Update from near Pinosa, Spain! November 4th, 2020

 Hello friends! We were offline for the past 6 days and have so much to share. We are currently cozy in our camper (now dubbed "SAM" Sprinter Adventure Mobile) on the outskirts of a town called Pinosa on the border of the Murcia region. We started out with time pressure to get through France before the entire country went into a lock down which is scheduled to last into December. This made for longer days of driving, but we still had time to enjoy a few adventures as we headed to Spain. Today, despite the regional borders being closed, we crossed through 7 regions and were waved through by police. This means we will be able to arrive in Chirivel, Spain (where we are heading to house sit) on time for the current house sitters to make their flights back to Gambia.

The first night in the camper we drove from Maastricht through Belgium, Luxembourg and into France. We arrived in the dark following a map app so it was not until the morning that we discovered the amazing place we had slept. When Herman stepped outside in the morning light, there was so much noise as hundreds of birds flew away disturbed by his presence. There were flocks of ducks, swans, egrets and muskrats. The muskrats were swimming and fish were jumping out of the water all around them. 

Before we left for the day's long drive, we went for a run (the loop is on the yellow picture below). It was supposed to be 12 km around the ponds. These ponds date back to the middle ages when they created them with a dam and flooded four hamlets. Each year they are drained and the fish are captured! Elizabeth got lost on the run and ended up finally finding her way back to the camper (she was exhausted after running and then walking for almost two hours). It was a strong reminder to carry a snack, money, phone and the address where we are staying every time we are in a new place!

Our battery is running out, so we will be adding in the in between adventures from France to our final stop for a while in Chirivel in the coming days.


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