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peedee

It was wet and raining hard as we left Cap Breton heading for the autoroute and the Spanish border. We noted the temperature had risen considerably overnight as we motored on into Spain and by the time we reached San Sebastian, the rain had stopped. Here we were looking for the toll free N1 to take us to Burgos but we were miss led by TomTom and missed the turning. Cursing and still thinking about the snow reports, we decided to stay on the A7 and travel to Burgos via Bilbao.

The sun was shinning as we climbed out of Bilbao and it was not long before we came across the snow. Fortunately it looked like a good thaw had set in and the autoroute was clear and dry. In brilliant sunshine, we pulled into a layby in a wide valley whose slopes were covered in snow through which out crops of bare black rock glistened in the bright sunlight. The air felt warm as I surveyed the scene and took my photos before settling down to lunch. I decided the snow was not going to be a problem but would the cracked windscreen hold out?

A tap on the cab door distracted my thoughts. 'Are you English?' a voice said. It transpired the voice belonged to James, a solo motorhomer and owner of a nice self build on a Merc 411 chassis. He was a little unsure of his direction of travel and was also a first timer in Spain heading for La Manga. Our direction was not too dissimilar so James tagged along behind for the next couple of days.

There was no sign of snow by the time we reached Burgos and about 28 euros toll charge lighter in pocket we headed down the free Autovia del Norte towards Madrid. We night stopped in the small town of La Cabrera at Camping Pico de la Miel which is about 40 miles north of Madrid. The site was busy and finding a pitch for a large motorhome was difficult due to low iron work over many of the pitches. Still no one seemed particularly bother how or where you parked and I found a wide portion of track to stop upon. There were not enough electric points to go round and I found no water gushed from the nearby stand pipe after I had unrolled my hose and connected it! A container full from a working source would have do because I wasn't moving from my coveted spot. The peaceful nights stop cost 16.5 Euro but it was a shock to the system to wake up to find the temperature had dropped to near freezing. The cracked windscreen was no worse and on James's advice I borrowed some super glue from him and ran it into the crack to try and stop it creeping further.

The day quickly warmed in the sun shine as we set off for Madrid with TomTom set to avoid its toll roads. After a brief hold up due to a traffic jam at road works on a Madrid ring road, we were safely on our way south down the A3 heading for Valencia. We parted company with James at Albacete, he for Murcia and ourselves for a village near Elche where my brother has a villa. We arrived in sun shine but the next 3 days were some of the coldest and wettest I've so far met in Spain. Thank heavens for log fires, good wine, good company and the welcome break from 4 days driving. We had averaged 300 miles each day, which meant we were about 1200 miles from Calais and the windscreen was still intact.

We left my brothers on a brighter day heading for Albir and Camping Cap Blanche.

To be continued if I have the time and the access.

Minerva

Nice Blog Peedee

Bill

zulurita

I thought it would be warmer in spain by now. must say we have been lucky with weather in South Devon tis winter apart from a lot of rain in March. Glad your windscreen is ok and no worse.

cabby

A most enjoyable read, keep my fingers crossed for the windscreen.