It's autumn in Spain, we're on the road again

[jumartoo]

When's the carnival. We are at huesca overa slowly going that way

I think Mazarron had theirs yesterday. I don't know if there are others that were postponed.

 

[jumartoo]

We had a warm, sunny day today and we went for a walk. It was good to see that we could have ridden the tracks we walked, so tomorrow we might get a decent ride.

The fat pine, Pino Gordo, with Martin peeking out.

The highest mountains in Sierra Espuña.

 

[manners]

We were around there last month did a few walks from Gebas and the Santuario de Santa Eulalia de Mérida near your old stomping ground if I remember right.

 

[jumartoo]

We were around there last month did a few walks from Gebas and the Santuario de Santa Eulalia de Mérida near your old stomping ground if I remember right.

It's still our stomping ground when we go walking

 

[manners]

We did meet Martin I think in 2017 we were at the camper stop for a couple of days.

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[Terry242]

Hi you knowledgeable people and you Martin .
We will be slowly meandering back to Bilbao in about 7 days and settling off from near Torrevieja where we're visiting family. The Google route is indicating Albacete, up the east of Madrid and Burgos. Other than Chinchilla which we stopped at in the autumn, I'm not familiar with the route and looking for some stopover recommendations.
I don't mind deviating a bit but I don't want to go lots of kilometres out of the way. The other option if the forecast is good is to get up north and spend a few days there.
Any suggestions. jumartoo, jumar, Peavy

Terry

 

[jumartoo]

Hi you knowledgeable people and you Martin .
We will be slowly meandering back to Bilbao in about 7 days and settling off from near Torrevieja where we're visiting family. The Google route is indicating Albacete, up the east of Madrid and Burgos. Other than Chinchilla which we stopped at in the autumn, I'm not familiar with the route and looking for some stopover recommendations.
I don't mind deviating a bit but I don't want to go lots of kilometres out of the way. The other option if the forecast is good is to get up north and spend a few days there.
Any suggestions. jumartoo, jumar, Peavy

Terry

My first thoughts are you have the Don Quixote area, one of our surprising recent finds. Windmills, lakes and some nice motorhome areas (€6.05 for the basic parking fee with add ons for leccy, service point, etc.). Good cycling, but lots on marked trails. Puerto Lapice also has a free parking area and a nice village.

The typical motorhome areas, all built on these lines.

Then there's Segovia. That's worth a visit if you've not been before. It's a long time since we were there so no photos. That's a bit to the west though so if you want to stay east of Madrid you could call off at Buitrago, the area around there is nice.

You've mentioned Burgos. Good for a stop off and then nearer Bilbao is Oña and nearby Frias.

I'll keep thinking. Because we don't use the ferries now, we don't really know much in that area, spending more time really west in Galicia.

 

[jumar]

My first thoughts are you have the Don Quixote area, one of our surprising recent finds. Windmills, lakes and some nice motorhome areas (€6.05 for the basic parking fee with add ons for leccy, service point, etc.). Good cycling, but lots on marked trails. Puerto Lapice also has a free parking area and a nice village.

View attachment 1026449View attachment 1026450View attachment 1026451View attachment 1026452
The typical motorhome areas, all built on these lines.

Then there's Segovia. That's worth a visit if you've not been before. It's a long time since we were there so no photos. That's a bit to the west though so if you want to stay east of Madrid you could call off at Buitrago, the area around there is nice.

You've mentioned Burgos. Good for a stop off and then nearer Bilbao is Oña and nearby Frias.

I'll keep thinking. Because we don't use the ferries now, we don't really know much in that area, spending more time really west in Galicia.

Great answer Judith, I've nothing to add..

 

[manners]

Corral Rubio has a nice big very quiet free stop with services, not far from Chinchilla.

