PORTSMOUTH TO ESTEPONA

Mon 17th/ Fri 21st Sept.
First thing on Monday morning after a nice weekend in Witney we settled down to get ready for our departure later in the day.A slight problem with the Sky-Sat box was fixed and a good visual check around the Winnebago was ok.The two new bikes went on the new rack and were secured onto the back of the Winnebago above the new tow bar.Next Paul Dudley showed us how to load the Smart car onto the trailer and also how to fix the trailer to the Winnebago.He then checked all the tyre pressures on the trailer,Smart car and the Winnebago before he gave me a quick demo and guide to reversing with a trailer! We set off to the ferry in Portsmouth,all 46 feet of us as can be seen in the picture of the Winnebago at the entrance to the ferry port! The crossing takes 36hrs and on the first night it was quiet rough but then settled down as we entered the Bay of Biscay.We docked at 8,00am Spanish time and we were second off the boat and quickly on our way.not knowing what was about to happen to us!After about 80 miles we stopped for a comfort break outside Burgos and the owner of the Georgetown motorhome that was also towing a car on an a-frame that was in front of us on the ferry came running over to tell us to check the hand brake on the trailer as he had found that his had been put on whilst on the boat?! Ours was on and we had burnt off the bearings and the wheels were red hot !!It was just luck that we stopped at that petrol station so we are very thankfull to Gordon and Fran Jackson from Yorkshire as we went on to drive over 430 miles on Wednesday across the mountains and through the centre of Madrid towards Granada. As we started out of Bilbao some people that we had met on the boat passed us with their caravan and waved at us,we now realize that they where telling us that something was wrong! Watch this space for a update after we speak to PO ferries!! As we approached Madrid we made contact with our friend Rafael who was at a hospital with his sister so we set the Sat-nav and set off across Madrid in the late afternoon traffic,but he caught up with us on the A4 and we pulled over and had some Tapas and beer and caught up with all the news. We then set off towards Jaen and Granada but missed our planned stop-over spot in the Valdepenas wine area and as it was getting to dusk we hit the mountain pass with over 50 hairpin bends! A very friendly truck driver led us in his truck to a truckers park in the dark on the wrong side of the road,where we parked for the night and replenished ourselves.On Thursday we set off past Granada which is the most spectacular drive through the mountains and down to Malaga.We arrived at the site at 4.00pm and was met with the smiling face of our friend Vidal who then proceeded to help us to unload the Smart car and park the Winnebago in our old spot.By 6.00pm we were in the pool for our first swim!Today,Friday we went shopping in Manilva and saw our friend Mano.Anna has just left for Wales.We are now making plans for the weekend and Monday as it is my birthday-please see the next blog as last year we went flying over the English Channel!!