After two weeks of relative downtime in Valencia, we geared up for a few weeks on the road.  Our trip south would take us through Granada, past Gibraltar to the southernmost tip of Spain in Tarifa, then across the Mediterranean Sea to Africa for a day-trip to Tangiers, Morocco, then northwest to Sevilla and then to Portimão and Lisbon, Portugal.  We were going further south and getting further into the summer, so the weather was turning warmer, but still not the unbearable mid-July heat that was sure to come.  The weather was still only warm, and the crowds were still not overwhelming.

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During this first half of 2018, we've visited two active volcanos and witnessed the bright red/yellow/orange lava erupting from both.  In January we visited the Kiluaea volcano in Hawaii, watching the boiling crater spit up lava globules, and we also visited relatives in Vacationland and snorkeled in the Kapaho tidepools there on the east side of the big island.  Then in May we climbed up the Acetenango volcano in Guatemala and spent the night admiring the adjacent erupting Volcan de Fuego which showed regular small, but impressive, eruptions every 20-30 minutes.

Now in June both volcanos have erupted with great force. 

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After a fantastic week in Wassenaar, we picked up the rental car at the Schipol airport and packed up all of our suitcases before heading south to Spain.  On the 3-day drive down, we stopped for a Versailles gardens afternoon, overnighted in France, drove through the mountains and valleys of Andorra, spent an afternoon at the beach and walking streets of Barcelona, and finally arrived in Valencia where we have been for the last two weeks.

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