Take 2, we’re off this time !

Too right lads. Spain is much more reasonable regarding fuel/food/tolls. Total tolls in France was €87.00 and we missed quite a lot of them coming down...... so we will do likewise on the return where possible.
We’re in Teruel tonight and found the snow in drifts on the high ground but all roads completely clear..... but at almost 4000 feet above sea level this place is decidedly cold..... brrrrrrrr !
Onward tomorrow via Zaragoza and onward towards the northern Spain Atlantic coast and into France, but not before a fill of diesel on the Spanish side !
Thanks to Jamie for the updates, all going fine and we’re digging out the dufflecoats tonight ...LOL

Update on the ‘trip north’
Leaving north of Alicante on Sunday around 10am we head towards Valencia on the N-322 avoiding the AP-7 toll road. Nice Sunday run and after a stop off about 20KM south of Valencia for lunch and the obligatory dog walk we proceeded around the ring road until north of Valencia and then on to the A-23 northbound making way through mainland Spain.
From leaving Valencia it is a long uphill 6% pull for at least 40KM and it’s busy with lorries .... but the road is good and the dual carriageway makes it easy.
The weather was great leaving the coast and stayed good all the way up and we drove a couple of hours while gaining altitude all the way, and with the altitude the drop in temperature was apparent. Our stop for the night was the aire in the town of Teruel (Campercontact 25719). The aire is on the outskirts of the town, no services here other than parking.... beside the police station and supermarket in a residential area, quite noisy to about 11pm and fine after that. 6 campers there on Sunday night. This town is almost 4000ft above sea level and it was cold out, so with heating on we turned in to bed as we had an early start planned for the morning.
Monday morning we had breakfast, did a quick shop in the adjacent supermarket and hit the road north again.
Up through central Spain, the snow appeared alongside the roads but the roads themselves were all clear. This road is barron and wild, like a scene from a western, interspersed with small towns and vast plains it was quite a boring drive. With only a stop for lunch and a break we proceeded on to our next stop, again an aire in the town of Berriozar (Campercontact 19155). A purpose built vast aire, concreted, well lit, level with service point.... right on the outskirts of a typical nondescript Spanish industrial town. Once again this town is at a high altitude right on the northern side of the Pyrenees mountains and it was cold , down to -4 at night, so much so that all water on the service point was frozen in the morning. 4 vans there last night, UK and French.
Tuesday, an early start again and we headed northbound towards the Spanish/French border at Irun, gaining altitude and into quite heavy snow. Snowploughs we’re alongside the motorways and for a time we thought it may be a problem until we cleared the summit and began a descent down the other side, an 8% downhill ride for 30KM or so onwards towards Irun, and as we descended the snow turned to rain, the roads remained clear, the snow disappeared altogether and the mountain scenery was stunning.
We stopped at Irun, filled with diesel (35 cent/lt cheaper than in France!) and crossed into France...... stopped for lunch just inside the border and proceeded north. The early start had us making good headway and we decided to motor on and through Bordeaux and non toll north to the city of Cognac to the aire there right beside the Hennessy brandy distillery, (Campercontact 1645).
4 vans here, all French..... we took a walk up the riverside and had an early night.....
Wednesday after breakfast we hit the road and took the toll motorway up to Nantes, stopped for lunch and then the non toll northwards and ended up here at Avranches (Campercontact 4697)....only 1 other van with us tonight..... so we’re only a couple of hours from Cherbourg and will now take it easy for a couple of days and enjoy the rest of our time here, well hopefully we will as it has only pissed cats and dogs from we crossed at Irun and we’re ‘foundered’ since...... !
We Want a night in and around St.Malo as some great restaurants in the town and probably up the western coast of the peninsula to another favorite ‘unofficial aire’ stop of ours for a night halfway between here and the ferry......... after first visiting the vet for a doggy MOT !
So Sunday sees us on the ferry all being well and home..... great trip so far and looking forward to the next one !

I hope the lottery is kind to me too......!
God, it’s cheaper to overwinter here than live back home !

I know, weather is a bummer but hopefully going towards an Irish summer when the rain becomes a bit warmer !!

All back home yesterday evening (Monday)
Few stats on the trip...

Total miles done ............... 3532
Diesel used....................... 628 litres (half tank still), about 25MPG
Oil used.............................Nil
Gas used.......................... 31 kgs approx
Tolls paid...........................€112.76
Site nights..........................22
Average site cost per night....€19.50
Free nights (Aires etc)..........14
Vets fees............................€20
Misc...................................€100

Really good run, weather was generally good and very enjoyable time away confirming our intent to spend the forthcoming winter in warmer climates. Interestingly my initial thoughts of not spending extended time in Benidorm has sort of been skewed, it does offer an extremely affordable solution by availing of the big discounted site rates for extended stays and makes spending time away so simple, with all amenities to hand ..... but being a good bit out of town (el-Raco) is a must to be away from the noise and the typical party environment us older patrons desire !..Also affirms that we need to take the scooter with us for trips to the wonderful areas around the stops we make, possibly electric bikes may need to be looked at.

Our old van performed faultlessly, uses no oil or water, bit underpowered but proves that a well maintained older van is nothing to worry about and well fit for the job, although a fixed bed model may be a good idea for this sort of trip, we’ll take that into account over the coming months and will see but won’t worry about doing this trip again in the current van.

We’ve made some great friends on this trip, met folk we would never meet if we didn’t motorhome and confirms that the community is friendly, vibrant and a lot of fun.
Now, back to brass and our everyday lives and looking forward to a Summer of motorhoming throughout Ireland all being well...
and deciding where the forthcoming winter will be spent !