Malibu Molly

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...

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. 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 coast to see if we could find a park-up for lunch. In the end we found a nice spot near to C...

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/

 ... and we will be deep into France and on our way to Spain. After the birthday celebrations (let's hope the French do zero alcohol beer and wine!) we will be setting off for the first campsite. I know that "real" vanlifers would be looking for a wild camping site or the very least a bit of scrubland to park up for the night.  We won't be doing that at all.  Why not?   Because it's our holiday that's why not! I have nothing against the occasional wild camp. We do it at Motor Caravanners Club Rallies and at some festivals. But when we are on holiday I like to be able to switch the kettle on and not rely on gas (LPG!) or the Bluetti AC70. Not all the time anyway. So we have chosen, or rather I have chosen! When I say we it's usually me that does the planning... We have chosen Camping La Gaviota near Roses not that far into Spain in the Girona province.  It's not the cheapest at around €33 a night, but it's well placed for walks and is dog friendly....

This is the destination of the Autumn trip this year. It's almost the same as last year but a week later in the year. In my head I had planned to go earlier, in September, and staying over to include our wedding anniversary.  Firstly, my brother and Phil embarking on a three week bike tour for most of September meant that we might have to ticket exchange our Arsenal season ticket seats if all three of us were away at the same time. Phil and I share my seat 50/50. Secondly, my old workmate and friend, John, who lives in France is having a 70th birthday party. I'm 70 in December.  Probably have a takeaway from the Chinese.... So instead we are here, in Alcossebre, from the 11th October.  I had a look on RCI to see where we could go "dog friendly" next year. Not wanting to tempt fate..... Reggie is 15 in September this year.  There's not a lot available that fits the bill. It's a shame to waste the timeshare before I can sell it or dump it back to the current own...

With the dates of the French "event" firmly in the diary and the timeshare booked, I am left with 6 nights before we can check in in Alcossebre. So,I started to check a few sites that I had seen on some of the vloggers we follow. " The Slaws Adventures " went to a campsite in Northern Spain called  Càmping La Gaviota Costa Brava . It looks like a good site and is close to a dog friendly beach. The reviews on Google maps look promising.  I have enquired by email about staying there three nights so that after a drive through France we can have a few days with no worries. A dog friendly beach means that Reggie can have a play too. It's quite expensive at about £33 a night. I know some van lifers will cringe at that sort of cost. It leaves one night between the "event" and La Gaviota.  Before we cross into Spain there are quite a few Camping-Car Park aires en route. So we won't be left in a lay-by somewhere. I also have the France Passion booklet an...

I haven't made all that much progress with "Summer 2025" yet other than a channel crossing booked and one campsite for the first night booked. My attention has turned to Autumn,  October to be a little more precise. We have been invited to a special event early in the month in France and I have begun to look at the feasibility of going and including it into the holiday we normally have for our wedding anniversary.   I can't say much about the event itself until later in the year but the wedding anniversary will be our 25th - Silver Wedding! So, I have been looking at combining the two events and incorporating them into a trip to France and Spain. I have been looking on RCI ( rci.com ) to use the "banked" apartment and seeing if there are other options to Alcossebre. We have done Kione Playa Romana twice before, lastly in October 2024.  It was  a good week and meant we didn't have to travel all that far once there and could have a bit of R&R. The...

With the trip in mind I dipped into Microsoft's AI generator to get a picture of Molly in Brighton. No matter how much info I typed in, getting a true representation of Molly didn't happen. We are there two nights. Last year we went for a weekend trip staying in the Caravan Club site just up from the Marina area. This year we return to the same site but not at the entire weekend as we have advanced a day in the calendar.  The chances of us getting to park outside the pier is very remote. So AI to the rescue. The van isn't quite a Malibu but is a Ducato! The second image is more fanciful but might almost turn into a partial reality in the Autumn. 😉  Once I have worked out where we are going to go on the Summer trip I'll start to look at the Autumn trip to Spain again.  Maybe we'll give Alcossebre and the timeshare another try. Earlier in the year, October 2024,  there were so many places still open that weren't when we stayed in November ...