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It took nearly 6 hours to reach Bonterra Resort in Benicassim yesterday. We made 2 brief stops to stretch our legs end get some air along the way. The traffic was pretty horrendous and a semi-trailer jackknifed on the highway, spilling his cargo of sand all over so there were delays. I spent about an hour setting up the perimeter for the dogs. After that I grabbed a pizza from the restaurant on site, but when I realized I was literally falling asleep at the table I came back to the van and crawled into bed. Poor dogs didn’t even get a walk!

We’re in a “premium” pitch which is supposed to be larger than the others and the van barely fits. I’ve had to park at an angle to fit in. It is a nicely shaded pitch. The site seems pretty nice with a pool, cafe, restaurant, nice toilets and shower facilities. Unfortunately there aren’t any shops close by to get any food or supplies. If you want to get around you must take the city bus or drive. Too bad, really because I’ve discovered I left all my clothespins hanging in the campsite in Bolnuevo!

it’s overcast today, as it was yesterday when we arrived, and cooler than Bolnuevo, thank goodness. We have today and tomorrow here then we’re off again…

The pool area at Bonterra Resort

I’ve changed my mind about where I’m going right now. I’ve decided that I’ll see a bit of France and then head to Italy. There are riots all over France and I’d rather not get caught up in any of that. So, instead of going straight through France I’m detouring. I will go as far north as the campground at Le Chateau du L’Eperviere near Autun, then head south to the campground at Le Sorguette on the L’Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue. We’ll have to stay for 5 nights to get a pitch (July15-20) but after that we’ll be in Italy, staying outside San Remo at Vallecrosia for 5 nights (July 20-25). Then it’s on to La Spezia for 3 nights. This will put us within 2 hours of Florence. So, we should be at the area I want to stay in by July 29th. It’s hard to believe it’s happening so quickly. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to traveling in the fall (autumn for the Brits) or by springtime next year. I still want to go to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and a few other places. In the meantime I’ll get settled in Italy.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to upload pictures of the campground here but I will post them on Facebook.

The moon is almost full tonight and is lighting the surface of the sea from the horizon to the shore. It’s so quiet; even the waves coming to the shore are a bit quiet tonight. Just gentle swells almost silently breaking on the sand.

I’ve been out to dinner and another “goodbye”. I hate how leaving makes me feel and I might have cried a bit as I walked back to the campground. My lovely Spanish neighbors on the pitch next to me had to move today to the other end of the campsite. I miss them even though they are typically a bit boisterous, but great fun and very helpful.

Today I spent cleaning the windows in the van and just cleaning the van in general. I’ve started stowing away things we won’t need in the next couple of days. Tomorrow is washing sheets and towels; Monday it’s clothes and continuing with packing up. Hopefully we’ll be able to get on the road around 10:00 Tuesday morning.

I’m going to try to upload some additional pictures I’ve taken of the campground topiaries.

There’s a lady and her dog with whom we’ve gotten friendly and meet up with 3-4 times a week in the early morning to walk along the Paseo. She’s British and lives here in Bolnuevo with her little dog. He’s 18 years old!! And still spry except for some arthritis in his back. She’s Karen and he’s Bobby and they both are crazy about Polly and Henry and vice versa. It’s lovely to have someone so friendly to walk and talk with for a little while in the morning. We’re not solving world peace, just having a nice chat and a stroll with our fur babies.

I had to say a couple of more goodbyes today. People I’ve gotten very close to and am going to miss terribly. This is the way of it, though, when you decide to move on. You can’t take people and places with you. We all promise to stay in touch but I’ve had to say goodbye to so many friends over the years and we NEVER stay in contact, despite our best intentions. Maybe for a little while, but that’s it. I do think we leave a bit of ourselves with them and take a bit of them with us, though. Terrific memories last forever!

My car gets returned to the leasing company tomorrow – one of the last things I’ve had to take care of this week. We’re down to 4 days now and counting.

So, many of you know that I don’t have air conditioning in the motor home. Today it was 40º Celsius or 104º Fahrenheit. It’s absolutely miserable from about 9-10 in the morning until it starts to cool off around 6-7 in the evening, unless you’re in the water. I feel particularly bad for Henry and Polly. Unfortunately I can’t get them in the sea. The only thing I can do for them is the Cool Vests which they hate. The sun has gone down now and it is cooling a bit. Probably down to about 85º at the moment. Another hot one is forecast for tomorrow. We did look for the fancy wading bird today but there was no sign of it. 6 days and counting.

One of the things that I find disgusts me here is people’s absolute disregard for their environment. Every day walking on the beach I pick up plastic, discarded masks that have washed up on the shore and things like empty beer and soda bottles and cans. Even though there are trash cans (rubbish bins for you Brits!) all along the beach and Paseo. I just don’t understand how people think it’s okay to litter like that. It concerns me for the health of this planet. As I’ve aged I’ve come to realize how important it is for each of us to do our part. There, that’s my gripe for the day!

I’m sitting here sweating away, and it’s about time to get ready for bed. That’s it for now.