Mijas, Coin, Almeria, almost to Malaga, and roads in between

Great intentions only go so far and memories unaided by quick responses get foggier and I wish I had been quicker and better at getting more of this up and done.  So some of this is going to be made up- but that's OK, it won't be far off.  

Below is a pueblo blanco that we have seen, driven through, stayed in or enjoyed a meal in. Name is lost to the winds of the Sierra "whatever" on the side of which it is perched. Some of these pueblos are bigger than others.  (See so far not so bad about making stuff up.)

Near Pueblo Coin I think it was, we went for a fairly long and apparently popular hike amongst a fairly large olive grove. We did not see the promised mountain goats along at the various view points at the destination.  Big downer.  It was a pretty day though. Note "cloud sky" and we did enjoy the hike. A great day for an outing.

A bit of history, there are number of old Moorish forts in the coastal towns that were built generally around the 1000 to 1300. This the one in Fuengirola. This one was small.

The Moors came into Europe through Spain from Arabia starting around 700 AD and stayed in Spain until around 1500 or so.

Of course we are eating well and on occasion have been serenaded. Charles especially likes groups like this.

And just outside of Coin is Charles and Linda's new, well for a year's worth of lease anyway, house.  Very nice. What you would expect. Large, spacious, airy, pool, big lawn and so on. Great view over the hills toward more of various mountain ranges in the far distance.

Going along the southern coast toward the east —geography note here— Spain looks a bit like a box on a map, well we were going toward the bottom right corner.  This is where apparently much of Europe's garden vegetables are grown, in greenhouses, hundreds and hundreds over miles and miles of them along the interstate, well not interstate, but you know what I mean that is up from the coastal road.

and that is the corner. It is a National Park, a large one too, and a dark and stormy day we had for a while out at the lighthouse.

The Alcazaba de Almeria which is a large Moorish fortress in Almeria is an amazing place. As soon as I walked in I felt like I had been there before though only in some book reading about the place in a novel or history about Spain or the French Foreign Legion in North Africa or some other Arab adventure book. The place looked exactly like it should have.

It was a great place to visit and we had a lot of fun looking over the walls at the sea, the town behind the fortress, and the various battlements within the thousand year old fort.

and we of course got off the interstate highway and road along the coastal road through the small towns to enjoy multiple views such as this.

On the drive back along the coast we stopped several times to enjoy the view.  Check it out.  Here or at the next stop we actually saw the missed mountain goats from the hike in the olive grove earlier.

Either shortly after this photo or in Malaga, I lost my iPhone. It was on airplane mode so I can not find it and it has a six digit security code so it is doubtful anyone can open it. My number is currently blacklisted by AT&T from making calls so all is well on that end but I sure miss my music.