On the Road Again!

SP26 - Potes

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:35:21 +0000

The first stop after Oyambre has always been Potes in the Picos de Europa on the plan. Now that we are on Plan G it's still there.

We have been before, twice in fact, but not for very long each time.

The first time was way back in August 2014 when we were heading back from a long week trip to Spain. Our destination was Santander. The night before we had stayed in the Parador at Cervera la Pisuerga.

We stopped again in May 2024. A quick stop on the sloping dirt car park behind the supermarket, and then further up the road at the bus station. Again we had a short walk into the town.

This time I planned to overnight two nights at the Vanventure Campervan Park.

Checking on the aire's website shows that out of 19 bookable pitches there were none last night and again tonight.

It also looks like people are pre-booking ahead of time. So I have. It's €15 a night. We could stay in a few different free parkups but instead we decided to pay. It's not much for included services.

DogsTrust - National Dog Survey 2026

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:59:08 +0000

DogsTrust - National Dog Survey 2026.

National Dog Survey 2026

Fan Shirt 26/27 Season

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:28:57 +0000

Probably a mistake to have ordered this from some Chinese factory. It seemed like a gamble rather than simply a scam!

从中国工厂订购这个东西可能是个错误。这与其说是骗局，不如说是一场赌博

SP26 - Pet Passport Rules Changed!

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 12:53:21 +0000

Grrrrr.

After all these months it has now been reported that any EU Pet Passport issued before April 22nd 2026 is still usable!

Why didn't they say this before thousands of travellers had been forced the buy an expensive Animal Health Certificate????

It's cost us £99 for nothing as Reggie already has his pet passport.

Brittany Ferries website

Thanks.

SP26 - LPG and AdBlue full...

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:26:00 +0000

Today's jobs in between rain showers was to get down to Dover and fill the LPG tanks before we start the holiday.

Dover BP by the entrance to the Western Docks, where the cruise ships dock, was £1.199 per litre. Luckily they had plenty but I had phoned up before we made the trip.

I took photos of both gauges before we went.

Right bottle

Left bottle

We tend to use the right side bottle more than the left as it is easier to access the tap to turn the gas on.

When we got home I filled the AdBlue up from the containers in the garage. It used all of the 4 litre Redex branded AdBlue, plus another 1½ to 2 litres from the huge 10 litre bottle from Aldi. For good measure I emptied in a full bottle of Wynn's Crystal Clear and Protect anti crystallisation liquid in with the new fill. This should see us through the entire holiday trip. If there's any on the pump in Spain I might top up there as it is much cheaper than here.

That's another pre-trip job dealt with.

Whilst I was sitting in the van, I checked the Fogstar 300ah leisure battery, It's at 100% as expected. I can't help checking when I go over there.

Bennett's Insurance Renewal.

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:13:38 +0000

What the absolute f***!

In the last couple of years there hasn't been much of risk to these shysters as I have been doing more miles in the campervan.

A £56 increase. In fact 50% for what? A reduced risk and they do this?

Pink Duck

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:01:00 +0000

Whilst walking the dog today across the newly painted bridge across the Royal Military Canal, we saw this tiny little pink duck.

Whether it was there because it had been dropped and put there, or had been put there for fun. It's great.

Ring Camera

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:51:00 +0000

Seems to be working a bit better after I cleaned the lens and used some car window spray.

It is supposed to be hydrophobic. Seems to be working.

Temu!

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:39:00 +0000

Earlier in the year I bought some window catches for the van. They idea is that they stop the windows being opened by pushing the locking handles upwards. They proved to good I looked for more.

They came from Temu. Decent quality and easily fitted. So I wanted more. Loads on eBay and Amazon, but I only want one sort. All the ads on these sites were pairs, left and right. I only wanted 6 where the handle faces the right. Temu again.

The problem is that you have to spend over £15 in an order. So I added a few things that might come in handy for the van, and even a new baseball cap.

In the end I just made the minimum requirement!

The duck helped get over the line.

