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

[jumartoo]

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

It's their big, hairy dog

 

[manners]

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.

Did you notice the chairs outside the caravan on the mural, must be ok then

 

[jumartoo]

Did you notice the chairs outside the caravan on the mural, must be ok then

Well the German guy next to us sat out yesterday. It was bloomin' freezing. He didn't last long.

 

[jumartoo]

It's warm and sunny. Bonus. The ride went well also. Very dry considering, and not windy until towards the end. We did get detoured by a closed, with barrier and notice, track and an arrow and detour sign sending us about 4 km further. The sign warned about things falling, so we paid attention.

The almonds are just flowering now up here. The flamingoes were at the far side of the Lagoon. We got 8 holas or buenas dias's as we rode through the tiny village of Pétrola. Very friendly people.

We're staying here again tonight with rain forecast during the night and tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we'll find somewhere to visit in the afternoon.

A, not so scary to the birds, scarecrow?

A lovely finca. From the back.

And the front

A bodega In the middle of nowhere

And a mandarin refreshment stop next to a cemetery. There was a locked loo. You can get the key from Toni's Bar

 

[jumar]

Both eBikes charged well from the Lithium bank, supported by the new twin to my existing 200w solar. Using my tilting panel isn't required now we are seeing a very high sun in the sky..well today we are.......

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[Peavy]

Both eBikes charged well from the Lithium bank, supported by the new twin to my existing 200w solar. Using my tilting panel isn't required now we are seeing a very high sun in the sky..well today we are.......

Our sun must be in Murcia then
Not complaining at all
Enjoy your trip.

 

[jumar]

Our sun must in Murcia then
Not complaining at all
Enjoy your trip.

Just played Lorn through my headphones...it's a really nice piece.
Emotional.

 

[jumar]

Just played Lorn through my headphones...it's a really nice piece.
Emotional.

Some Funsters are so talented..

 

[Peavy]

Some Funsters are so talented..

Thank you so much for your kind words, it inspires me to keep working on new stuff

 

[jumartoo]

We woke to wind and rain this morning but it rapidly cleared to wind and sun. Not a problem as we were moving on. We called at the town of Alpera and checked out the motorhome area there for a future visit. It's nice. A huge area next to a pine forest/Park. We "did" the market in minutes and did a small stock up at Charter supermarket.

We then continued to my chosen spot for the night, and how lovely is it. Five spaces in an old olive Grove with views of flowering almonds. We've been around the village hoping to visit the castle but, although it says open on Google, it wasn't.

If it's still sunny tomorrow we'll be out exploring on our bikes.

Alpera motorhome area

Carcelen

The flowers were made of felt.

Our view through the windscreen.

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[Peavy]

Your van looks badass

 

[jumar]

Your van looks badass

Actually the van is like it's owners...needing TLC. a little filler here and there and it's bodywork touching up...

 

[Roger S]

Thank you so much for your kind words, it inspires me to keep working on new stuff

I imagine you travel with a Baby Grand, taking a full size piano would be ridiculous

 

[Pocket Rocket]

Carcelen looks beautiful. I’ve added it to my list of places to visit as it looks exactly what we try to find - quiet, rural, and traditional. Thank you for sharing your travels

 

[jumar]

Carcelen looks beautiful. I’ve added it to my list of places to visit as it looks exactly what we try to find - quiet, rural, and traditional. Thank you for sharing your travels

Yes it's a great location...about 900m altitude...the wind is an issue here, the wind farms are a giveaway....currently turning at max.
We might need extra layers for today's ride...it's currently 4°c.

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[jumartoo]

We've decided riding is off. We're wrapping up well and going for a walk instead.

 

[Peavy]

I imagine you travel with a Baby Grand, taking a full size piano would be ridiculous

I don't bring any instruments to the van, I've got my studio at home. There I have a MIDI keyboard and all my guitars, which are my main instrument, piano is experimental, but I like it. Thought about a portable guitar, but when out with the van we walk and trek a lot, it's our opportunity to stay in contact with nature
Apologies Judith for little diversion of thread.

 

[jumar]

We've decided riding is off. We're wrapping up well and going for a walk instead.

Full Alpine winter clothing...I think...

 

[jumar]

I don't bring any instruments to the van, I've got my studio at home. There I have a MIDI keyboard and all my guitars, which are my main instrument, piano is experimental, but I like it. Thought about a portable guitar, but when out with the van we walk and trek a lot, it's our opportunity to stay in contact with nature
Apologies Judith for little diversion of thread.

It's no diversion...it's a interesting addition....how we pass our time may differ from others...how you do is a great interest to many, especially us...
My Lava 2 Carbon acoustic is with me..but my low level intermediate player cannot compare...

