We kind of got sidetracked... and ended up at the dentist office!

We got a decently early start for our drive to Berat. They were calling for showers in the afternoon, so we wanted to get to the River Side Campground early enough to get a load or two of laundry done. Our plan was to have a one night stay at this campground in order to do laundry, have showers, fill and empty our tanks, and fully charge our batteries. 

This way, we will easily be able to spend a few free nights at the hotel parking lot where we know it is shaded and don't know if we will be able to plug in.

Out for a bike ride, and problems solved!

Change of plans! We decided to stay put for one more night. It turns out that the castle we were hoping to visit now charges a €10 fee to overnight there, and it's not that important to us. So the only other option in that area was beach camping at a restaurant. We decided that if we are going to beach camp, we've got it pretty good right where we are!

And with some rain in the forecast, we didn't want to be stuck (literally!) in soft sand or on a muddy road.

Yet another problem...

Cloudy with sunny breaks yesterday. High of about 20C (68F), so it was quite pleasant.

Right beside where we are parked, there is a water faucet that actually works. So we took the opportunity to do some chores. Laundry is always an issue... it's difficult to find laundromats. They do exist in the larger cities, but they're not always convenient. So we do smaller items by hand when we can.

Problem at the grocery store

With fully charged batteries and no rain in the forecast, we set off from the free motorhome hookups at the highway truck stop at around 10:30am. We didn't have far to go... about 50 kms (30 miles), but driving through the small city of Durres is slow going so it took us about an hour.

Taking this route allowed us to avoid the big city of Tirana. We spent more than a week in Tirana when we visited back in the spring and although we enjoyed the city, we don't feel a need to return.

Max's batteries... and a lazy rain day.

Max has two 100 AH 12 volt AGM deep cycle batteries. He also has two 100 watt solar panels to keep those batteries charged.

For comparison, our North American motorhome Sherman had four 225 AH 6 volt wet cell batteries, and three 80 watt solar panels.

That's quite a bit of difference. Our usage is quite high given that we are on our laptops a lot. 

Lots of good free camping spots

Saturday was a beautiful day. Sunshine, with a high around 20C (68F). Above average for this area at this time of year. So we got the bikes off and went for a bike ride.

First we went south along the beach road as far as we could go. Lots of good free wild camping (boondocking) spots. Only one problem though. Mosquitoes! There are a lot of marshy areas, and that usually means bugs. Bugs and I don't get along!

Off to the beach!

It was time for a change of scenery, so we did the short 44 km (27 mile) drive to the coastal resort town of Shëngjin. 

Wasn't quite sure what to expect as we hadn't been here in the spring. It turns out that Shëngjin has a really nice beach. There is also a small shipping port. But it's a growing resort area, with a lot of hotels and rental accomodation.

This lifestyle is not for everyone

Katja and Yves came over to say goodbye. We had given them some tips for what to see on their way south through Albania, and they had given us some tips on our planned trip to Norway next summer because they had spent a lot of time there this year.

And then they gave us a tour of their rig.

Views above Shkoder, and evening visitors!

Not much sunshine on Wednesday, but the temperature was a pleasant 18C (66F). In fact, perfect conditions to go for a hike. 

I found a nearby trail that runs up above the hill in behind where we are parked, so we set off just after 10:00am for what turned out to be a really nice hike!

Have I mentioned that we love Albania?

We spent the morning puttering around and getting Max ready to move across the river. Weather has been nice... highs around 20C (68F) and clouds with sunny periods. We haven't had to use our furnace since we got into Bosnia, although I'm sure some chillier evenings are coming. 

Did all the maintenance chores like filling the fresh water tank, and emptying the holding tanks and then did the five minute drive to our next location! Gotta love short driving days!