Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

Another update!

I have been relying on the MyRouteApp website to plan where to go and this will tie in with the additional Navigation App when I pay for it.  For the simple A to B trips I can still use the Ohrex  as normal.

Of course I am hoping that the Navigation part of MyRouteapp will work okay and it is supposed to allow the downloading of maps so that it doesn't need to use the internet to work.  I have a 30gb allowance on my mobile phone but don't want to eat that up with the navigation.

At the end of the last update we were in Avila where we are staying for two days in the new aire near to the city walls. I opted for a EHU space and hopefully we can charge everything up.

From here we have a decision to make. We will have 12 nights left before we return to the UK via Eurotunnel Le Shuttle at Calais. So which way back? Do we go north of Madrid or south of Madrid? I still like the idea of heading up through Aragon and taking the Somport Tunnel, with maybe an overnight at the new aire at Canfranc Station. Either way around Madrid will bring us eastwards.

One of the recent vlogs we have watched shows a stop overnight an Consquerga where there is a castle and the Don Quixote windmills of La Mancha. I thought this looked more like a stop off rather than an overnight.  The nearby town of Alcazar de San Juan has a couple of aires that look pretty decent.  It does look a "dead" area for campsites though.

From there? East! I have booked three nights at Camping Valencia. It's owned by Sandaya and I was able to use the credit from last year gained by amassing loyalty points to get 3 for 2 nights. It works out at about €25 a night including the €5 a night for Reggie! I doubt he'll use many of the services or the pool!

From here I think it will be time to look at it nearer the time!

 

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

Since the last update I have given up pretty much on looking for raw food for Reggie, and have concentrated on a few more overnight stops and scenic drives around the Basque and Cantabrian mountains.

Distances on the map turn out to be far less when transferred into the satnav app and into the Ohrex satnav.

One thing I am going to look at is using my phone in conjunction with the Navigation app that comes as an extra to the MyRouteApp that I use, and have for years, on the TomTom for bike trips. The TomTom 410 was also used in the car before we got the Nissan with the built in navigation.

I have read that some people have used this app successfully on their Android tablets. 

I had already booked two nights at Plays de Regatón on the coast between Bilbao and Santander. This was basically to recover from 30 hours on the ferry from Portsmouth.

The plan is to try and locate a Tienda Animal store to see if they have any raw food. I have also found a motorhome parking area that should give us a chance to see the Guggenheim and the big flower dog statue (https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-collection/works/puppy).

After Regatón? I have mapped out an eastern loop that will bring us to Ramales and so I booked a site overnight there. 

The following day we have a second mountain loop, central mountains, ending on the coast again at Camping Oyambre. Two nights here with ehu. A chance to charge up everything and try out the beach ⛱️. It's allegedly dog friendly.

The next day another loop, this time a longer one around the western Picos d'Europa and then via Potes ending at a small site near Cervera la Pisuerga. One night.

We stayed at the Parador there in 2014 when we were on the Explorer and on our way back to Santander and the ferry.

From there to Avíla.  We have been before and it's a place I'd like to see again. There's a relatively new "area autocaravanas" opened near the northern walls. I have booked two nights there. It's €18 per night inc EHU.

That's as far as I have got. I was thinking about simply going and looking for a stop "on the hoof". There are plenty of free aires but the reviews are mixed. 

I am hoping that as we work our way around the loops that there will be places to stop and take in the views and simply enjoy what we are doing and seeing.

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain - Basque Loop 1

Over the last week or so I have been looking through the atlas to check out the roads marked with the green "scenic" lines and the places along it (POI)  to stop and be amazed by the views and the sights/sites.

I made a list of a loop through the eastern mountains to the south and south east of the first overnight stop in Laredo. Without stops it worked out (on Google maps) at just under 3 hours.  Today I have been on the laptop and checking some of the roads and POI.  

The first two, Pozalagua Cuevas and the nearby Dolomites Museum are closed except for weekends. This is fortunate for us as we leave Laredo on Saturday morning....  The loop will bring us back towards the coast again. I have also looked at some miradors (viewpoints) and waterfalls/cascades.

Altogether there are 10 waypoints in the MyRouteApp route. I have planned it here as the latest upgrade allows routes to be created for motorhomes.

It would mean using the phone instead of Ohrex. The additional cost can be paid monthly. I am tempted for £3.95 and use it only in May whilst we are away.  

With stops it becomes more like 5 and a half hours.  So not to rush I looked for a campsite and found Camping Ramales  that is nicely at the end of the loop.  It's on ACSI and is €21 per night with electricity charged on top. I booked one night only here.

