Against all odds, I made it. Initially, I thought I didn't have a deadline. However, it turns out that Jon, my friend in Spain, had to go to Madrid on February first. So, by the latest Wednesday evening, I had to arrive in the Basque Country.
On Tuesday, January 30th, with the news in mind to arrive in Ordizia (which is around 1500 km southwest of Beilstein) by Wednesday evening, , I left home at 08:20 with an unprepared van. Leaving my childhood hometown and looking to the right, I saw a police motorcycle. A couple of hundred meters further, I could already see the tractors. Assuming they might want to block the highway entrance, I hurried to get some last stuff from the drugstore. I made it to the Autobahn without being blocked by the protests and had the first 3 hours and 300 kilometers of my trip to familiarize myself with the unknown car. Essentially, it drives itself.
For France, I planned to avoid toll roads. Due to the speed limits, you are not much faster anyway. The total trip to Ordizia with toll roads would be around 14 hours, and without them, 18 hours. In the end, this decision might have made my trip faster because around 2 hours into France, the navigation started to go crazy about roadblocks. It was much easier to avoid those without being stuck in traffic - I assume, as I haven't hit the main roads. Still, this day, driving 1217 kilometers in total, around 900 of those through road-blocked France, was quite an adventure. I'm sure I got lucky with the police letting me pass kilometers of truck traffic jams, and only had to turn around once when realizing that this is not a 4-minute add-on to the trip but the end for today. Having passed lots of burning roundabouts and now realizing that not all of them haven't burned yet (equipped with old tires) makes you keep on driving. Basically, you do not need Google Maps anymore to know that in 2 kilometers you again have to leave N-145, but you can already smell the next roadblock from kilometers away. Still, this was a beautiful drive, during the day as well as night. Even though I might have an additional involuntary picture. Driving like this all on your own, enjoying the landscapes, but also wanting to make it to Spain better sooner than later gives me a feeling of flow. Once you have that, it is hard to stop, even if you found the perfect spot for the night. And of course, after not taking it, you are stopped by height restrictions for the first time in the middle of nowhere (3.10m – the van has 3.20m). So now you just want to find a spot. After 15 hours and 31 minutes of only driving and 4 breaks, I decided to park behind some truck.
On Wednesday, January 31st, with the wider truck in front gone in the early morning, after 5 hours of sleep, you wake up because with every car passing by, your RV is shaking. You just get up, take on the last 280 kilometers, and watch the French drivers do their overtakes with 70 meters sight during foggy morning hours. Arriving in Ordizia around 14:00, I finally had two hours before my friend finished work to arrange some stuff in the van. And yet again (just like 10 years ago), I got lucky. Without Jon’s trip to Madrid on Thursday, I would not have made it to Ordizia on Wednesday. However, Wednesday is the night when the whole village is up having drinks and pintxos for like 2.40€. The best day of the week to be in town. After our little pintxos tour, we visited a cider place. It’s the season, and also you would never find it on your own. Welcoming, delicious, and entertaining. Thanks, Jon! Last but not least, we were having some Gin & Tonic on the balcony, while remembering old Erasmus stories, but also crossing topics like lucid dreaming. Of course, in my case, ending up realizing within the dream that I am dreaming the next morning.
On Thursday, February 1st, after getting enough rest, around 13:30, it was time to hit the road again. Without roadblocks, again avoiding toll roads, and after a little more than 1000 km in a day, I managed to arrive in the South of Spain between Malaga and Marbella. Finally opting for a parking spot a little after midnight that is marked on Park4Night pretty close to the first golf course I want to visit.
On Friday, February 2nd, at 07:22, somehow my motion sensor went off. I don’t know why, maybe I do not want to know why. I decided that before approaching the first golf clubs, I needed a little more rest. Technically, I did not plan to arrive already by Friday – so that should be fine. However, with the perfect weather, you always have it in the back of your mind that actually, you should already approach the first golf course. Still, I needed time to arrange the van, test the kitchen, etc. By 15:00, I kind of decided to stay in the same place but parked the van in another spot. Here the view was a lot better, and you could not see the road. On the other hand, once I parked, I found shattered glass on the ground. Not a good sign. Also, 1.5 hours before sunset, a small car slowly drove through the roundabout, finally leaving me with a bad gut feeling. So off I went to Alhaurin Golf, went up to the bar to ask whether it is possible to park overnight, and immediately got introduced to the other guy staying in an RV. A golf professional...
Keeping you posted.
Best,
Lucas
20240202
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