1st July 2018

Jul 012018
 

A quiet day at the campsite today, a lot of people left early this morning and we are now the only British couple left along with few Spanish families. The weather forecast for the afternoon was for rain and the clouds became very heavy and black after lunch and at Ingrid’s prompting we put the awning, chairs and groundsheet away before it started.. The wifi at the site was good enough for streaming and I settled down to watch the F1 grand prix from Austria, shortly after it started the rain started and it got progressively heavier. There was even hail stones mixed in with the rain and the wind picked up and then the wifi died along with the sites computers and so I missed the last half of the grand prix. See the video below for an example of what we had to put up with. The rain was that heavy and with the wind blowing as hard as it was it pushed some rain into the bottom vent of the fridge which then came out onto the floor of the motorhome.

Using our 4G wifi box we looked at the weather forecast for our next two planned stops of Barreiros and Covelo and found that they were both showing rain and cool temperatures every day for the next week. As a result we then started looking for places to go not too far away that didn’t have any rain in the forecast for the next week. We found that we needed to go at least 150km away from the north or west coasts of Spain. We researched the campsites available looking at user reviews online and in the ACSI book and eventually settled on a municipal site in Sahagun about 200km south of Cullidero. The rain let up for about an hour in the early evening and then started again.

30th June 2018

Jun 302018
 

It was a good job that Ingrid suggested packing up yesterday afternoon as there was more rain overnight and we woke to more thunder and rain. We left at 10am and headed down the N634 to San Vicente de Barquera and then on to the A8 motorway in the direction of Oviedo and Gijon. The A8 motorway runs along the coast and at times we were close to the beach and at other times we were further away, we ran alongside the Picos de Europe mountains which were spectacular. We went through several tunnels, some over a mile in length, and the motorway in places was a little rough. As we needed to top up with groceries we pulled off the motorway at Gijon and went to Lidl less than a kilometre away, shopped and then returned to the motorway. Throughout the journey we had a mixture of weather from heavy rain, light drizzle and dry partially blue skies. We turned off the motorway onto the N632 and followed the signs and the satnav to Cudillero and down a local road AS317 to the campsite. We checked in at 12.40 and were allocated a large grassy pitch. We had a quick coffee in the campsite bar and then got set up and just after I had the awning erected it started to rain.

We had some lunch and then during the afternoon we had some heavy rain showers. During the afternoon the sky brightened for a bit and it stopped raining so we went for a walk to the beach that was 1.4km away. After about half a kilometre the road started to wind steeply downhill and we decided it was a bit too steep for us to climb back up so we made the most of the view and then headed back to the campsite and just as we got back the rain started again. So we settled down to read and update this blog and we will try the campsite restaurant this evening.

Today’s route

29th June 2018

Jun 292018
 

We decided to go to Comillas to the market and to do some shopping. The first number I rang for a taxi did not reply, his loss. I got another number from reception and he answered straight away and came to pick us up and took us right into the centre of Comillas for €7. We had a look around part of the market and stopped for a very expensive coffee at €2 each. We continued around the market and saw some other campsite residents. Ingrid stopped at all the lady’s clothes stalls as she hadn’t brought any warm tops with her, needless to say she bought a couple and a denim jacket and a pair of trousers. We bought some lovely cherries and paraguaya’s from one of the stalls, some home-made biscuits from another and then a great loaf of bread from a home-made bread stall. We then strolled back to the taxi rank and got a taxi back to the campsite. When we got back we found that there was now another Adria motorhome on the site a Dutch Adria Twin, it is nice to see another Adria as there don’t seem to be many about in Northern Spain.

At lunchtime the sun came out for an hour so that was a pleasant change instead of the grey skies but it didn’t last long. After lunch we both read for a while and then decided to pack up as much as we could to make leaving in the morning quicker.

Dinner tonight in the campsite restaurant, whilst we were there the thunder and lightning started followed by the rain and then a hailstorm. It was only light rain when we had finished our meal and so with Ingrid’s folding umbrella we didn’t get too wet going back to the motorhome.

