There was an old watch tower on a hill on the other side of the town. About 4 kms (2.4 miles) each way, so that was a perfect distance from the motorhome aire where Louis was parked.
These aires are really convenient for motorhomers. Most of the time they are free, and supply a dump station and fresh water supply. And they're usually pretty convenient for visiting the town that supplies the facilities in the first place.
But, they can get crowded.
Taken yesterday morning before we left.
When we arrived, I had left lots of space between us and the guy next to us. Apparently it was too much space, because sure enough someone else squeezed into it! We've learned that motorhomers in Europe don't mind getting close to each other's rig! We could have moved, but it was only for one night.
We set off on our hike about 10:15am.
There's the tower we're headed to.
A bit of a view.
Once we got to the other side of the highway, this gal came along with us to the top.
Odd looking clouds in the sky.
We were almost there when we came around a bend...to a locked gate!
Even the sign says it was supposed to be open at 10:30am on Sundays between October and April. Humph. I guess somebody must have slept in!
We did climb a nearby hill to get a bit of a view of the city of Huercal-Overa (pop 18,000).
We ended up doing 7 kms (4.3 miles) in an hour and and twenty minutes. Good morning exercise.
And then we were off. Destination was a highly rated (but inexpensive) private RV park just north of Totana.
Orange trees.
We think these are some variety of olive trees, but they're different from most that we have seen.
A big fortress at Lorca.
The main highway goes through a tunnel underneath the fortress.
Yesterday's drive, 77 kms (48 miles).
We arrived at Camperstop Sierra Espuna (GPS 37.792931, -1.509942) and chose a site away from everybody else. There was nobody in the office, and they've very much got the place organized to be self serve.
Price is a very reasonable €7 for the site, and €3 extra if you want electrical. We decided to pay the full €10 ($14.40 CAD, $10.75 USD) since they have decent wifi and we could then use our laptops to our heart's content.
There was a box on the wall asking for payment, but no envelopes or anything to put your money in. How would they know who has paid or who hasn't? None of the sites are numbered either.
Louis, in his site at Camperstop Sierra Espuna.
Lots of room for us.
We're giving Louis back to his owners today, so yesterday was clean up day! That's one of the reasons we wanted to be at a campground on our last night, so that we could have access to water and be able to put chairs out...plus, it was probably our nicest day since we arrived. I almost thought about putting shorts on, but didn't want to scare people with my shockingly white legs!
Kevin, cleaning up Louis.
And so today we will drive the final 100 kms (62 miles) or so to Torrevieja and give Louis back to Tana and Graham. he's been a great little unit for touring Europe. One of the things we've learned over the years (as in Mexico) is that the smallest unit you can be happy living in is definitely the way to go.
Tana and Graham have invited us to stay the night in their apartment, then tomorrow they'll drop us off at Alicante where we'll spend two nights. Then, on Thursday....it's off to Italy!
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Fantastic little electric travel shaver. Highly rated, considering the very cheap price!
And in Canada...
Wow, the weather has improved if you were considering shorts! I bet Tana and Graham will be real pleased to see Louis again.
ReplyDeleteYep, it is definitely a lot warmer these last couple of days.
DeleteThey were very happy so see Louis back.
Oh my I am going to miss your daily posts. Really been great following you guys. Do the owners hire out to other people? Cheers Liz
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that you mean you are going to miss our daily posts while traveling with Louis because there will still be daily posts as our adventures here in Europe continues! :-)
DeleteNo they don't hire out to other people!
I have so enjoyed reading about your travels. Thank you for letting us all travel along with you, learning and escaping our stationary lives. It has been spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThank you Donna, we are happy to hear that you have enjoyed following along on our travels. We can't wait to tell everyone all about Italy when we arrive there on Thursday.
DeleteWhat a fun time you had with Louis, now to enjoy more new adventures.
ReplyDeleteWe had a great time in Louis and he behaved exceptionally well for us. Yep, more adventures to come. :-)
DeleteTraveling in Louis, so easy to stop and go and cover a lot of territory. We enjoyed Spain and Portugal, now looking forward to Italy.
