We’re back from a beautiful and challenging trip to Spain. Our plan was to backpack 76 miles through the Pyrenees from Candanchu to Parzan. We put in about that much mileage hiking, but we dropped the backpacking after 6 days in favor of pitching the tent at a campground near a national park and hiking around without packs for a few days.

This change of plan also allowed us to sit at the campground bar at the end of the day and enjoy wine on the patio, which seemed much more civilized than eating dehydrated food and chugging ibuprofen at the campsite (albeit gorgeous and solitary spots in the middle of nowhere).

The Pyrenees are stunning, and our weather was perfect; however, we found the trails to be difficult, requiring a lot of 4-point climbing up rock fissures and over boulders, which can be intimidating when you’re carrying 40 or 50 pounds and your center of gravity is sternum-high.

We also enjoyed spending time in Madrid and Segovia with friends, and in Zaragoza, where we tried to eat as many tapas as we could during our 18-hour layover there.

On our return, we also had about 18 hours before we picked up the Hepcats, where we learned that they had charmed their fosters into STILL giving them bottles (although they are also eating solid food) because the kittens liked it so much! That practice came to an abrupt end when they arrived back at 50K! The Hepcats are just as cute and affectionate as when we left them. We also added two new Hepcats to the bunch who needed to be integrated with kittens near their own size.

Teeny Tiny (TT) is a little charmer who immediately fit right into the group. She is a super love bug who is...yes...teeny tiny.

Orion is a bit more of a challenge. He was found by himself at a Comfort Inn – a feral kitten in surprisingly good health. He reportedly made big progress in the 10 days that he was fostered without other kittens, but he’s a hisser and a hider right now.

He doesn’t bite or scratch, and he relaxes and lets us hold and pet him, so he’ll come around, but it’ll take awhile.

The Hepcats are being very nice to him, but he prefers to take refuge under the futon. He’s a little older than they are, but not much. I’m sure their good nature will rub off on him.

While we were gone, we got some great updates on recent and not-so-recent alums, but we’ll save those for our next entry.

filed by: ME

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