Long Weekend Adventuring - #4 Boadilla Sheep & the Elusive Villafranca Castle

After several failed attempts to reach the castle in the distance by our house we finally started to do some real research.  We now know that it's the Castilla Villafranca and it's situated in Villanueva de la Cañada, which is a city right across from ours.  It is on the same property as the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) and its ginormous satellites, which is such a fun juxtaposition in my opinion.  To drive to the castle would take 30 minutes because there is no straight through connection from our neighborhood to the other.  Everything in between the two cities is owned and inhabited farm land with dirt trails all throughout.  Sheep and goats graze there freely.  The trails are populated by hikers, bicycles, people out for an evening stroll, mopeds, dirt bikes, and happy puppies... so we know the trails themselves are for the public.  You can see it all from google earth (which is how we plotted our next mission).

We started off with all the kids and dogs, but as soon as we hit the trail we ran into a herd of sheep.  Josh wasn't with me because he had to study for a board and Charlie was WAY too excited about those sheep.  I won the pulling contest, but it made it hard to take video or pictures.  Brennan started whining that he wanted to hold my hand, but I couldn't because it was occupied by a leash that was turning my hand purple.  Tristan started doubling over with every step, drama king that he is, telling me he was tired.  So, we turned right back around after maybe 50 yards and went back to the van.

As soon as we got to the van Tristan was bawling that he was fine after all (I told him Noah and I were coming back).  I stuck to my guns and brought Brennan, Tristan & Charlie back to the house.  Noah, Bosley & I headed right back out.  Great decision!!  Noah was a little disappointed that the sheep had gone, but he was excited to be on a hike with me... just him and his big boy self walking his own dog.

The further we walked, the more interesting the scenery became.  We could see the major highways that lead to and from our neighborhood, but they seemed ridiculously far away.  The huge red steel bridge that crosses over the highway that Noah's bus takes to school looked so tiny from where we were. 

We decided this would definitely be a fun trip to bring everyone on some day when we got to plan it better.  It was close to dinner time so we had to head back, but we were able to see the castle and ESAC this time... that much closer!