Goldfinch on the Feeder

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 20:47:27 +0000

There's a pair of them that have started coming to visit the feeder in the front garden.

This is as best I can get shooting through a double glazed window with my phone ..

Zaqe Bluetooth MP3 Player

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:11:44 +0000

Sadly the Aiandcc player I bought last year has given up the ghost.

On the way to London on Saturday it took ages to connect to my Bluetooth earphones. Then the connection was very poor with the player around 2 feet away. It was all snap, crackle and eventually pop. It was impossible to get the screen to light up. The battery was fully charged.

Disappointing, but it was very cheap.

So enter the Zaqe Bluetooth MP3 Player.

This one was a bit more expensive. It's styled like a tiny smartphone. Touch screen and icons like I am used to.

After spending a while backing up the 256gb micro-sd card to the laptop, I fitted it into the expansion slot.

The player came fully charged. It comes with a USB-C charging cable and curiously wired earphones, and more unusually a printed manual. It also has a silicone cover.

Of course being a man I haven't read the manual, although I did flick through it.

It was easy to set up the Bluetooth to my Samsung FE buds. Once I had briefly turn Bluetooth off on my Samsung phone.

The default language was French. Easily rectified through the settings icon. I set the date and time.

It actually has 128gb of internal memory, but whilst the music is on the SD card it seemed pointless to cover it over.

Choosing Music from the main menu will access the internal and SD card but it's every track and in alphabetical order.

Choosing Folder let's you choose internal or SD card. I have the music pretty much as it's stored on the old laptop in iTunes. Folders by artist and inside that, the albums.

The sound quality is pretty good. It does depend on the volume of the original recording, as it appears the upper sound level is limited by the EU. Whether other markets arent restricted I have no idea. It does mean that a way around it, on iTunes, is to edit downloaded and ripped music, and slide the volume control up.... then save it.

Let's see how this player performs.

I tested it with King Crimson's "Epitaph", as it has a range of sound levels.

ChatGPT - Photo Enhancement

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:32:50 +0000

Well. if you don't specify to the NNth degree what you want ....

I'm going to use the kids' drawing style picture somewhere on a social media profile.

Lupin...

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:43:56 +0000

Stand and deliver, your lupins or your life... Monty Python.

Champions League Final 2026

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:52:03 +0000

Not the result we wanted, but losing on penalties shows where we are now.

PSG were unable to score other than with a penalty. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Two missed penalties from our players in the penalty shootout handed the trophy to PSG.

They had one penalty saved by Raya, but it wasn't enough.

Champions League Final Screening

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Sat, 30 May 2026 13:26:55 +0000

Need to think positively...

At the ground I met my brother Neill and Helen who I go with to all the games since the club moved to Emirates Stadium.

We also met our friend Ashley who had flown from Singapore.

Unfortunately the ladies didn't match the dress code.

Pilton Compact Chair

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Sat, 30 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Pilton Compact Chair

Modelled by some old vagrant that was wandering by. They pack up very small and will take up to his weight and far more.

In the van, they two of them will take up less than half the space one of the current huge chairs take up.

(Of course you knew the model was actually me. I can be contacted for modelling jobs in the comments)

Fuelly Dashboard

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:16:35 +0000

My Fuelly Dashboard. It has many of the vehicles we have owned. Not all as I archived some and have no idea how to get them back.

The mpg's are calculated in the app and are based on UK gallons.

Every dog should have one...

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 29 May 2026 16:07:06 +0000

Reggie has one.

Tyrone at Kent Greyhound Rescue has one...

When It's hot it is essential not to walk dogs in the heat of the day. Not only is it too hot for their feet on the pavements, but too hot in their fur coats.

Champion's League Final - Emirates Screening

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 29 May 2026 16:01:48 +0000

Whilst it would have been nice to have been there, in Budapest, to go to the game, the ticket cost and the travel would have made it almost impossible to have done it.

