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April 15 - Nerja to Castell de Ferro, 2056 km
Something happened overnight. The rain heralded in a change of weather. This morning it is clear, sunny and warm, and there is a beautiful tailwind from the south west. After a brief stop at the supermercado we are on the road heading east at 10:15am. Mike suggests we stop at the Nerja caves on the outskirts of town. They are limestone caves like the Gouffre de Padirac in France. They are not as dramatic but still wonderful in their way. We spend less than an hour there, but it puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.
My memory of the road between Almunecar and Nerja from Day 32 is that the route is cruel, the hills difficult and the tunnels terrifying, but it is nothing like that this morning. Gone are yesterday's sea of condos, traffic and grey, threatening skies. I'm doing it at the start of the day after a refreshing sleep, not at the end of the day. The tailwind makes the ride much easier and the air is crisp and clear. The coastal vistas are splendid. I am taking more pictures than any day since Ronda. It’s amazing how yesterday and tomorrow mean so little when the ground is moving beneath my feet.
We pass Torre del Pino and La Herradura on the same rugged coast to get to Almunecar. East of Almunecar the road is new to us. The hills are smaller but the road still hugs the shore, twisting and turning with the coastal indentations. It is easy to average 20 km/hr or even a bit better. Seven km from Motril, the road reaches the flat 
delta of the Rio Guadalfeo. Salobrena, a pretty town with uniform white-washed buildings, is scattered up the side of a high, rocky promontory that juts out into the delta south of us. It is capped by a castello.
We cross the river and meet the highway that comes down from Granada to meet the coast road. We take a break for lunch before continuing on. Shortly after we set out again, we pass on the south side of Motril, a small, modern city of crystal high-rises set on the valley floor. It is surrounded on three sides by hills that are up to 300m high, notched with grey rocky terraces. Behind these hills in the distance, rise the majestic, snow-capped Sierra Nevada that are more than 3000m high. 
N-340 continues along the coast around a rocky headland at the end of the delta, but we aim for a small unnumbered road that heads inland, seemingly to a dead end, but it zigzags up the steep hills and then snakes around the mountain faces high above the coast road. It is a very challenging climb, worse than I had hoped for, but the traffic is gone and from 250m the views below are truly amazing. I feel so blessed to be alive.
The road stays at this height for several km and then falls even more steeply, past the hanging village of Gualchos, to Castell de Ferro. Castell is lovely. It has a bit of tourist development, but not too much. Its streets are mostly car-free on the west side and there's a peaceful boardwalk along the water with a fine pebble beach. 
The pension we found is on the east side of town by the truck route. It is still sunny and warm after checking in, so we wasted no time getting down o the beach to catch some rays. Afterwards, we have showers (hot water, yeah!) and go out for the best paella dinner I've ever had. Mike has some local "brown wine" but I am still on the penicillin so I decline it. My sinus infection is mending rapidly and I want to keep it that way.
The bed's mattress is firm too, capping off a perfect day. I know tomorrow or the next day might turn to shit again, but days like today are what this trip is all about. Also today, probably near Motril, I crossed the 2000 km mark of my trip, which I feel proud of.
PHOTO 1: Nerja Caves
PHOTO 2: Torre del Pino
PHOTO 3: La Herradura
PHOTO 4: Salobrena
PHOTO 5: Motril with Sierra Nevada behind
PHOTO 6: the small road climbing
PHOTO 7: view of greenhouses below
PHOTO 8: Gualchos
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