On the Road Again... Again

Yesterday I filled the fresh water tank and added 120ml of Puri Sol. Leaving it overnight to clean any impurities in the tank. I ran some through the pipes to both sinks as well. This morning I pulled the van back on my neighbour's drive so I could hook up to the house mains electric with a drop lead I bought years ago abd never used. It kept the batteries topped up whilst I ran the taps to move water from the fresh tank to the grey. Then I could fill the fresh again to rinse out the remaining Puri Sol. It worked well and I then drove to Canterbury New Dover Road P+R where there's a motorhome aire and also a service area.  In total we were carrying 190kgs of unnecessary weight.  Dumping the grey was easy enough as the grid is easy accessible and our drain is amidships. Whilst it was draining I had the tank filling up again, and the taps open. It's essential to clean out all the Puri Sol.   To empty the fresh tank I had to park acro...

At the start of the France and Spain vacation I reset Trip B to zero. I reset Trip A each time I fill the diesel tank. So this morning before driving anywhere I took a photo and then reset Trip B to zero again. A door to door total of 2212.8 miles. It may well have been higher had we come back on the originally planned route.

I know it's par for the course if you are a YouTube follower to see clickbait headlines!   If I knew how they make those outrageous banners to draw people in I'd have a go. My experience today, October 27th, was a disaster. At the surgery I went in for my appointment.   I go regularly as I am on active surveillance for prostate cancer. Every three months. The person that usually draws blood has either left or was simply not working on that day. The nurse couldn't find a vein.  She had two goes in the fold of my left elbow.  Then she went to see if someone else was free to have a go.  No. "One last try".... No success. It was suggested I try and get an appointment at one of the hospitals in the area.  One is only five miles and the other twenty. So with my forearm throbbing I set off and went online to get an appointment.  Both nearby hospitals have full time phlebotomy wards and as long as you have a chit of...

In the end according to Samsung Health I did 69 miles!  Thanks for everyone that donated. That would be me.

October 22nd Today was Reggie's trip to the vet for his worming pill and passport signed up. But first we had to get away from Veuzain sur Loire to head up towards Chartres and then Rouen. The choice was to go to Blois and then north or diagonally north-west to Vendôme and onto the N10. TomTom chose the Vendôme route. It was a little frustrating again as this section of the N10 chops and changes from single lane 80kph to the 90kph two lane "overtaking" sections that are so short it's still hard to overtake anything. Still, we arrived in Buchy for the 4pm vet appointment at just after 2pm.  We parked in the Carrefour Market. It's not far to the vets from there. We did a little shopping and then had lunch before a rest up. Then went to the vets at Seren'vet Veterinary Clinic. It's only around 100 metres. Fifteen minutes and €36.80 later we were back at the van. I filled up with the last French diesel I would need before we got home. We decided to go to the C...

October 21st Today's trip was Oradour-sur-Glane to Veuzain sur Loire. It is only around 125 miles between the two. Incredibly on mostly one road, although each department changed the first number! It's either the D675 or the D975..... It is about halfway between our start point in Oradour and the vet in Buchy.  Reggie is booked in again at a vet we have used in the past a few times for his worming pill and passport stamped.  Our first stop at Bellac where is seems all the supermarkets are around one roundabout! We chose Carrefour over Intermarché as the fuel station was cheapest.  Our tank was showing we only had around 120 miles range left of our last Spanish diesel.  Here diesel was €1.495, the cheapest we have seen so far since crossing the border. That equates to around £1.309 according the Halifax Clarity. Cheaper than at home!!! We did a little shopping. Fresh bread. It's hard to beat proper French 🥖 bread.  Lunch was had up the road around 1pm....

With the plan to to Donzenac aborted yesterday and us ending up on the CCP site at Saint-Léon sur Vézere, it meant that we needed to rethink today and the rest of the week's journey and overnighting spots. We set off around 1020 today. We were originally heading up the A20/N20 to another CCP site at Thénioux near Orleans. What should have been a simple run eastward to Brive became another C roads funathon.  Once we finally got onto the A20 after a little of the A89 we discussed options. By the time we stopped at the Area Porte de Corrèze services we had decided to abort Thénioux and get somewhere not as far away. Checking the road map and CCP app we hit on the aire at Oradour sur Glane. It's a popular aire as it's not too far from the "village martyr". We went to the village way back in 2008 when we stayed in the creepiest gite the world has ever known. Unfortunately I can't share any photos of the gite as I can't find any! It's a very sobering experie...

