Hi,
Last week found us on the road again. We were north of Porto winding up some chores, so we decided to see if we could find some snow for Opal to play in. We were surrounded by snow, according to the weather maps. All we had to do was drive out into the countryside and gain ~1,000 meters in elevation. So, we did.
Chris had been wanting to see Observatório da Natureza de Marcelim (2WPJ+XR Ferreiros de Tendais) and neither the girls nor I could come up with a reason not to, so off we went.
The drive to Marcelim was lovely. I enjoy the mountains and the beautiful spots along the road where we can pull over and enjoy the view. I especially enjoyed Parque Miradouro in Paços de Gaiolo (4V2R+P6 Paços de Gaiolo). This miradouro overlooked the Rio Douro and it also had goats. Opal was the first to notice the goats, but they weren’t attempting to be stealthy so we all soon heard them. The goats were in the yard behind us, across the street. Vocal and skippy, they were entertaining to watch. But you will have to take my word for it; I didn’t want to be rude and take pictures of someone else’s animals without their permission.
After crossing the Douro River, it didn’t take us long to reach the observation deck in Marcelim. As we parked, Chris noticed a rainbow and ran out to get a picture of it. The wind was strong and the clouds were low, but that rainbow was so enticing. Alas, before Chris could make it to the observation deck to capture the rainbow for posterity, the rain hit…and hit hard. I hadn’t even had time to get the dogs out of the car before Chris came running back, yelling, ‘Get in the car!’ And we did. We had front-row seats to watch a squall hit the mountain in front of us. It was loud and fierce, but fun to watch from inside a dry car. Sorry the pictures we managed to get weren’t bright and beautiful, but I like them. I won’t forget those 10 minutes in the raging storm.
Heading home, we still had to gain elevation to get to the snow. Marcelim was cold but lacking in the white blanket we were searching for. But it didn’t take us long. I’m not exactly sure where we were when we started seeing the snow, but we had to be somewhere near Meridãos. We took a few pictures, but we didn’t stay or even let Opal out of the car. It was getting late and the narrow mountain road we were on didn’t have any pull-off spots for us to use. So, we kept going. Going, and noticing signs on the road that indicated snow-chains should be used because the snowplows did not come up this far. Lovely. Guess who did not have snow chains. And guess what the temperature was outside the car. Did you guess ‘us’ and 2 degrees Celsius? And that the cloud cover was making the early sunset even earlier? And that the mist and snow on the road were turning to slush so the road could ice up as soon as the thermometer reached zero degrees? Yeah. I do not recommend that scenario to anyone. But eventually, the road got us over the mountain, and we came down the other side without issue. Of course, the first time we found a pull-off we were below the snow line. Oh well, sorry Opal. Maybe we can get out next week. Maybe.
Nola