 

[Terry242]

My first thoughts are you have the Don Quixote area, one of our surprising recent finds. Windmills, lakes and some nice motorhome areas (€6.05 for the basic parking fee with add ons for leccy, service point, etc.). Good cycling, but lots on marked trails. Puerto Lapice also has a free parking area and a nice village.

View attachment 1026449View attachment 1026450View attachment 1026451View attachment 1026452
The typical motorhome areas, all built on these lines.

Then there's Segovia. That's worth a visit if you've not been before. It's a long time since we were there so no photos. That's a bit to the west though so if you want to stay east of Madrid you could call off at Buitrago, the area around there is nice.

You've mentioned Burgos. Good for a stop off and then nearer Bilbao is Oña and nearby Frias.

I'll keep thinking. Because we don't use the ferries now, we don't really know much in that area, spending more time really west in Galicia.

Great answer, exactly what I would expect from a very knowledgeable and helpful person

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[Terry242]

Great answer Judith, I've nothing to add..

Great answer from.........

 

[Peavy]

I agree with Judith's information.
I would just add, you have Cuenca a bit on the East. It's a nice area if you haven't visited before.

 

[jumartoo]

Today started off with a blue sky but it clouded over during our ride. It hasn't rained though, so that's a bonus.

We drove down to the Port with the bikes on the carrier and did the two roads RM332 over to Tallante and then through Perin to pick up the E22, from Cartegena, back to Isla Plana and out start point.

We stopped for coffee at the neighbourhood association cafe, overlooking the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, where I also picked up three huge lemons from one of the crates left on a bench there. I left a donation.

We then tried to find the new camperpark situation, but were hampered by roadworks and muddy tracks. There's not much to see yet anyway, but we'll go by bike in a month or so to check it out.

From the first col.

One leaving, one arriving.

 

[jumartoo]

We started off on a ride this morning with blue skies with fluffy white clouds. We then rode into winter. We passed Totana's camperstop without meeting anyone we knew, and then climbed up and up, mostly on roads because of the risk of mud on tracks, to our highest point at 1,202 m and, blimey, it was cold.

I had another layer to add to the three I was already wearing and a pair of long fingered gloves. Martin wasn't as well prepared but had more layers than the road riders we joined at the col. One thin top and shorts. They ride fast as well, so even more windchill.

We were both pretty cold when we arrived back at the car and sat inside with the heater on for 10 minutes to thaw out. Then the sun reappeared

Green trees (mostly) blue sky and white fluffy clouds at the start.

And at Collado Bermejo before going down ... our track to the right.

 

[royandsharont]

Sharon loves the heated seats for that very reason here

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[jumar]

Well after yesterday's very chilly ride in Sierra Espuna, I've planned a ride for this morning starting at a more reasonable level, and will pass areas at sea level too...
Checking my PC weather forecast for the next 24 hours or so, I think those who are driving through the central belt might want to look closely at their route..moderate snowfall could be expected as low as 600 m..in some areas.. I'll leave you to check further, although we travel on Cross Climate tyres, I don't like driving a 3.5 ton box in those conditions..perhaps you do.
Getting away this week...well nothing is going happen this side of Wednesday, and even then we could be restricted where we might go...but having said this, our region has so much to offer us and with the possibility of our winter visitors now migration north, finding a space to park in our favourite locations will be made easier...

 

[manners]

Yes the weather has beaten me, heading to the foothills south of Zaragoza, if it keeps it up we might have to go to France earlier than planned.

 

[jumar]

Yes the weather has beaten me, heading to the foothills south of Zaragoza, if it keeps it up we might have to go to France earlier than planned.

Safe travels...we generally don't have this much time in our apartment...but this past few weeks have been very unfriendly weather wise..it's like being back in lockdown...
However we will appreciate our van travels even more when we get out and about again .
Those of you with just the 90 days escape to the sun periods have been felt a very bad hand this year so far..
On a local note...our drought situation has eased somewhat...but only a small amount of water is used in catchment with so much running off the land in the Ramblas..

