Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

It felt great to get outside again.

Our weekend curfew was over yesterday morning, but we woke up to more rain. The forecast called for a break in the showers after lunch, so as soon as that break occurred, we put on our raincoats and headed out the door!

I carry a set of exercise bands with me, and between pushups and other exercises I managed to get some activity in during our almost three days stuck in the apartment. But getting out for some fresh air and a fast paced walk really felt great. 

When you are used to walking so much, we think things start to stiffen up pretty quickly when you don't do it. That's why people who hike well into their 80's don't stop. If you stop, you can't get started again!

Lots of puddles!

There is very little graffiti or street art in the areas of Turkey we have been.

Scenery along the way.

The water was rough.


The sun actually came out for a few minutes.


The water in the canals comes from the mountains.
Three days of rain rose the water level about two feet.

Renault 12.

It's funny seeing all of these Renault 12 cars driving all over Turkey. I learned how to drive on a 1971 Renault 12 that my dad owned. During the 1970's, he owned three different ones... he was a real fan. He owned a 1971 sedan, then a 1973 sedan, then a 1977 wagon.

If you look closely in the photo above, you will notice something a little odd about these cars... there are only three bolts holding each wheel on!

The car was manufactured for the North American market between 1970 and 1980, but they rusted so badly in the salt soaked Ottawa winters that they didn't last much longer than five years! So after 1990, you never saw them again over there, although we have seen one or two in Mexico.

I remember my dad getting the engine rebuilt in one of them, and he paid $900 to do it. I remember thinking at the time that was a lot of money! And I think now, what was he doing spending that kind of money to rebuild the engine in a car that is probably too rusty to last much longer! But, he probably got a couple more years out of it.

Here in Turkey, Renault made them under an agreement with a Turkish manufacturer, and they were produced here between 1971 and 2000. With very few model changes over the years, they all look pretty much the same and there are still thousands of them on the road. You see them literally every day.

Remember this scene from almost a week ago?

Well three days of heavy rain made it look like this...

Muddy, and the water level is about 2 feet higher.

We ended up doing 7.2 kms (4.5 miles).

We have now walked 371 kms (230 miles) since we arrived in Turkey October 13th.

Ruth made pizza for dinner last night!
It was fantastic!

And today is moving day. We are headed up to the big city of Antalya for a two week stay.

We feel like we didn't really do this area justice, and there were several hikes we wanted to do that we just never got the chance due to the rain. Fortunately, the forecast calls for decent weather for the next four or five days.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great deal on a new Apple Watch.

And in Canada...


6 comments:

  1. Mmmm, that pizza looks great. Glad they had a pan large enough to improvise with! We've been getting loads of rain here in North Carolina as well. Kinda puts a damper on outdoor activities, but we get out for long walks as often as we are able. Funny about the Renault 12!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even though I didn't have all my normal ingredients to make the pizza, it did turn out delicious. The pan that I used was the roasting/grilling pan that is made for the oven, it worked out just fine but the tinfoil not so much. I really needed parchment paper.

      At least you are getting rain and not snow and as you say it does put a damper on outdoor activities but it is nice if you are able to get out in between showers. In our case we were glad that most of the rain came during the weekend when we were locked down anyways.

      Delete
  2. Pushups are the best upper body exercise. Our good friend Mirta, had a Renault 12 she bought new. She had it for years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, they sure are and Kevin is getting really good at them! :-)

      Delete
  3. Wow, I wish we had smell-a-vision,that pizza that Ruth made looks delicious! Looks like a good forecast, enjoy, Rawn Stone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a delicious pizza! It was nice to have an oven for a week. :-)

      Yes, the forecast looks great for the next few days, so we are going to get out there and enjoy them. :-)

      Delete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.