28th June 2018

Jun 282018
 

Playing the flute

A lazy day at the campsite reading and pottering and we had the remains of yesterday’s bbq for dinner. No rain today and we saw some sunshine but it was mainly a grey day again. During the afternoon our neighbour gave us an impromptu concert on the flute. All nine occupants of this section of the site are British and all are a friendly crowd.

27th June 2018

Jun 272018
 

Eating seeds

Stayed at the campsite today and washed all the dead insects of the front of the motorhome and am now nearly out of insect remover and so will have to buy some more as they seem to like committing suicide on the front of the van. We then spent some time putting the windblockers up for the first time and were pleased with the result although they do make the inside of the van a bit darker.

Next to our pitch is an open field with lots of wild grasses in it and we spent an interesting time watching the sparrows perched on the chain link fence eating the seeds from the grasses. After lunch we went for a walk out of the back gate of the campsite towards the beach and realised that the campo (farmers) road that we were on was the road the Garmin satnav took us down last year. We didn’t make it quite as far as the beach and returned to the site and read books for the remainder of the afternoon followed by the first bbq of the trip. Just as we were eating dinner there was more thunder and some light rain.

 

26th June 2018

Jun 262018
 

Looking at the preferred route of the satnav it wanted us to go to Logrono and then by motorway to Bilbao and along the coastal motorway to Comillas. It did offer a couple of alternative routes and on checking on Google maps we selected an alternative with a couple of variations for a picturesque trip. As a result, we left Entrerobles at 9.20 and as we were ready to leave so early we had to open the gates to leave the campsite. We went down the new road and joined the SO820 heading west through the forest and past the lake that we visited last year. We drove through the various villages with their red sandstone houses, there were a few more storks on their nests but still not as many as in 2017. The road number changes to the CL117 as we changed provinces and we continued through forest and small villages, many of the villages had timber yards for processing the wood cut from the forests. We then joined the N234 and headed towards Burgos and then we joined the A1 motorway and we stopped at the first services for coffee.

We re-joined the A1 and continued to Burgos and then around the ring road and on to the N627. All the roads on this trip were light with traffic and what there was was moving comfortably at the 90 or 100kmh speed limit and so that was fine for us, this section of the route was through some open fields and also past some overhanging rocks. We then joined the A67 heading north towards the coast. Some of the mountains in the distance still had snow on them in places just like those in Soria. We left the motorway at Torrelavega to refuel at Carrefour, had some lunch and then did some food shopping. There was a 2.1m height restriction on the Carrefour car park and so we had to park in the street outside.

After lunch and shopping we rejoined the A67 and then onto the A8 coastal motorway. The satnav took us off at the correct junction, not like last year, and we continued to the campsite arriving at 2.45pm. The first pitch that we went onto did not have a grey waste disposal point and so we moved to a pitch opposite where we were in 2017. During the evening there was thunder and lightning and later some rain.

25th June 2018

Jun 252018
 

We went to bed in a warm motorhome with just a sheet over us but partway through the night the temperature dropped like a stone and we needed to get the quilt out. When I got up I found that the temperature was only 12 degrees! We had a quiet day at the campsite cleaning the 100’s of dead bugs off the windscreen and the front of the motorhome and reading in the sunshine.

In the evening we ate in the campsite restaurant and had the special mushroom meal again like last year. It was excellent if a little expensive for Spain. We paid for the meal and for the campsite so that we could leave whenever we are ready in the morning.

24th June 2018

Jun 242018
 

We decided that we would change our original plan and leave home early and go direct to Camping Entrerobles and stay for two nights instead of just one. As a result we left home at 8.30am and joined the AP7 and headed towards Valencia around Valencia and on to the A23 in the direction of Teruel. We stopped for coffee at a service area about 30km from Teruel, unfortunately, as it was the first services for some while it was full. Around 30 bikers had stopped for breakfast along with a large number of cars and a few trucks. After 15 minutes of waiting and still no sign of being served we left and continued about 10km further to the next services off the motorway. We were lucky here in that we were served virtually straight away but shortly after we were served the place filled up.

