Salamanca' we met a chap on his first trip riding solo on his Triumph Bonneville. Nice chap who almost didn't believe us this was our first experience of rain. He'd been near Ainsa the week before us and got soaked day after day, then later while in the Picos he was soaked again. After unpacking for the night and finding the cabin, Rob spotted the beer and Tapas bar and after organising ourself in this bigger 4 berth cabin room we both ate well and then crashed asleep for 2 hours. The evening meal followed hors d'oeuvres followed by Beef skewers with baked potato. Sunday was a day of relaxation, just eating and drinking and after Rob had bought a pack of cards continued to teach me how to play Whist a game I'd never had the chance to play, confusing at first for me but a lot of fun. We disembarked in Portsmouth harbour quite late into the evening, and the ride home was pretty much the reverse through Marlborough save a huge diversion around Birdlip hill due to the road works. We said our farewells over the intercom on the A449 near where we'd started our adventure ,and I rolled into my garage at 9:43pm having covered 1558 miles in total.
Again an excellent adventure, and good to tour with Rob this year and get him back into riding distances again while he enjoys riding that smart looking Triumph Tiger. The daily route distances were just about right and so pleased we experienced good weather while having fun in the mountains and along that wonderful N-260. Those off-road sections were a real bonus. I can't wait for the next one now!
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