 

[jumartoo]

A different ride today, in weather, warmth and scenery. Martin had planned a ride from the mining area of La Union, through Portman and La Manga golf to the edge of part of the Mar Menor at Los Urrutias, where we sat on a bench in warm sun and watched three flamingos doing absolutely nothing. One moved its head for a short spell and I snapped a photo.

 

[Peavy]

the mining area of La Union

Is that the abandoned mining place where that company dropped contaminated waters into the sea? I believe I saw a TV report about that not so long ago. There were some wells also. Could be?

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[jumartoo]

Is that the abandoned mining place where that company dropped contaminated waters into the sea? I believe I saw a TV report about that not so long ago. There were some wells also. Could be?

It could well be. The mining covered a huge area. It's not somewhere we go to often (last there in 1999 ) even though we're not so far away. Some parts look interesting to visit.

 

[royandsharont]

I can probably see the exact place you were sat at Los Urrutias , we had friends living very close by. The island you are overlooking was reputedly given to a lady friend of Franco, but I don’t think that will be true to be honest. His seaplane base is just up the road on the edge of Los Alcazares & the shoreline still has lots of the groins where they moored up, I once missed a submerged one and almost damaged the dinghy sailing over it

I was fascinated by the damage the mining had caused in Portman Bay. Looks a nice ride

 

[jumar]

Rain forecasted today...like living back in the UK...other than we don't have to go to work....

 

[jumartoo]

I can probably see the exact place you were sat at Los Urrutias , we had friends living very close by. The island you are overlooking was reputedly given to a lady friend of Franco, but I don’t think that will be true to be honest. His seaplane base is just up the road on the edge of Los Alcazares & the shoreline still has lots of the groins where they moored up, I once missed a submerged one and almost damaged the dinghy sailing over it

I was fascinated by the damage the mining had caused in Portman Bay. Looks a nice ride

It was surprisingly nice. All on roads, many with cycle lanes.

 

[manners]

Rain forecasted today...like living back in the UK...other than we don't have to go to work....

Not gloating but clear blue skies and lovely warm sunshine in France.

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[jumar]

Not gloating but clear blue skies and lovely warm sunshine in France.

Good for you..that's what being a motorhomer can achieve..freedom to travel where you want... without doubt...you made the right choice..

 

[jumar]

Yesterday was quite productive...we shopped locally, picked up some replacement brake pads for number 1 bike, our 4 eBikes all have different braking systems, therefore need different brake pads...I do buy in bulk normally and I don't want to be caught out whilst away in the MH...Tyres also...we carry spares..
So I loaded up a couple of bikes into the garage and checked that everything was working...yes...we might have wheels turning tomorrow...a public holiday here in Murcia...
Just a local start to the trip as the weather still isn't what we would call settled, yes thats it, unsettled... unseasonable, we need the rain...but I think we are full again, thank you..our additional solar panel needs to be put to good use...so...if you don't mind..a little sun please...not too much..just enough to enable us to remove a layer whilst riding.

 

[jumartoo]

We're on a nice motorhome area at a tiny, fairly nondescript village called Corral Rubio. We were expecting a beautiful village but I think we'd read about the wrong place. It's clean and tidy and it has a very long mural depicting the village and surroundings but certainly not beautiful. Thanks to manners for mentioning it earlier on this thread.

It does have some lagoons though, but we haven't seen anything of note in them yet.

My real aim is to visit the nearby village of Alcalá del Júcar, now that does look like a nice village on the river Júcar. That's for a few days time though. Tomorrow, if all goes to plan, we're riding to the Laguna de Pétrola to see if there are any breeding flamingoes there.

So some photos from the mural.

And the parking area.

 

[Mikey RV]

Got to ask, what is that hanging out the orange cover.

 

[manners]

We did a walk to Laguna de la Campana north west of the village, there were about 30 storks which all took off and circled around when we arrived, made a right racket.

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