Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2018 17:26:22 -0400
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: summer trip report, Europe 2017, part 2
In-Reply-To: <6ec98847-60b0-e658-661f-2ec98fa22bca@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Looks like California plates. Any worries about them being "liberated" as souvenirs?
Stephen
Mobile
> On Mar 23, 2018, at 12:39 PM, Mark Drillock <modrillock@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> I never finished my report so here is part 2.
>
> After touring Croatia and Slovenia I dropped the last nephew at the
> airport in Milan Italy. Every time I have been near sprawling Milan it
> has reminded me of the Los Angeles basin in the summer, dreary with smog
> and heat and this time was no exception. I had a few extra days before I
> needed to be in Barcelona so I decided to escape into the cooler alps a
> ways west of Milan, along the Italian/French border. I was hoping to
> finally see a major mountain stage of the Tour De France bike race in
> this area later in my trip and this gave me a chance to look at the
> route and hopefully find a place to camp when I was there for the race.
>
> I camped a night near some small lakes on the Italy side, then crossed
> the Alps into France near the winter ski town of Briancon and the Col du
> Galibier which would be the last major climb of the race stage I wanted
> to be part of. I stopped at a few campgrounds near there and inquired
> about advance booking a camp spot for a couple days when the race would
> be passing through. For all the nearby camps it was already too late for
> that so feeling disappointed I headed on down the road to leave the
> area. Before too long I spotted a sign for another camp and decided to
> turn off to give it one last shot. The place didn't look like much but
> was a ways from the road and had nice views of the surrounding peaks.
> They had room for my desired dates so I booked a spot. They did not want
> any advance payment and I left happy but wondering how solid my booking
> would turn out to be when I came back in about 10 days.
>
> After two relaxing and cool days in the alps it was time to beeline
> south for hotter Spain to meet my friend at the Barcelona airport. A
> couple days later I pulled into a fancy campground by the beach, several
> miles north of that city. For this busy vacation season I had booked at
> this deluxe camp while still at home because I wanted to be certain of a
> good first few nights with my friend, as he would need to get over any
> jet lag and get settled into the Westy home we would be sharing for some
> weeks. The terraced sea view campground had a large popular pool and
> decent restaurant with a bar so we could just hang if we wished. After
> setting up in my spot I caught a nearby commuter train along miles of
> crowed beaches into the city proper and transferred to the airport
> metro, just in time to meet my friend's flight. This old college friend
> is actually the person who introduced me to VW van camping, back in 1974
> when we packed our girlfriends into his 62 VW Bus and headed for Baja on
> a school break. At the time I was a daily motorcyclist with a Moto Guzzi
> and he had the VW hippie van for his daily. A couple years later he was
> the bigger Guzzi enthusiast while I became the bigger VW van fan, and
> that is true to this day.
>
> We spent a couple days touring Barcelona and enjoying the camp
> amenities, then packed up the Westy and headed north along the coast
> back toward France. The weather was fabulous so we chose to stick to the
> slow coastal road to soak up as much as we could. That section is at one
> end of the Pyrenees mountains so the shore is rocky with pretty little
> coves and some small sandy beaches with a few scattered villages here
> and there. It was too nice to rush through so we adjusted our plans to
> make the most of it. At one campground we rented snorkeling gear and
> swam in the sea, trying not to think of the future too much. I got
> online and canceled some of the bookings I had made so we could follow
> our hearts for a few days instead. Since it was July there were plenty
> of people around but it was still great and far more peaceful than the
> crowded Barcelona beaches had been. Those have some nice natural scenery
> too, mostly of the human variety, wink wink.
>
> Finally it was time to make tracks, heading up through Nice and the
> French Riviera before a turn into the Alps for my dream of a TDF
> mountain stage. First we tried to get off the superhighway for a swing
> through Monaco and maybe a meal in crazy Monte Carlo but the closer we
> got the slower the traffic became. After inching along for a while I had
> enough and we turned back away from the coast without my friend getting
> to see much of those places. He said he didn't care and preferred to get
> into the calmer mountains anyway. It turned into a long day of driving
> and some frustrations, with the Garmin having outdated station info as
> we looked for gas before heading too deep into the hills. One recurring
> issue in my Europe travels is that many gas stations have no humans
> attending them and if you don't have a card that works in their pumps
> then no gas for you. American cards are not fully compatible with all
> the European systems, no matter what anyone at the card company says.
> This is sometimes true in ticket machines for trains and buses as well.
> At times we have resorted to giving European strangers the cash to buy
> us what we need on their cards. People are more helpful about this than
> you might think.
>
> After finally gassing up we pressed on to the Alps campground I had
> booked for the bike race arriving late in the day. A group of climbers
> near us partied into the night but it was pretty peaceful overall. Our
> site was small but level and nice, here is a photo link and that is me.
>
> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1760083.jpg
>
> The Westy stayed put for a couple nights as we hiked and used our
> folding bikes to explore a little and get groceries in a nearby town.
>
> Part 3 yet to come.
>
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>> On 7/6/2017 12:54 AM, Mark Drillock wrote:
>> Picked up our 87 Westy again after a year in storage in Amsterdam, all
>> went smoothly this time. Connected the batteries, turned the key
>> on/off several times to prime and flush the fuel lines, and she fired
>> right up. I drove her on to the elevator and down she went to ground
>> level and out the gate of the storage business. Stopped at a gas
>> station for fresh gas and air in the tires. Opened the lid to have a
>> look, tightened a weeping fuel line clamp. That was 5 weeks ago.
>> Netherlands, Germany, Czech, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and
>> now Slovenia. All good so far, haven't opened the engine lid since.
>>
>> The camping has been great, as expected.
>> ....................
>> Starting Phase II of my trip this week. I had a couple nephews with me
>> but they are done and heading home while I carry on. An old friend is
>> joining me soon and then into the high country for a while.
>>
>> Mark
>>
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