Not our style

November 2, 2010

Over the past 3 or 4 days we have come to the conclusion that campervanning/motor home renting, autocaravaning, or whatever you may want to call it simply isn’t our style. As I said earlier we have the freedom to roam, but what I didn’t mention is in limited area’s. We have had to stay out of large cities for the safety of both ourselves and others. If not you may find yourself driving down the sidewalks of Leon avoiding little old men with canes. I am going to refrain from telling all of you whether or not that actually happened or not J We have just come to the conclusion with our previous travel experiences that a campervan may be a bit too high maintenance for the Chamberlain family.

Our biggest struggle over the past 2 days was trying to find propane. We ran out the day before yesterday and thought we would be able to get another canister at a gas station, after all they have plenty around here. If you don’t have a camper or haven’t had any experience with them then you ought to know that you depend on your propane for not only heat, but cooking, as well as keeping your fridge and freezer cold when the vehicle is turned off. Our food going bad was of course our biggest concern so we drove and drove to gas station and gas station and gas station looking for propane tanks and found that either they didn’t carry them or they were out. We stopped at probably 8 stations who clearly had tanks and said no hava butane”. We finally stopped driving in circles trying to find propane at about 2230 and stayed in the parking lot of a Repsol station (one of their gas stations). We ate nutella sandwiches and went to sleep emotionally and physically exhausted. It had been a LONG day of driving.

Today we woke up and continued to search for propane as we are driving towards Portugal without much luck for the first couple hours. At this time we decided to stop and have breakfast in Astorga. We parked down below town and walked up through the streets and outdoor markets looking for a place to eat. Unfortunately restaurants don’t open until 1100-1200 in most towns to eat and the majority of places open are bars, YES bars, but of course nino’s y nina’s aren’t allowed in there if they are under 16. Go figure. There have been a few times I have thought of leaving them outside while I go in and enjoy the morning festivities and drinks, holding my wine glass up high grinning from ear to ear, talking loudly. Now I understand why they need a siesta between 1400-1700 each day. Well, instead of joining the bar flies we walked around as a family and went into a beautiful 15th century cathedral while service was in session which was cool to watch. Men in white robes blowing smoke on each other and the crowd of people hugging and shaking hands, praying and what not. The cathedral itself was spectacular. Across from the cathedral was a palacio Episcopal (Bishops Palace) designed at the end of the 19th century after a fire had destroyed the first one in 1887. The palace wasn’t open but was another spectacular site from the outside. After walking through town and waiting for everyone to wake up and open their restaurants we stopped at one to eat. Note to self a ½ order of a Spanish omelets could feed an entire army, which is why she may have been a little surprised I ordered it for just me. We ate as much as we could and took the rest to go. We played a little friendly soccer game in the park until Tob’s elbow met Lexy’s forehead, ate our melted ice cream from our freezer and headed back down the highway. Within an hour Nojah had to use the bathroom facilities so we stopped at a gas station with FULL propane tanks J Thank goodness Tob won’t let the kids pee in the bathroom unless it’s night (he really doesn’t like a full toilet) or we may still be searching. Anyhow, we are now headed down the hwy and plan to stop driving earlier today to work on journals, kick back and relax and enjoy our evening.

PS. I am writing as we are driving so by the time I am able to upload these posts it may be a day or two later. Also I know I haven’t posted any pictures and I will when I can but I have been posting them on my face book as it is quicker to download and share. I think most of you are on face book and can hopefully see those.