Leaving Camarma

Well, after two years of living in Camarma de Esteruelas, we said goodbye to Spain in early June. Excited about the future, we were also sad to leave our quiet little Spanish town. Peregrino is the Spanish word for pilgrim. Our journey through Spain has helped us to understand that we are simply peregrinos, and that this world is not our home. We look forward to meeting new people, exploring new places, and enjoying the people and places already dear to us, but our eyes are heavenward, because we know that there is our real home.

Since we are no longer Jacksons in Spain, we are launching a new blog called Just Jacksons to record our adventures from this point. Go there to read about our travelling frenzy on the way home from Spain and our continuing saga of adventure, comedy, romance, and drama.

Retiro Park Rose Garden in Full Bloom

Farewell to Madrid

Our last weekend in Spain, we wanted to spend one last day in Madrid. It was a very pleasant. We fed the ducks in front of the glass palace.

And went boating on the lake.

We visited Sol and picked up a few souveniers.
And we went to the Reina Sofia museum to see Picasso's most famous work Guernica.
Goodbye, Madrid!

Can't Keep Up

Lizard boy is still at it. Yesterday's fave was the Blue Tongued Skink:

Today is the Flying Dragon Lizard:

Click here to see the video that Ransom has watched no less than 20 times today.

The Latest Craze for RansomBoy

Well, the monitor lizard phase has given way to a new obsession: The Thorny Devil. It's an Australian lizard that looks like this:

It's pretty much all he has talked about for the past two days. He wants one for a pet and is planning a trip to Australia to catch it. Click here to watch a brief but fascinating documentary on this guy.

While you are at it, watch this one about the Jesus Christ Lizard. Yes, the lizard is nicknamed after Jesus, because the thing can actually walk (well, run) on top of water! Pretty amazing.

Here was Ransom's bedtime prayer last night: "Dear Lord, please let everyone in the world know about the thorny devil lizard and let them know that it lives in Australia. Also, thank you for the Jesus Christ Lizard, who can walk on the water, just like you, Lord. Amen."

Pelegrina and Siguenza

A friend took us on an outing last Sunday to a beautiful "tiny Spanish village" as Corrie has since referred to it. A ruined eleventh century castle looks down on Pelegrina. We walked up through the town and down into the canyon behind it, following a little path along a creek where the townspeople's gardens are kept. We walked and explored through intermittent rain and sun. What a wonderful afternoon! (Sorry the picture isn't very good.)

There is a walking trail from the "tiny Spanish village" to the nearby city of Siguenza. What a pity we will not be able to return to this lovely place for such an activity. We did drive to Siguenza, though. The twelfth century castle there is far from ruinous. In fact, it was modernized and now functions as a Parador (historic buildings turned into upscale hotels). By then, however, the rain was coming down quite steadily, so after visiting the Parador, we had to content ourselves with a tour of the city in the car. We did happen across a bakery open for business on a Sunday afternoon! So, we munched Spanish bread as we saw the sights.

Adventures in Ransom #10

This week Ransom has pretended to be:

a monitor lizard

a monkey

a pig

a crocodile

a dragon

a chimpanzee

a dinosaur

a bat

a rooster

a dog

a komodo dragon

and a cat.

(Photo by Corrie Jackson)

Dogsitting

Got the opportunity to dog-sit for a few days recently. Ivy only has eyes (and ears) for Corrie and followed her around the house relentlessly. Here's Corrie reading her a bedtime story.