Instead we are going to go up to the Emirates and watch it on the big screens. My brother Neill booked the tickets on the first round that was pretty much for season ticket (Gold) holders. It means that Phil, who goes when I can't, is unable to join us.

The ticket price was £15 and Club Level tickets £20. We decided to see what Club Level seats are like. You never know. I might win the lottery tonight and buy us all a seat up there instead of Block 11 in the Lower seating area.

Tickets are as usual in the Google wallet but are blue instead of the usual Arsenal red. What shirt to were?

My collection of Arsenal shirts goes back many years. I'll decide tomorrow.

Plus, we also need to check out the weather forecast. All week it has been hot and muggy at home. Shorts and t-shirts. Tomorrow though?

Hopefully my new beanie hat will arrive in time, otherwise I'll have to look out an old Arsenal Champion's League titfer-tat.

P-Pick up a Penguin....

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 29 May 2026 14:22:59 +0000

I do like a Tim-Tam, they are very much like Penguin bars but coming from Australia means they are expensive.

UK made Penguins though... 7 for a quid.

SP26 - Another overnight stop

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:58:00 +0000

With the distance from home in Kent to the overnight at Dawlish Warren, it looks to be about 260 miles and nearly five hours on the road with no stops.

The distances I have plotted in Spain and France are far lower than this. The plan is to arrive somewhere early enough to find space in the aire or on the campsite, and then be able to sit and take in the view or explore the town.

I wanted somewhere around halfway to break the journey, allow some stops on the way. On Search4sites I found Wyndham Farm. It's close enough to the A303 and also near to Stourhead National Trust.

The Pro-Plates are fitted

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:26:29 +0000

The Pro-Plates have been fitted to both sides of the van, on driver and passenger doors.

At least it gives us some peace of mind.

Inside the door there's another plate that stops anyone getting around the outer plate and that covers the locking mechanism.

SP26 - Plan G!

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Wed, 27 May 2026 18:06:00 +0000

It seems that I have been at this for a while now. Refining. Then having doubts about the miles to be driven.

The hours in the van for us, and more importantly for a dog that's approaching his sixteenth birthday. From loving going out in the car or the van, he is now more reticent.

So I have begun to look at shorter days on the road, fewer miles between stops, and chances for him to get out and stretch his legs.

So far Plan G only gets us from Caravanning Oyambre on the Biscay coast to Port Vendres on the Mediterranean.

Eight days to work our way across the north of Spain via Potes in the Picos de Europa.

We have been before, twice actually, but both were fleeting visits. The first in 2014 on the Triumph Explorer and again in 2024, this time in Molly our motorhome.

This time I am hoping to get into the paid aire just outside the town. It's €15 a night with an additional €4 if you want electric hook-up. After two nights with EHU at Oyambre we shouldn't need it.

Where from there? I have been looking to take in some scenic drives and villages across the north of Spain. Way to the north of Madrid.

Plan F was to head south east to the Mediterranean around Madrid and bumping into the coast around Valencia or Castellón. Getting a campsite or aire that appealed seemed much harder.

Rough Plan G is Riano, Astudillo, Frias, La Fueva and La Seu d'Urgell.

With stops along the way to break up the day. Some are simply local municipal aires, and a couple are Camping-Car Park Aires.

Plan G also includes Andorra. The last time was in 1989. I was part of a group that road down to Barcelona for the FIM Rally. We camped overnight in La Vella. In July it was freezing at night!!! So much so that two of us found a camping shop and bought a cheap sleeping bag.

So that's it for now! Plan H? I hope not.

Roses

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Wed, 27 May 2026 17:17:43 +0000

Is there anyone that doesn't like roses in the garden?

All taken today, May 27th 2026, in our back garden, with the Nikon D50.

Temu Screen Cover

noreply@blogger.com (On the Road Again) — Tue, 26 May 2026 21:16:26 +0000

Yes, it's wrinkled a bit, but in my defence it was windy.

It barely fits the Ducato windscreen. The top has two small flaps that are trapped in the door. They are too short.

The elastics in the mirrors are better.