 

[jumartoo]

We had a walk which we finished by goin' t't pub . The walk was remarkably sheltered from the strong wind and it was obviously the go to walk from here and had information boards. We had a mix of sun and cloud but no rain.

The pub, or rather bar as we're in Spain, was recommended by reviewers on P4N and on Google (there's only one bar anyway) and also recommended was the sepia. Never knowingly eaten sepia we just had to try it. We also had some tasty croquettes and .......... we had our first alcoholic drinks for some time. Martin had a "proper" beer and I had a glass of red. We didn't order much, but it was filling.

We were "the only guiries in the village" obviously. Everyone else knew each other. In fact, the old lady (older than us we think) behind the bar scurried off for a younger man to come to talk to us

It's been a great day despite the wind and cold.

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[gus-lopez]

We might need extra layers for today's ride..

I've been taking them off whilst weed clearing

We've decided riding is off. We're wrapping up well and going for a walk instead.

should have stayed at home .

 

[jumar]

I've been taking them off whilst weed clearing

should have stayed at home .

Mighty cold here...it was 4°c at the start of our walk, about 11am I recall...
As Judith said, the lady in the bar took one look at the non-Spanish looking duo that strode in her bar....she immediately called out for assistance even before I had chance to speak or take off one of my heads and ordered drinks and tapas...much to their surprise in a non-alien tongue..
As for staying home gus-lopez we did have a forced staycation over the past 3 weeks...that was quiet enough for us..
Nice to be out and about in the van again..

 

[jumar]

Another very cold night...good to have a semi -winterised Hymer....but only effective if the heating is on..we wake to -1°c this morning...gas heating and a bowl of porridge will raise the body temperature again...
We had another van last night for company...very new looking job...parked away from us...
Looking at our various weather apps on our mobiles...an improvement will be happening over the next few days..
Judith has a plan for today, I'm sure she will be reporting on this later...

 

[jumartoo]

We had a leisurely start and then drove to Alcala del Júcar. We'll eventually learn! Sunday, even in these cold conditions, isn't a good time to visit touristy places in a motorhome. We missed the turning to one parking and then pulled into a pay parking. Unfortunately neither of the machines would give a ticket, so we left. We climbed out of the valley and parked high up near the castle parking. We walked to the castle and shimmied through a guided group to look back down to where we'd been 10 minutes earlier.

Maybe we'll revisit one day.

First view of Alcala from the road in.

And views from above.

View down to the old Bridge, artificial beach and unusual Bullring.

The beach

And the Bullring

We decided against walking all the way down (and back up) and it was pretty windy up high, so we continued to drive.

We're now at .........

 

[jumartoo]

..... the motorhome parking of Mahora, on the road to Albacete. The motorhome area isn't the most picturesque but the village is very clean and tidy with a huge church.

We had lunch and then a stroll around. It's been a sunny afternoon and, at last, the wind has dropped. We hope to ride back towards the river tomorrow and then head to San Clemente motorhome area, via a fuel station with LPG and a Mercadona.

Mahora church

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[Peavy]

Great pictures! Interesting places, never been around there. Just through the A3, direction Madrid.

 

[jumartoo]

Great pictures! Interesting places, never been around there. Just through the A3, direction Madrid.

Northeast of Albacete.

 

[jumartoo]

We woke to a sunny, but cold, day and got well wrapped up and out on the bikes, and what a lovely ride we had.

At first we rode through dormant vines and flowering almonds then we rode alongside the Júcar river, crossed over to the opposite bank and visited a ruined ermita. We did a bit on a main road and then headed off right down a small road that took us back down a gorge with lots of cave houses. In the village/hamlet of Cubas our GPS said turn left. All we could see were cave houses in a sheer rock face, but on investigation, a tiny concrete lane climbed up through the houses and took us to the plateau above. More smooth tracks brought us home.

There's a concrete passage somewhere through there.

 

[jumar]

Every turn another suprise...that my way of describing today ride...43km of beautiful Spanish scenery..... Almond filled terraces still in blossom, riverside tracks, pine forest and quirky cave houses fixed precariously onto vertical walls...
A battle against the westerly wind for the final 13 km brought us back to our destination....
An hour's drive on quiet roads allowed us to top up with LPG and fill the fridge with supplies to sustain us...
Now parked alone on St.Clemente camperstop...our eMtbs are recharged and so are we...time to relax a while as the sun gets lower in the sky...

 

[jumartoo]

A pleasant ride today, nothing spectacular. Only one slight ooops when my left pedal flew off. How that happened we don't know. Martin's never known it before.

Behind the van at the parking area

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