ReplyDeleteAfter having Louis for those two months, we definitely feel that the best way to explore Europe, is in and RV. You are so right when you say, easy to stop here and there and you don't have far to go between interesting stops either. I think it would take us a year just to travel slowly through Spain and see all the interesting places, many that are well off the beaten track. We sure will miss Louis as we explore Italy.
DeleteIt is amazing how nice those RV sites are. It looks like you have as much room there as we have in most of our sites.
ReplyDeleteTime flies when you are having fun. Looking forward to reading about your Italian adventures. My favorite of all foreign countries!
Actually the RV sites are very close together. It may look spacious but there is actually another space between Louis and the other RV in the picture above. However, this place was not bad but really just a parking lot. It was clean and supplied one pay shower along with a pay washer and dryer, water, dump for grey and black water, garbage and electric if you want to pay the extra. The price was reasonable and the other campers there very friendly.
DeleteWe are looking forward to our travels in Italy as well. :-)
Itlay is amazing. We love everything about it. So far you guys have had a wonderful winter!
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely looking forward to this new adventure in Italy, it should be another fun one.
DeleteWe have had a good winter! A little cooler than what we would have had in Mexico but it has been more or less what we were expecting temperature wise, definitely better than back home in Canada.
Sad to see Louis go but looking forward to your adventures in Italy! Nice scenery on your way back! Glad you both enjoyed your trip great idea Motorhome swapping!
ReplyDeleteWe were sad to see him go as well! We sure had a good time with him. We are so glad that we made the decision to do this motorhome swap. We were a bit nervous about it at first but now that we have done both sides of it we are so happy that we did.
DeleteSo sorry we couldn't connect this month, but hey, we totally get this wanderlust as we're inflicted as well! Looking forward to your Italian adventures.
ReplyDeleteWe are sorry too but somehow we know our paths will cross again some time in the future. :-)
DeleteGlad it was a nice day on your last one. We have enjoyed following your travels through Spain.
ReplyDeleteWe were too and we have had another nice couple of days since. Hoping that Italy will be warm as well. It is a little further north so it won't be quite so nice as here.
DeleteGlad that you enjoyed our travels in Spain, I know that we sure did!
Enjoyed reading your blog. If you ever come to Ireland we have a spare bed in Galway bay.xx
ReplyDeleteNora, Ireland is high on our list of places to visit so perhaps one day soon we will take you up on that offer! Thank you. :-)
DeleteMama mia! I love a spicy meat a balla. Are you going to do a wrap up of your trip to Spain? You have us interested in finding an rv and traveling there soon.
ReplyDeleteWe will definitely do a wrap up of our time in Spain but it will probably have to wait until the spring/summer when we have a little more time on our hands, rather than at the moment.
DeleteWe highly recommend traveling through Europe in an RV and that also will be a post for the summer along with some of the ways that it can be accomplished.
That was a great trip:))
ReplyDeleteThank you Chuck and Anneke, we sure enjoyed it! :-)
DeleteHow did you arrange the RV swap? Is there a website, or was it just a random meeting ?
ReplyDeleteIt was actually arranged through a mutual friend but there are websites out there for motorhome swaps or exchanges, just try googling either one and you should find the info you are looking for.
DeleteCongratulations! Louis served you well. Thanks for taking us along!
ReplyDeleteHe sure did and we really enjoyed the RV life traveling around in him here in Spain.
DeleteGlad you came along for the ride :-)
Really enjoyed your Spain and Portugal adventures. Looks like I have many years of travel reading in front of me with your blog.
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the shorts comment and had the same thoughts when we arrived. We both have Irish white skin which is almost transluscent. It is so white in fact that it has that blue coloured tinge to it! But in the end, exposing it is the only way to get a bit of colour. We have held off as long as we could and only moved into shorts in the last couple of weeks.
Thank you and we are enjoying yours! We really want to purchase an RV over in Europe now, those two months really whet our appetite. :-) So many places to explore over there.
DeleteWe weren't really there during shorts weather otherwise we might have tried working on a tan but you are certainly in the right temperatures for that now. Have fun and hope the sun keeps shining down on you both.