A place to dream

Day 22: We were at the Campo de Guardamar market at 10 a.m. today. We found a parking space without any problems and plunged into the hustle and bustle. That took exactly five minutes for me, then I sat in one of the many small snack bars and cafés and enjoyed my first cortado. And with that I had toast with tomatoes and garlic. Actually it was garlic with tomatoes - I'm afraid I'll spend the rest of our trip to Spain with chewing gum between my teeth.

Icke came after two cortados and waved her green plastic bags. I could tell from her smile that she had successfully completed her cross-list, which saved my day. However, when we returned to our motorhome, a nasty surprise awaited us: we had been parked! That wasn't funny, especially because we were standing directly in the blazing sun and had the dogs on board. We couldn't put them through the stress of going to the market with so many people. I tried to get out of the parking space. Icke got out and helped me, but it took 20 minutes before we made it. We caused a long traffic jam, but no one got upset. Except for Icke, who got in wet with sweat. “It was only millimeters,” she said, wiping her forehead.

The hardest part of the day was still ahead of me. The journey to our Granda la Carmela parking space five kilometers north of Santomera was quite a challenge. We were led back around a roundabout three times because I took a wrong turn. According to our navigation system everything was fine, the sandy path next to the motorway was not visible on the display. It took us almost an hour and a half to cover the 51 kilometers. And 500 meters from the finish a large German Shepherd blocked our way. All the honking didn't help, and so Icke reached deep into the bag of tricks - into the food bag - and lured the poor dog to the side.

We were compensated for the difficult journey when we arrived - and really! We got the most beautiful parking space, which is rightly number one. It lies between two large trees and offers good shade. This will be especially important in the next few days because it is expected to get up to 27 degrees. We also have a clear view of the wonderful landscape in front of us, which we want to explore over the next few days.