Monday 20 th July went well until I slipped on some loose gravel by the pitch and fell on my right arm – injuring it , above the elbow and shoulder area. I was cleaned up and went to bed,with some paracetamol and codeine tablets taken. In the morning,there were abrasions to clean up, but very restricted and painful movement in my right arm. Ice packs and Voltarol ointment were obtained by Hannah from the local Pharmacia and applied.
The pain was relieved but the inhibited movement remained.
This was going to be a problem as we were due to leave Los Lomas for Calpe on the Mediterranean in a day’s time,Wednesday – a distance of 260 miles. Except for the first seven miles, which would be on a twisty,mountain road, the rest of the journey would be on the Autovias.
However, as it was ,I could not drive as using the steering wheel adequately was not possible.
At this juncture,sitting by the bus and pondering our options, an unlikely saviour appeared. Enter, Chris Coleman, native of Dublin and resident of Cork, who came over for a chat having not spoken in English to anyone for ten days. We did not mention my dilemma and exchanged stories of our respective travels. Chris was on a six month sabbatical from his work as a water engineer. He had bought a motorbike and state of the art tent, with the intention of crossing in to Morocco and seeing how far he could get. Unfortunately, it was not possible to enter Africa from Spain, except for legitimate HGVS.
So, he turned around, literally, with plan B – to travel to Scandinavia, via a visit to his sister in South Eastern France.By the next day, Barbara had volunteered to drive the bus,having never driven it before, with the proviso I drove down the mountain. Barbara is a good driver so there was no problem with that . But there was still a problem with my right arm…
The next morning, in conversation with Chris, he noticed the ice pack bulging out of my T-shirt and the sorry story was shared. Chris,without a moment’s hesitating, volunteered to drive us as far as required – all the way to Calpe if necessary!
He said time was no problem for him and despite having no experience of driving a 3.5 Tonne motorhome, he was up for it.
After a brief discussion,we gratefully agreed to his suggestion with the proviso that he drove us only to the first service station, from where he could get a taxi back to Las Lomas.
So, within 30 minutes, two first time motorhome drivers at the wheel.
Chris drove slowly and carefully down to the main road and then on to the Autovia. On reaching the first service station, on the outskirts of Granada, we had coffee together and Chris was delighted with the experience of driving the bus – who knows we might have sowed the idea of getting one himself.
We again expressed our thanks and shook hands as his taxi arrived, promising to keep in touch.
Chris Coleman – A True Knight of the Road.
Barbara nervelessly took over the wheel after a couple of adjustments to the driving seat – 260 miles,5.5 hours driving – thankfully, after a few climbs out of the Sierra Nevada, gear changes lessened and we made good progress on our accustomed , relatively traffic free Spanish highways.
A little busier around Murcia.
Then a lunch break- Morcilla sausage stuffed Bocadillos – so big were they that I could only manage half,wrapping the other half up for breakfast.
I was now in the role of co-pilot, checking for overtaking mainly, as Barbara drove fearlessly and fast !
To add to the fun, the Snooper SatNav came up with a “serious error” message and stopped working. So, it was back to basic map reading and on leaving the Autovia at the Calpe turn off, Hannah on Google Maps with directions to the campsite .
After initially choosing a pitch which proved to be rather small, a better emplacement was found and with no fuss at all, we parked up and set up camp.
Great stuff Barbara – I can see it’s going to be hard to get my job back!
Meanwhile, we got the BBC NEWS and read of our so- called government’s knee jerk decision to impose 14 day quarantine on returning visitors to Spain, despite the fact that all the islands and everywhere except Catalunya, had lower rates of infection than the UK ! It won’t bother us much as we have little planned on our return at the end of this week. Let’s hope that Grant Shapps is monitored on his return from Spain…you know,like Cummings😩
Ximo Puig, leader of the Valencia region, told a local radio station that “our epidemiological data is better than the UK’s”, and said the quarantine order was “not justified”. Calpe is in Valencia . Can you imagine what Brexit is going to be like under this embarrassing excuse for a government ?
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10 out of 10 to Barbara and commiserations to John. As far as traffic is concerned…………. you are only interested in the car in front, and possibly the one behind! Forget the rest of the world’s traffic! Enjoy the remaining days……………it has been great!