Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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

Saturday, December 31, 2022

December Expenses and 2022 Expenses Review

We had a budget of $1,600 CAD ($1,180 USD) for the month of December and how much did we spend? 

We spent $1,598 CAD! I don't think we've ever come that close to being right on the money as far as our projected expenses for the month go. Of course you couldn't come much closer if you tried. So, we're pretty happy with the way we ended off the year, from a budget perspective.

Exploring Guadix, Spain

We got up and did some driving right at sunrise. It was only a half hour or so to Guadix on the main highway, so we figured that by the time we got there the sun would be high enough to keep us warm. Daytime temperatures inland are pleasant with the sunshine, but it's chilly enough overnight and it takes a while for things to warm up.

One of the reasons we came to Guadix is to match up another of my dad's photographs from his trip here in 1954.

Friday, December 30, 2022

2022 Year in Review

2022 was a good year for us!

We spent a lot of time touring in Max, in fact we pretty much lived in Max for about nine months of the year. And we had a really good vacation back to Canada that included four provinces.

We warmed up soon enough due to the exercise

Had to put the furnace on again yesterday morning. It was a little chilly due to the altitude. And although it was a beautiful spot, I knew that we wouldn't see any sun until about 11:00am because there was a big mountain ridge blocking it. But we had stayed there overnight anyhow because we wanted to do a hike before we left.

Once the sun appeared, we set off up the mountain behind us.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

So nice to not have much of a schedule to keep.

We had showers and used the dump and fill facilities at the free motorhome aire in Casas Nuevas. We were in no rush, and we didn't get going until after 11:00am. Then we set off on the backroads heading southwest.

Not going far, and if we saw something worth stopping at then we would. 

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Out for dinner in rural Spain

Just a relaxing day yesterday. Of course we did get out for a short walk in the afternoon just to stretch our legs. 

Along the way, we stopped in at the local pub to check and see if we could go for dinner. Turns out they close at 6:00pm, so we went for a very early dinner!

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

I think today will be a day of rest!

We were due for some exercise, so we set off walking directly from the motorhome aire and into Sierra Espuna Regional Park. 

Not much in the way of actual marked trails, but I saw a circular route on the map that looked like it might be a trail. Most of it turned out to be a gravel road, but we did almost 14 kms (9 miles) and never saw a vehicle.

Monday, December 26, 2022

We had a great Christmas Day!

After hot drinks and breakfast we got out fairly early for a hike before things warmed up too much. In fact, we needed our sweaters for the first part because it was only 12C (54F) and there was a cool breeze. But there was a lot of blue sky and sunshine.

And, we were headed uphill so it didn't take long for us to warm up.

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas from Spain!

I was looking back at where we have been the past few years on Christmas morning. Last year we were in Greece, and Christmas day 2020 we were at the hospital in Antalya, Turkiye having eye surgery! 2019 and 2018 we were at different places in Mexico. 2017 in Texas, and 2016 we had returned to Canada for Christmas in the cold. 

This year, we are parked beside an orange grove in Ulea, Spain.

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Palm trees and sunshine

Seems most of Canada and the U.S. are experiencing a major blast of winter for this Christmas weekend. Most have either snowing or ridiculously cold, or both. Friends in British Columbia just went through an icy deep freeze. It was -40C (-40F) at the park we used to work at in Cabri, SK. And our home town of Ottawa is having a major winter blizzard. Our daughter in Nova Scotia is doing well though with a high of 10C (50F) yesterday!

Not meaning to rub it in, but here in southern Spain, we are having our best weather yet. Palm trees and sunshine and a high of 24C (75F).

Friday, December 23, 2022

The sky was on fire!

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday. Max took a day off from driving, and he just sat in the desert enjoying the sunshine and blue sky. Ruth and I did get out for a walk though, just to explore the area and see some of the desert scenery.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Wild camping (boondocking) in the desert

When we read about how crowded it is on the south coast with free camping van and motorhome people, we are glad that we are not beach people! We are only about 50 kms inland from the coast, and not another van in sight.

Funny enough, we've been in Spain for almost three weeks now, and while we've been following the coast south we have yet to walk on a beach.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Steep hike to a cave

With nice weather in the forecast, we decided to head to higher elevation to do some hiking. There is a recreation park only about 10 kms (6 miles) from Castalla called Sierra del Maigmo and I had read of an area where we could park overnight.

The road up was steep in places, with signs warning of a 20% grade. 

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

We got up there, but nobody was home!

Got an email back yesterday confirming our vehicle insurance for Morocco. We're under a new insurer this year and when I had read the paperwork I had noticed that insurance was only valid in Morocco "with prior approval of the insurance company".

In Europe, you're generally covered for all of the typical European countries. But depending on the insurer there can be exclusions. In our case, we need to get prior approval for Tunisia, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova, Bosnia,... and Morocco.

Monday, December 19, 2022

It's all a bit unorganized

Woke up Sunday morning at the cemetery outside of Bocairent. Peaceful night, even with three other motorhomes parked nearby. But the cemetery soon got busy. We would have thought that people would be in church Sunday morning, but I guess some of them visit their dead relatives on a Sunday morning. At one point, we didn't think we were going to be able to get out of the parking lot.

We left at about 10:30am. Not headed very far though. I love short driving days!