29 Aug - Rest day in Andorra

We had a nice rest day in Andorra la Vella. Mark went to get new tires for his bike which turned out to be a small fiasco. He arrived at the BMW shop without a confirmed appointment, so they didn't have the tires he requested or the availability to service his bike that day. As a result, he went down the street to the next closest bike shop and got whatever tires they had in stock. Not the ideal choice, but he got the job done nonetheless.

Ranee took the day to explore the city and relax, and I took a walk into town first in the morning. I needed to purchase a new wall plug adapter because I left my good one behind at a hotel a few days ago. I was annoyed that I made such a mistake, but oh well.

I picked up a ham sandwich at a bodega for 2 euro so I could take a picnic lunch on the bike. I rode up to the Pont Tibeta de Canillo suspension bridge. It was a spectacular ride up the mountain on some serpentine roads and then a short hike up to the bridge. Turns out you need to buy a ticket online and I didn’t feel like fooling with it, so I just ate my lunch and took my picture next to the bridge and headed back. The ride home was another awesome mountain pass to get back to Andorra la Vella.

30 Aug - Into Spain to Tarragona

We departed Andorra for Spain around 0900 and made good time getting out of the mountains down to the coast. The roads were fast and uninterrupted, so we made great time and mileage today -- around 180 miles.

But boy oh boy, it was hot and humid down in the low country on the east coast of Spain! 90F and 80% humidity makes it feel like nearly 100. I haven’t sweated like this since I was back in South Carolina!

We checked into a nice campground resort and they let us pick out our campsite. I walked around the campground and found a site nearest to the beach which had a breeze coming off the ocean. This is as cool as it could possibly be right now. We settled in and then went swimming at the beach. It was about a quarter mile walk next to a rice patty then across a very wide and flat beach to the water.

We got some off-and-on rain showers in the evening, but I managed to cook my dinner at the campsite. I had risotto, with asparagus and mushrooms; not bad.

As the sun disappeared it did get a little cooler but the breeze disappeared so I slept with my tent fly open.

31 Aug - Alicante

After a hot and humid night that seemed like it never really cooled off, we woke up and made some breakfast. Drinking hot coffee and eating warm oatmeal when you’re already sweating at breakfast is not so appealing, but it’s nutritions. We loafed around for a few minutes and then decided to break camp. It was already about 90F by 10am, and I considered foregoing my motorcycle jacket, but remembered that accidents can happen anytime, so I put on all the gear (ATGATT). Once we were moving, I cooled off. 

We headed south toward Valencia and gradually escaped the humidity. We followed back roads all the way down to la Vall d'Uixó and decided to get some lunch. Typically we try to avoid the urban areas, but sometimes its a necessary evil for the sake of finding food. We circled the block a couple times to scope out an eatery, then again to find suitable parking. The only thing we could find open at 12:30pm was the “Happy Bar” restaurant. Where there’s people there must be some decent food. It was an interesting place — a bar, some gambling machines, some families eating, some other folks drinking at tables outside. We got some bocadillos, which are Spanish style sandwiches made with Spanish bread, similar to French baguette. I chose one with egg, bacon, tomato and mayonnaise. Works just fine for me.

We were still a little beat from the last 24 hours in the heat, and we determined at lunch that if we camped that evening it would be a similar (HOT)  temperature regardless of elevation. We opted for a hotel and booked one. Our criteria for hotels is to be less than 100 euro, include private parking, and in this case have air conditioning. The high temperatures only increased to a peak of 102F in the afternoon. We made a beeline to the hotel in Miralbons Spain, about 60 miles south of Valencia.

We spent the evening chilling out and took a walk around the block. We investigated the local motorcycle shop, iced cream shop, and grocery before turning in. I didn’t feel like anything formal for dinner so I walked down the street to the Kebab restaurant for a wrap of vegetables and mystery meat. Yum.