We had a beautiful new hotel in Rio de Palma, so a not so early start to take advantage of the breakfast buffet laid on in the morning. Ross was suffering from the accumulated rides so we gave him the option of jumping the train to Córdoba and meeting us there. He refused, saying he was good for the 50 or so kms to Córdoba, no problems. Off we went, but 5 miles down the road we threw tour plans out the window and decided to head south into the National Park mountain areas, and return to Córdoba in a few days. Grady had been pressing for a stay in that area and day trips without panniers from a central hotel. Ross's easy 50 kms to Cordoba suddenly became 100 km through hill country and the late start meant we had no choice but to ride through the heat of the day.
Our ultimate goal was Lucena, and the maps indicated small (gravel??) roads cut straight across country on the shortest route. Daryl's gps refused to believe us, and wanted to stick to the much longer national highway network. We finally got the gps in sinc by Daryl naming tiny villages en route as our destination, one after the other as we arrived at them.  This is hill country, with lots of up and downs, and every village is perched on a hilltop. Everywhere we go we ask the locals for directions, and theyre always ready to assist. lots of times the women, especially, seem very reserved and grouchy until they figure out we're harmless and lost, at which point they become friendly and helpful, but just like us they often say de recha (right) when they mean la isquirda (left) which can be a nuisance until someone down the road sets us right. In one classic situation Laurie asked two old boys the way to the next village and they each turned their back to the other and pointed in exactly opposite directions. It turned out one had misunderstood Laurie's accent  in what passes for his spanish and thought we wanted a different village. What a great picture it would have made. We all were killing ourselves laughing.
We made it to Santella mid afternoon. Ross (remember the one who said he was hurting) had taken off in the lead with Daryl pressing to stay in sight. Grady and Laurie were well back, just as Laurie (who was still going into the old churches and lighting candles)  had his 2nd, 3rd and, yes, 4th flat tire. Grady stayed back and mechanic'd, in the blazing sun. Daryl's gps had clocked 100.7'F that afternoon. Our water in the carrier bottles was actually hot. With the help of our BlackBerries and texting we all found each other in Santaella, and got under an umbrella (parasol= for sun) at a streetside bar and drank gallons of water with SuperRoss downing a cerveza or two. There we fixed Laurie's 5th flat of the trip, at which point Sancho decided he was banned from further church attendances. Only then did Laurie admit he had been secretly reading the Koran.