I have never been so happy to eat a mediocre Caesar salad before.

Since arriving in Spain, much of the food has been delicious, but almost all of it has also been incredibly heavy, and it’s starting to wear on me. I’m not getting much exercise, but every meal has been heavy and every night it’s late and there’s wine or beer or cider to wash it down. But not tonight.

The Triple Triples had to split up this morning. Here we are in the morning, ready to go.

We were also trying to look mean, or bad-ass, or at least not crack up (me).

Matt headed for Madrid. He actually doesn’t need to be there for another day, but he was worried about the weather, so left a day earlier than necessary.

Dick and I were hoping to get somewhere around Lugo, in Galicia, and decide what we’d do based on weather patterns from there.

We rode in the rain all day. When we stopped for lunch in Mondoneda, we took stock. We were both soggy and cold (drizzle doesn’t really penetrate our motorcycle gear, so we hadn’t fully suited up). We decided that a hotel with a hot tub somewhere around Lugo would be best, and hopefully closer to the southern side, because we think the rain storm might be heading north and we could pass under it.

Almost there, the heavy rain hit. So when we checked in we were actually dripping. We changed into swimming suits (and caps — this is an old-fashioned place) and headed for the hot tub. After a long soak, we braved the rain to go to the covered and heated outdoor pool, which was glorious. We swam for a while, then went back through heavier rain to the hot tub. It was a cold sprint through the rain.

Anyway, dinner options were not super thrilling at the bar or restaurant on premises, so we chose the bar, where at least we could dine with more casual company (the restaurant was just stuffier looking, almost the same menu), and Dick had the only two vegetarian tapas — grilled pimientos and a plate of sliced cheese — while I ordered the Caesar salad. It was delicious. We both skipped dessert, and I also skipped a second beer. I feel better already.

Tomorrow we will head into Portugal, but will probably be rained on the entire way. We have to skip Galicia altogether. It’s just too wet. At least heading south we have a slight chance of missing some of the weather. Slight.There’s another front expected to come in on Sunday. I’m not even sure if heading east and south, where I was planning on being in a week or so, would be better.

It’s not that we can’t travel in this. Obviously we can. But we aren’t really getting any nice sightseeing in. We stayed mostly on the main highway today. In the rain, my attention is entirely on the road, the other traffic (it’s light mostly), and my own sensations (cold, often), and definitely not on the things almost invisible through mist.

Wish us luck for tomorrow!