On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - Page 28 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Friday 10 September – part two: views from the western edge
It was absolutely blisteringly hot, so we tried to stick to the shade as we walked back to the car.
Yes, that is a boat being driven up one of the streets of Moraira, it was one of two in a convoy we saw
Once there, our first stop was to get some gas. We pulled into one, where they serve it for you, but it was bizarre, as the car only took about €42 ($55) and I knew that it should take way more than that and so it proved when we started her back up and discovered she was only three quarters full.
We made a brief stop at the tourist information office to pick up information about the area and then we sat and looked at the map and decided what to do next. We found a place called Cap de Nau, just a bit further along the coast, which looked like it had a good viewpoint, so we decided to head that way. It was only a few miles away, but Tim told us it would take 30 minutes and it probably did, as we had to follow along a twisty and windy road.
Once there, it was worth the drive, as we got some amazing views from what we discovered was the western most point of the Alicante region. Neat. Mark was a bit like a mountain goat, scampering off in front of me, leaving me way behind. I was struggling in the rough terrain, as I wasn’t in trainers, but shoes that weren’t designed to give good grip in this environment. :
As you can see, there are just one or two viewpoints around this area.... I saw that this guy was painting the scene in front of him when we walked back down... Mark enjoying the view Look at all that blue Mediterranean Sea! Learning more about the area
When we’d finished there, Mark suggested heading off to another viewpoint, but on the way there, he had a nosebleed and wasn’t feeling too good, so I immediately suggested heading back to the villa. We made it back fine and he spent the rest of the afternoon either reading or sleeping. I don’t know what happened, but all we can think is that perhaps it was a bit of sunstroke? He had plenty of water and salt and seemed to perk up after that.
I spent the afternoon outside reading, either in the sun, being sure not to toast myself too much, moving into the shadows every so often to soak my feet in the pool. I also decided to get in the pool and do some serious swimming, doing both breast stroke and backstroke, which is my stronger stroke, so I managed 23 lengths, which I was really pleased with.
In the evening, we had another salad each and also shared some of the pineapple that we’d bought the day before. It was delicious and definitely much better when it’s fresh.
Then we settled down to watch another movie that we’d bought with us, Taken, starring Liam Neeson, which was very good, although I would also say pretty disturbing in terms of the content of it, as it was all about human trafficking and the nightmare a father goes through, after his daughter is abducted in Paris.
Once that was done, we sat and read for a little while, before heading to bed.
Today we drove 32 miles. The weather today was hot and sunny, with temperatures in the mid 80s. The best thing today was our tapas lunch. The worst thing today was Mark not feeling well later in the day. Today we tried going to the market in Moraira And the result was while it was small, it still offered a lot of good choice. The most magical moment today was finding some new sunglasses.
[b]Next: this is not Disney we’re in any longer...
Absolutely beautiful pictures. I'd not have known that area would be so lovely if not for your TR. I love the steel sealife structures on the roadside - wish we had more of that kind of thing here.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
Saturday 11 September – part one: this is not Disney we’re in any longer...
We had an early start today, as finally I wanted to make it to Terra Natura, third time lucky...! We were up early enough, had breakfast and got ready and then cleared up the villa as best we could, as Mark’s parents (Dave and Barb) were due to arrive sometime later today with his aunt (Frances) and uncle (Peter) and we didn’t want them to think we’d left the place in a mess.
My day didn’t get off to the best of starts when I got a text message from my cell phone provider to say that I was at 80% of the maximum roaming charges my work allows. Ooops... In all our trips abroad, I’ve never had that message, so I was a little staggered. I texted Mark’s mum to say she’d have to use Mark’s phone in the future and turned the thing off, as there’s no way of stopping it receiving e-mails, when really all I want to get when I’m on leave is text messages.
We headed out and, not long after we left, Mark said he thought he’d managed to leave his camera at home. He checked and, sure enough he had. He said he’d leave the photographing to me, obviously knowing that I’d take plenty of photos for both of us. Of course, he wasn’t wrong....
The roundabouts near Terra Nature are just
When we pulled up at Terra Natura, we were one of about 20 cars there, so we knew it would be fairly quiet. I must admit, as we approached the entrance, we nearly turned tail and fled. It’s the Disney snobs in us, as it just looked so tacky and it didn’t help when we realised that they were offering you the chance to take a photo with a man dressed up as a monkey. This is not Disney we’re in any longer. : Forget the Mickey Mouse you see at the theme parks, here we’re talking the sort of Mickey Mouse we’d seen a couple of days earlier in Madrid.
Reluctantly, we paid out €25 each ($33), wondering if we were going to regret this, but in we went, vowing to give it a go. After a few funny photos on the way in....
... the first area we visited was dedicated to poisonous creatures. As you’d guess, the vast majority of the creatures in here were things like spiders and snakes and so it was. However, there were also frogs, along with chinchillas and hedgehogs. It was hard to look at those and believe how dangerous they could be.
Yes, I think they are doing what you’re thinking...
We were stunned to see the snakes moving around so much, something you don’t usually when you go to the zoos. We watched them, utterly fascinated by them, for some time.
When we came out, we headed for the first of the themed lands. They had a great idea here, you follow the yellow arrows on the floor, which takes you around the whole park. Obviously it’s something Disney would never do, as they want to split the crowds up, but this worked really well here and there were very few people following the route at the same time as us.
Sorry I am sure your pictures were very nice....I flipped through them real quick...I am afraid of snakes ans spiders. The one with Mark and the ants was really cute. That's some beautiful country you are in.
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Mark was a bit like a mountain goat, scampering off in front of me, leaving me way behind. I was struggling in the rough terrain, as I wasn’t in trainers, but shoes that weren’t designed to give good grip in this environment. 
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Another great day! 
In all our trips abroad, I’ve never had that message, so I was a little staggered. I texted Mark’s mum to say she’d have to use Mark’s phone in the future and turned the thing off, as there’s no way of stopping it receiving e-mails, when really all I want to get when I’m on leave is text messages. 
Katie's graduation
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