October 16th/17th Two full days left in Alcossebre before we have to pack the van, clean the apartment and set off homeward. So we did very little but enjoy the fact that Storm Alice had finally blown itself out, without causing too much damage in this area. Further north in Catalunya there was loads of flooding. To the south in Murcia there were reports of electricity failures and no drinking water. Thursday evening we took a walk into the town along the beach promenade and the wooden boardwalk. We popped into Ale Hop and Claire bought a few things.  😀 We thought about having dinner out but in the end the restaurants looked a little full for the three of us. Friday was again local to the apartment. We even loaded most non essentials into the van.  We were lucky we could park pretty much in the same place each time we had just been out. Right by the entrance to the complex. October 18th We were up early. Checkout time is 10am and we were ready long before they opene...

And another year has passed and we still don't have any idea where the men are buried. War is a nasty violent affair, but the idea of fighting to the death or being exterminated like rats by the enemy is simply unimaginable. https://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2023/10/timothy-oleary-kia-109-years-today.html

Edited from 4 segments from the Road Angel Halo Ignite.

October 15th. It would seem that the rain and flooding that Storm Alice brought to the coast between Tarragona and Alicante/Murcia has finally gone away. We were up early today as we were expecting the cleaners to come in. They have been crashing around in various blocks all week! In the end they arrived around 9am. We then packed up our stuff and headed off back to Peñiscola to park up alongside the beach again, and this time rather than hide from the wind and rain, but to get out and take a walk along the promenade and maybe have a coffee or even lunch. We were also running low on cash.  We started the trip on October 1st with €120 in notes and some change.  We were down to €15 in notes and maybe another €5 in coins. So the first stop was a bank. To draw €70 incurred a €7 fee.  So we aborted and went to a branch of Santander.  The same! This wasn't to do with our bank, this was the ATM bank.  We are used to free ATM's in banks in the UK. We sucked ...

October 13th The weather hadn't improved all that much and so it was a case of being cabin fevered in the apartment with forays out to give Reggie a walk. So not much to report. Luckily the wifi works and we can watch stuff on the laptop or read our Kindles instead. October 14th What a change in the weather. It's sunny. It stayed dry all day. After breakfast we got our stuff together and set off in the van.  We had looked at maybe going to Benicassim, but lately reviews of van parking areas have suggested that break-ins have been occurring. So we decided to head for the Mercadona at Oropesa del Mar (Marina d'Or) that we have been to a few times before. It's only about 25 minutes down the N340. Usually, we park up near the seafront and take a walk and a coffee in a local bar.  Once we shopped, we got Reggie out of the van and had coffee in the sun on the terrace of the café by the Mercadona. Then we set off back to the apartment. Back at Kione, we went past along the coa...

I have been doing this for two weeks now. Each day I have covered between 6000 and 12000 steps walking and running, more fast walking in reality. Please donate! https://www.justgiving.com/page/paul-devall

This afternoon we took a giant leap forward in the fight for a national screening programme. At the House of Commons, we launched our landmark report Prostate Cancer Screening: The Impact on the NHS to a room full of influential policymakers. The energy was palpable: MPs from across the political spectrum heard loud and clear that it is High Time to Screen.  Thank you. Because of your incredible and loyal support, we were able to make this happen. Your regular gift and commitment to this work is the foundation of this progress — you made today possible.  The report we launched today provides the evidence and roadmap policymakers need, showing exactly how a national screening programme can be delivered without overwhelming the NHS. This is a massive step forward — but what happens next is crucial.  You can download a full copy of our report here. If you haven’t written to your MP yet: please do it today. Ask them to read the report and support our campaign for prostate can...

The link takes you to the post. Is it a victory? https://c40kh.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/mr/sh/6rqJ8GoudeITQRlHKFGJkvKqQx4/pvDrNqGYucRl

Please excuse the linking to another blog service.  I use Travellerspoint as my family can see posts appear in their email. I have never been successful with that in Blogger. Travellerspoint also allows me to update via email and include photos in the posts. Blogger doesn't. Anything over 25mb is blocked. https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/996/

Please excuse the linking to another blog service.  I use Travellerspoint as my family can see posts appear in their email. Travellerspoint also allows me to update via email and include photos in the posts. Blogger doesn't. https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/990/

Please excuse the linking to another blog service.  I use Travellerspoint as my family can see posts appear in their email. Travellerspoint also allows me to update via email and include photos in the posts. Blogger doesn't.  https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/987/