5. Sep, 2021

5. Sep, 2021

SUNDAY 05-09-21

Don't get me wrong. We were very pleased indeed to bag one of the five spaces on the motorhome Aire, or Sosta as they call them here in Spain. It was better than parking across the road in the coach park along with all the motorhoming Spaniards who decided to ignore the signs banning them. It's just that our parking space was right on the end next to the dump station, which meant all evening until very late at night we had a constant stream of motorhomes driving in or backing in, to the space next to us to dump their grey water (showers and sinks) , black water (loo waste) and refill with fresh water. Every in and out was noisy and a potential for a bit of bodywork damage if they got their reversing wrong. Worst of all, many of them didn't make a huge amount of effort to park properly over the grey water grate which is at the bottom of a well shaped sloping area. This meant that we were continually having streams of dirty water running under our vehicle and off down the hill to visit the other four vehicles parked there. Therefore we decided that if we got the chance this morning we'd move spaces, ideally to the other end, but that depended on fellow motorhomers vacating those spaces.

We slept well, helped by the change of duvet. We carry two, one is 10.5 tog and the other 4.5, they can be used individually, or attached together to create a 15tog snuggler allowing us to cope with most temperatures. Since leaving the UK the 10.5 had remained in place but with the improvement in the weather and higher temperatures we really needed to swap duvets, this we did yesterday, which meant last night's sleep was more comfortable.

We spent much of the morning hanging out in the motorhome, interrupted by a moment of glee when I spotted out of the side cab window what looked to be not one, but two, empty spaces along the line of five. My chief scout, Hiawatha Chef went out to investigate.Yes indeed there was, and one of them was at the other end of the line. That was it, ignition keys in, engine started whilst the Chef gathered all that was precious to her before I moved off gently. Within minutes we'd bagged the space we really wanted. What a result.

The morning was marred only by The Chef having her third, and hopefully final destructive moment of the trip. I have told her on numerous occasions that the aluminium step ladder leading up to the king-sized bed must sit flat and square on the floor, if it's at an angle then the steps will work loose from the sides. What happens is she moves the legs forward so that she can gain easier access to her wardrobe, both of which are located under the beds. What so often doesn't happen is her putting the ladder back where it should be. So there I was looking down at a step ladder with the bottom rung broken off on one side. I did remind her of what I'd told her she should do, but it's too late now. I've mended it on a few occasions, and I'm not sure it will take another fix. I've seen other motorhomers with large cages in which they keep their dogs in transit. I think perhaps I should look at getting one to put The Chef in. It could sit in the rear garage so that I could leave the garage door up so that she could get some fresh air, but at least then I'd know where she was, and let her out occasionally for walkies. Right now I don't feel terribly motivated to attempt yet another repair.

Lunch was a minimal affair as we're not doing enough to burn up the calories, this was followed but a trek in to town before scaling the steep footpaths to the church up on top of the cliff. This was the first outing of my whiter-than-white legs which must have screemed to all bronzed Spaniards - 'ENGLISHMAN'.

On arrival at the church we discovered a very nice spot and the walks both up and down gave us some lovely views of the town and it's beaches. In order to reduce the number of locations we were to visit on this trip I'm very pleased I didn't cut out Ribadesella, it's a very nice location, and it's been a nice way to spend some time to get back in to the rhythm of touring in a motorhome.

On our return 'home' we moved the motorhome on to the levelling blocks because we were sloping quite a lot towards the back which means that tomorrow's showers could have been a bit eventful if we hadn't. After that it was drinkies all round sat outside on the piece of grass now adjacent to the vehicle. We sure as hell wouldn't get facilities like this provided back in the UK - and all for free. Meanwhile our little 60W solar panel sat in the windscreen was doing its best to provide our habitation battery with a bit of replacement power.

I see on the news that our UK paralympic team have come second in the medal tally at the Tokyo Paralympics, so a great big well done to them. Success like that doesn't come from sitting on your bum feeling sorry for yourself. Here's to even greater success at the Paris games in three years time.

Tomorrow we leave town heading further west along the coast. I will now start another chapter as this one is probably plenty long enough by now.

4. Sep, 2021

4. Sep, 2021

4. Sep, 2021