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Not long after arriving, we were convinced we could hear music, with Sophie sure that it must be some young “travellers”, and that we’d intruded onto their patch. I was sent to investigate and as the volume intensified I immediately recognised the baa-ing of sheep, accompanied by sheep bells. Strange how the imagination can play tricks.

Before the sun set behind the adjacent hill, the photographer insisted I get my long trousers on so that we could trek down to the long grass by the river, and along it, passing under the ancient bridge. It was interesting to see how the river, already apparently in wildish flood mode, had in recent times been higher as it had violently gouged out parts of the river bank down to its rock base. On the way back we took a more sensible road track, and noticed from a sign that mushroom and snail collecting were forbidden.

In the night, I’d thought I’d heard a distant fox calling, but was then woken up by a much louder calling between a couple of wild animals in the parking area. I couldn’t see them, except in my imagination as a couple of scary beasts, but can only assume they were just humble foxes. When it began to rain, they ran off with some barking, so they obviously weren’t that tough.

It was another brilliant place to stay. The river by our side, but comfortably lower down. A good hard standing, but nice and grassy, as well as lots of trees, but equally plenty of space, so that we could see the moon and stars.

First stop of the day was back at Covarrubias, where Park4night parking was just opposite the town gate, which was handy. The only mini-drama was in the Tourist Office when I checked Sophie’s wonky glasses, only for one of the arms to shear off. Somehow I seemed to avoid the blame, which was a result, and we popped back to the van to dig out a spare pair.

All back on track we did a circuit of the attractive medieval town on foot, and were back on our way. One potential overnighting stop for the previous night, which we hadn’t needed in the end, was in the car park for the ruins of the Monasterio de San Pedro de Arlanza, and so today we visited the monastery. I have to confess that a ruin holds more interest to us than an intact one, and this was a fascinating free visit, and well-recommended.

From here we headed up a very pleasant and relaxing road to Burgos. Fortunately, Sophie was content to do a drive-through visit, which was a relief, and we also treated it as a functional detour, stopping at Lidl, using the motorhome services at the city’s aire, and topping up our LPG (€4.35 for the last 2 weeks). Not to mention the lovely cathedral we by-passed too.

20 minutes NE of Burgos is the Monasterio de Rodilla, where Park4night indicated a highly-rated rural carpark set in an incredibly stunning backdrop of rugged hills and crags. The clouds look angry, but we’ve had some great sunshine as a counter balance. It’s a Saturday night, as well as a national holiday weekend, which can sometimes be the riskiest times for a peaceful night’s stop, but, as has been the case for the previous three nights, we’re totally on our own. Perfect.

*** Just to mention that our blogs can be up to a few weeks behind reality, as we’re always in catch-up mode ***