Those of you paying close attention to the Tweets
and posts, might be wondering why this posting isn’t titled, “Boondocking on a
Portugese Beach.” We had every intention
of spending two nights out in a parking lot adjacent to a gorgeous beach, but I
chickened out. For one thing, there is a
high level of unemployment in Portugal and I didn’t feel the need to parade
Salt & Pepper by the folks who just might be camping in the lot because
they have no choice. Plus, after
spending a day at the beach and returning home to a nice, long shower, I
realized I didn’t want to give that up; and boondocking requires a certain,
shall we say, restraint in the personal hygiene area. So I apologized to SP for being a wimp and I
suggested we head down the coast in hopes of fulfilling our beach needs with a
caravan park close to a dog-friendly shore.
Even with that exciting goal, it was terribly difficult
to leave the wonderful service and comforts of Touriscampo in Luz, but this
really wouldn’t be much of an Aventura log if we stayed in one spot for the
rest of our lives. So we checked the tire pressure, packed, hitched up Salt and
headed east along the southern coast to Quarteria.
This will not surprise many of you: SP and I find it hard to engage people in
conversations. Both being naturally shy and independent, our discomfort at reaching out undoubtedly
leads to us missing out on some good advice.
Not last week though! We
engaged our British neighbor one evening at Touriscampo, asking if he had any
experience down in Olhao, which was to be our next destination. He had, and mentioned that it was a nice town
and caravan park, but if you like beaches, you have to take a ferry across to
an island. Since beach going was our goal
for the next few days, the addition of the ferry did not sound appealing. Nothing says Headache quite like the
combination of Dogs, Cooler, Backpacks, Umbrellas, Chairs and Ferry. Thankfully our neighbor then mentioned
Quarteria; a great spot for its miles of beaches but the caravan park (with a
pause here as he searched for the right words), “Didn’t have as nice an
ambiance as Touriscampo.” Hmmm. We should have asked him for further information
but, to paraphrase Renee in Jerry Maguire, he had us at Beaches. We were off to Quarteria—even if we stayed only one night.
It was a short drive, but a hot day and having not towed
Salt for a while we were ready for it to be over when we pulled into the
Orbitur site. This was our second
attempt at an Obitur site and, much like the first one, the appearance from the
front is rather more like a low-security prison than a caravan park. If it wasn’t for being hot and tired, we
would have kept on going. But we drove
around, found an awful pitch, parked, unhitched and walked to the beach. The beach, indeed, is miles long with soft
inviting waves—I could hardly wait to get in the water. I tested the temperature and, as promised, it
was much warmer than the Atlantic coast.
With the beach being so lovely, we decided to stay
additional days despite the lackluster park.
Back at the park, we completed a foot survey and opted to upgrade to a
deluxe pitch (an additional €2/day) so as to have water and a dump
area close at hand (they are both shared between two pitches.) We hitched back up and moved Salt on down to
the weed infested, not-nearly level, dirt pitch and poured a strong sundowner.
We enjoyed the beach as much as we could (one day proved
too windy to sustain a relaxing experience) and swimming in the water was a
delight. But don’t come here for the
town atmosphere: It is quite awful. Thankfully, after striking up a conversation
with two Irish travelers at lunch (see how much better we are getting?) we
learned of Vilamoura, an upscale touristy town just a mile or so west. So we spent an afternoon there, me taking advantage
of the nice boutiques and buying a new bathing suit then, while enjoying a beer and gazing at the marina, discussed how that opulent lifestyle no longer seemed to be our style.
Except of course, for the bathing suit.
-K
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHome sickness? Well I haven't been on the road for such a protracted length of time as you are now since the '70s. These days we keep our wandering to between 3 - 5 months. Our best antidote for home sickness has been to find a few places in which we feel more at home and where we seem to have good interactions with the locals, doing our shopping at public markets and small shops. These places tend to be off the main tourist track and we only come to recognize them when we have found ourselves lingering simply due to comfort.
You appear to enjoy the sunny, hot climate. I'd be running to higher altitudes or to the north once the thermometer approaches 30 C.
Hope you enjoy Sevilla. As I recall, it is a large city with much to offer. One of the terrific things about RVing or caravanning in Europe is the proximity of campgrounds to cities and their public transit systems. Have you found that your dogs make it more difficult for you to tour city sights, museums, galleries and significant buildings as a couple?
Happy Trails!
ImaHeadaU
Hello ImaHeadaU - glad to see you are still dropping in once in awhile. I promise we'll get more exciting posts soon. And thanks for the homesickness ideas, we'll be using them for sure. We already feel better being back on the road and discovering new places--stopped now in Guejar Sierra, Spain. We skipped Seville (except for quick overnight while driving) as, you guessed it, the dogs hamper our ability to enjoy larger cities, museums, etc. Particularly when it is so hot. So we opted for the mountains of Sierra Nevada and look forward to some hiking and fishing with the dogs running free. We will go to Alhambra as we hear that is not to be missed. Likely no dogs allowed, so we'll have to take shifts from the parking lot. Such is life on the road with two terriers!
DeleteBut it is getting too hot, so we'll be heading north ASAP after we are done with the Sierra Nevada's. The Pyranees and Alps by July/August for sure!
Thanks for the comment --
Kit