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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Back at the coast to meet up with good friends!

It's certainly warmer down here at the coast, but we feel like we're not really in Spain any more! At this time of year there are more British people here than Spanish people! And most of the signage at the local businesses is in English.

So yesterday we drove down from the hills to the coast. We weren't originally planning on coming down here yet, but there's a cold front coming through and even here at the coast it's going to be a chilly high of 10C (50F) and overcast.

Here's a few photos of the drive down...

Heading towards Malaga.

We will be happy to see something besides olive trees!

No more olive trees!

A few tunnels to go through.

Scenery along the way.

We can see the sea!

But, there's another reason we're happy to be here! We're meeting up with Glen and Steve, the couple who introduced us to the RV lifestyle ten years ago! We traveled Mexico with Glen and Steve. First the Baja in the winter of 2007-2008, and then again our first time in mainland Mexico the winter of 2008-2009.

This is the couple who essentially showed us how to live and travel inexpensively.

We had arranged to meet at a free camping aire in La Cala de Mijas. It's a busy spot because it's walking distance to the beach, and there are a lot of services and amenities close by. Even amongst all the different motorhomes we had no problem finding them. Hugs all around...it sure was nice to finally meet up again, and to be RV'ing at the same time again.

The last time we saw them was in England in the summer of 2012. Steve had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and the prognosis wasn't good. In fact, he was in hospital at the time, so it wasn't under the best of circumstances. He's had a bone marrow transplant, and is doing fine now despite a lifetime of medication in his future.

But, they've bounced back from that and have been traveling again. They did a lot of cruising in 2016 and I think they were in somewhere around 30 countries last year!

We went for a walk with them around town and checked out some of the shops.

Lots of motorhomes at the free camping aire in La Cala de Mijas.
GPS 36.505595, -4.682284
Two day maximum, must register at the police station.

The beach!

We stopped in for ice cream. In true frugal fashion, we went to a grocery store and bought a 6 pack box of ice cream bars for €2.09 ($3.00 CAD, $2.25 USD). 

Of course there were 2 left over, so as we left the store, I offered one of them to a guy begging for money at the store entrance. He smiled and said "gracias" and took one of the bars. 

As we walked away, Glen turned around and spotted him tossing the brand new packaged ice cream bar into the trash.

I couldn't believe it. I'm not one to give these beggars any money, but after that they will never get anything from me at all. Ever. 

Sitting out for happy hour with Glen and Steve.

Glen and Steve's daughter Claire and her fiance Richard are down visiting as well for a few days, but they leave this evening. So they were headed out for a last meal with them and invited us along. we went to a Chinese food place that had a "menu del dia" for €5.95 ($8.50 CAD, $5.50 USD). With a beer for me and a glass of wine for Ruth, the total bill including tax and tip was €16.00 ($23.00 CAD. $17.00 USD). Not a fantastic meal, but not bad either.

Today's project is to find a new battery for Louis.

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18 comments:

  1. Nice to hook up with Glen and Steve again, enjoy the area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is very nice to meet up with Glen and Steve again. We will be hanging out together for a little while as well.

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  2. Always nice to meet up with old friends. Beach looks wonderful! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is nice to meet up with old friends again. Too bad we didn't have beach weather though. Hopefully this cold front won't last too long.

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  3. Did Ruth get her charger cord for her computer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I got my charger cord on Tuesday. Glen and Steve's daughter brought it with her when she came to visit them last week. :-)

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  4. Just found your interesting blog. Great read. Nora.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kinda reminds me of sunny Southern California!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it might due when the sun is shining! :-) Lots of traffic as well but probably still not as bad as the LA area.

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  6. You are painting a nice picture of Spain which makes us think that we might add this to our bucket list

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    Replies
    1. We are loving our time here in Spain, It is full of history, lovely scenery and interesting places and should be on everyone's bucket list.

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  7. I love Spain, looks like Arizona & I love the olive trees. What is Glen and Steve's blog name? I'd like to see where they traveled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We love Spain too!

      Glen and Steve only send out an email to friends and family once a month on their past month's activities.

      Delete
  8. Begging is a job. People want cash. I'm with you on this. A

    Have you considered interviewing an rv couple rving in Spain? It would be interesting to get their take on rving in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it certainly is a job for the majority of them.

      It is something to think about for sure, perhaps even Glen and Steve would like to give their views on it.

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  9. I recognised your last road picture instantly as we used to live in La Cala de Mijas. It is still part of concrete Costa del Sol, but the little village has a more relaxed feel to it than the major resorts. We are now back travelling around Spain in our motorhome and left La Cala just last week before heading inland.

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    Replies
    1. Bet you must be happy to be back to travelling in a motorhome. We definitely like the inland much better than the busy hustle and bustle of the Costa del Sol. That area is just not for us.

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