Going to the Pantano

Madrid is in the center of the country. It is very high and is very dry. In the summer it is miserable especially when you have a heat wave coming from Africa, which is the current situation. So what do Madrileños do if they don't have a swimming pool?? The go to the Pantano aka artificial lakes created by dams. So being true Madrileños we went to check out one of many pantanos last Sunday to try and cool off. We went to San Juan, about an hour from our house and out where the pine trees grow. It actually wasn't a bad area- very dry, but the pine trees reminded me of Eastern Washington so I liked it. The pantano is very low right now so we hiked our way down to the water's edge and set up camp. We brought our beach umbrella and chairs, picnic and music and spent the afternoon. We brought Goonie so he could run around, get wet and sleep good that night. He had fun except for some obidence issues- he barks at all the people. Mom was not happy.
The water wasn't the cleanest as it was filled with a lot of bugs but it was refreshing. I was surprised at how many boats were there, people wakeboarding, water skiing, tubing. I even saw some skiers wearing wet suits and I had to laugh. Wet suits??? Do you know how hot it is outside and how warm the water is?? You'd never make it in the PNW! HAHA
We had a very nice time but the heat was pretty strong and this prego lady couldn't be out all day like a traditional dominguero so we had to pack it up early and head for home.

The view

The prego staying in the shade

All three of us sharing the shade

Playing in the water