Stopped for coffee

We re-joined the A23 and continued past Teruel and on towards Zaragoza and then turned on to the N234. This was a single carriageway road that was very quiet with little traffic in either direction. We passed through 3 villages all within about 15km and each of them had an unusual church with an ornate tiled bell tower with a spire on the top. Later villages had conventional bell towers. We saw a bar beside the road some distance further on with parking suitable for the motorhome and so we stopped for lunch. We ordered half a chicken with chips and salad for €6.50 and neither of us could finish it all, along with a glass of wine and 2 claras it was an expensive €16.50. Whilst we were there a band started playing and marching from the village towards the bar and they entered the bar and continued playing. They were followed by lots of people in their Sunday finery and we found that it was the villages local fiesta and so again we timed arriving and leaving just right.

Straight roads

We continued along the N234 in the direction of Soria, the landscape changed again and the road became arrow straight but undulating as we rolled across the Spanish plains. Some of the fields were a mass of red poppies, others had olive trees and some were fields of cereal crops. We were both getting bored of the journey by this time with little changing and the straight road. On the outskirts of Soria we filled up with diesel at some 10c a litre cheaper than at home. We followed the N111 in the direction of Logorno on the same route as last year towards the campsite. Unlike last year there were very few storks on the high buildings and even fewer nests.

 

We arrived at Camping Entrerobles at 4pm, checked in and were told to set up anywhere just like before. We drove around the site and chose a pitch close to where we parked before. Quickly set up and settled down in the 32-degree sunshine with a cold beer.

Today’s route

New graphics

Jun 212018
 

I have always thought that the back of my Adria Sonic was a bit bare being all white with light grey graduated stripe and so I decided to do something about it.

 

Before

I played around with a photo of the back of the van with some photo editing software and came up with a design that both Ingrid and I liked. Today I delivered the motorhome and my mocked up photo to a local printers who also do vehicle graphics. They turned my design into vinyl and added the graphics to the rear. The red is the same shade as the factory fitted graphics on the side of the motorhome. We are both pleased with the result.

After

18th May 2018

May 192018
 

We were up early and finished packing everything away and left the campsite at about 9am. We followed the sat nav route out through the town but at a complicated junction with a pedestrian crossing and trees hiding road signs so we went around a section of the town for a second time before turning onto the correct road to the motorway. At the junction with the motorway we went into the Eroski shopping complex and filled up with cheap fuel. This was another circle around one way roads to get back to the motorway junction where we joined the A7 coastal motorway. We ran along the coast for many miles with the blue sea to the right and the mountains to the left. The road was undulating and had tunnels and was in good repair. As we got closer to Almeria city the poly tunnels started, they are a real blot on the landscape extending from the coast to the mountains for mile after mile. The road surface got quite rough once we were in Almeria Province as they don’t seem to maintain the road surface as well as Malaga Province. There was a severe shortage of service areas along this section, about 11.15 we saw the sign for a service area just off the motorway and so we stopped for coffee. There was no room in the car park for two motorhomes and so we stopped on a gravel area opposite next to a JCB. There were two bars to choose from and so we chose the one that the Policia Local were using as we suspected that it would be the better of the two, and it was.

We rejoined the motorway and continued our journey home. We stopped at Lorca at about 1.30 for lunch, the road too and from the motorway junction was very busy with a complicated roundabout junction. We found a hotel with a cafeteria where we had a bocadillo for lunch. After lunch it took us a while to negotiate our way out of the town and back onto the motorway. Around Murcia the traffic got very busy and we ended up stopping in nose to tail traffic which is unusual for Spain. We continued on the A7 and again as we skirted Alicante the road was pretty busy. As we were part way through the long San Joan tunnel we were passed by a Guardia Civil Trafico car on ‘blues & two’s and he stopped on the hard shoulder just outside the tunnel where there was a car on fire, although it was nearly extinguished by this time. The rest of the journey to Ondara was uneventful and we pulled into our parking spot at about 4.45pm. A long day and a 550km+ journey without incident for us.

Today’s route

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