So that's three days in Spain that are accounted for!

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

With the Norfolking About trip over I am now starting to look at the main summer holiday trip to Spain and France.

Altogether we are away for 22 nights. The first two will be spent on the ocean wave going to Bilbao.

I have the next two nights booked in a site on the coast at Laredo. This will give Reggie a chance to recover from the trip. He has been on a ferry before but only for a couple of hours. This crossing looks to be more like 30! 

What then? I have been looking at the "scenic" routes on the map book. These are lined with a green line. In particular the routes through the mountains taking in viewpoints and places of interest.

What looks to be long distances in the "AA Road Atlas Spain & Portugal" is in fact around 60 miles.

The scenic routes criss-cross the mountains and the Picos d'Europa.  

I am using Park4night and Search4Sites to get an idea where there are parkups and camp sites.

It does look like that area is well served with both.

After that? I am thinking of a loop around to the north of Madrid and towards the Pyrenees.

By mid to late May I expect the winter will be well behind us. I would like to head up through the Somport Tunnel, the pass didn't look 7m x 2.9m x 2.3m motorhome friendly when we went over it in 2022 on the bikes, and check out the scenery.

The only fixed date is the return Le Shuttle train home and the night before overnight stay at Guines.

We will have to get Reggie's worming and passport 🛂 stamped between 5 days and 1 day before we arrive on UK soil.

Where to do that? I like the vets in Cavignac to the north of Bordeaux. We have also used others in Abbeville and Neufchatel en Bray.

I am leaning towards Cavignac at the moment. 

It all depends on when we cross from Spain into France.

Neufchatel and Abbeville are a little too close to Calais and the already booked overnight in Guines.

More to follow as the trip gets ever closer.

Norfolking About! Day 3

A little rain in the morning and we were late setting off. we had over two hours to do about 30 miles and so we needed somewhere to stop on the way.  

The National Trust gardens at Sheringham Park was almost on the way. So once we had done the chores etc, I set that into the satnav and off we went.  This part of the journey was pretty much straightforward and we easily found the place and parked in the coach parking area.  There seemed to be space for two coaches next to the electric car hookup spaces. As usual, there were cars parked in the coach spaces! Why?  The car-park was about 50% empty but there were few spaces to accommodate a 7m long van.

As is our habit we tried out the cafe first and were lucky enough to get a seat under cover as it was still drizzling. There were plenty of people there as it was a weekend and also lots of dogs. Reggie ignored them all.....

We decided as it was drizzling to do the shorter "yellow" walk. The park is full of rhododendrons and other trees. The rhododendrons were beginning to flower but not all at once. Another bugbear is when you see a sign that suggests that dogs should be kept in a lead in the park, and you are constantly getting approached by dogs running wild, it does p*** me off. Not everyone wants your dog running at them or jumping up at them. Reggie doesn't like being crowded and looked over by bigger dogs! Rant over.

The second part of the journey took us from here to the coast at Sheringham and then all along the A149 coast road via Cley next the Sea and Blakeney. It's very narrow in places. It's very bumpy in places too. I think I handled it okay though. :)

I missed a turning in Wells and we went around the block and approached the harbour from the opposite direction but I don't think it costs us more than a minute or two. We checked in at Pinewoods about 1430.  After the barrier opened for us I went straight on into the static caravan and glamping part of the park. The left turn that the receptionist told us to turn looked like a car-park behind reception.  It wasn't!  DOH!

In the end we found out pitch, no3.  All pitches are fully serviced and so we have water clean and waste as well as electricity on the pitch.  I need to get a waste pipe to connect to the outlet on the van so that we can make use of the drains for the grey water.  It would save having to use the motorhome service areas and time. Note to self:  check that out!

We had lunch and then set off for a walk to Holkham Beach. There is a gate at the back of the touring park that takes the walker to a path alongside the nature reserver and to the beach. I had expected to arrive on the beach and then walk along the sand to the car-park on the end of the river and then get back to Pinewoods. In the end we did a curious loop and ended back on the same path we went out on.  If we go again, we'll know better. The cafe and shop at the public car-park was closed by the time we got there in any case.

Another night of eating and watching stuff on the Firestick.  We found a series on Prime starring Alfred Molina as a French Canadian police officer in Quebec investigating murders and the running story is that of the missing First Nation women and girls. A scandal of huge proportions along with the forced removal of children to be "educated" away from their heritage.  

Tomorrow, we are moving again. This stop was simply a taster for for site and we might come back.