Sutter Buttes Drive

I'm back in California for a visit! One thing to always do? Drive around the Sutter Buttes 😎

We went counter-clockwise, which put the buttes right in my view the whole time...

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See more photos in the Sutter Buttes 2024 album

Portugal 2024 - Mardi Gras

Today was quite a party! It's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, here in small-town Portugal 😊

It began with a small gathering at the beach, blossomed into a parade (4 times around the route), and ended with a concert!

Within an hour of the parade ending, the street sweepers were out (they like it clean here)...

The obligatory men-as-women section 

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See all the photos in the Portugal 2024 photo album.

Portugal 2024 - East Beaches

We caught a sunny day today (and we had a cleaner scheduled), so we went to a few beaches and cliffs to our East!

First up was Marinha Beach, which I had seen from the boat - it was just as stunning from on high!

We drove on to Albandeira Beach - check out those waves!

Here's a great video - click here if you can't see it

Next up, Nossa Senhora da Roches Beach

We came back to Carvoeiro, and caught this rainbow! Well, we *are* expecting 2 more days of rain...

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See more photos in the Portugal 2024 album

Portugal 2024 - Relax!

Wednesday was the last fully sunny day for a while, so we went on our West Coast drive then. That left the next few days for relaxing! That is, stay inside, out of the rain, and get caught up on posting, playing games, and reading... ahhhh....

17° C = 63° F
20° C = 68° F 

It turns out that Carnaval is either side of this weekend - hopefully they won't get caught in too much rain!

We have plans to go listen to "Fado" on Sunday; now we just have to figure out what to do Saturday!

Portugal 2024 - West Coast Drive

We took a little drive along the West Coast! (Technically, the southern section of the west coast...)

1) It took just over an hour to get to our first stop, Amoreira Beach. We went into a Taberna on the South side of the river and had an espresso on the porch while soaking up the sun, waves, and surfer vibe. It was a steep path to the beach, so we stayed on the cliffs and relaxed!

You can see the 3 (yes, three!) surfers heading down the path...

From the little restaurant, we drove along the cliffs - there are little pull-outs and boardwalks so you can take in the views.

See the person sitting above the crumbling center? Ack!

2) We drove just a little farther to Monte Clérigo Beach - this time, we walked along the water ☺️

That was a whole lotta sand!

3) We went on to Ribat da Atalaia, a cliff point with some ruins

And views! White sand beach (and a diver) on this side,

Rocks and birds straight out,

And a black pebble beach on the other side.

I saw a surfer leaving as we drove up, but I could not see how he got down (then back up)!

We had our picnic lunch in the car, and headed to our next spot!

4) well, Bordeira Beach was something of a bust - we were on the wrong side of the river to do or see anything...

So, we drove part of the way to

5) Pontal da Carrapateira! We parked right before the road became a cliff-side dirt road, and walked to a couple of viewpoints

This is looking back towards our last stop.

I did drive a bit of the road, but not quite all the way to our intended spot.

Our return took us another hour, where I promptly took the wrong roundpoint exit - we had quite a tour of the streets of Carvoeiro!

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Our waypoints, a total of about 6 hours:

1) Amoreira Beach (easy drive and parking, but beach is down a steep path)

2) Monte Clérigo Beach (plenty of parking and easy beach access)

3) Ribat da Atalaia (dirt road, then flat walk to cliff edge)

4) Bordeira Beach (plenty of parking, but beach was across the river)

5) Pontal da Carrapateira (narrow cliff-side dirt road)

We ended up just North of where we went the other day...

See more photos in the Portugal 2024 album 

Portugal 2023 - Boat Tour

Winter weather is iffy, and even if the day is sunny, sometimes the sea is rough! After a week of checking, finally all the weather lined up - the boat tour was on!

Benagil Cavern 

Here's the first arch we drove through...

Then we went between the cliffs and the rocks!

To see the "baby elephant"

We saw more cliffs

Caves with hidden beaches

And "our beach" from the water!

Algar Seco from the water too!

See the people in the window?

Here's Skull Cave 

More caves...

Huge!

Heart Cave

Ghost Cave 

On to Benagil Cavern!

More beaches and caverns

Recently collapsed "window"

Kayaks

Even a crocodile!

And The Big Elephant!

Fantastic Rocks!

(Those are birds!)

On the way back, we got a last look at the lighthouse...

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I called a bit after 10am, and was usually told "not today" - this time, I got a reservation! I arrived at Carvoeiro beach at 11:45, paid 35€, and waited for the van to Portimão. The boat went eastward to Marinha Beach, then back to Portimão. I was back at the apartment by 3pm

Map: Portimão on the left; Carvoeiro black dot; Marinha Beach red marker 

Route showing stops

This was the weather at 9am - super foggy!

See a *ton* of photos in the Portugal 2024 Boat Tour album.