On the Road Again - Adventures from an Empty Nest

We came to Cádiz because there is a Mac store where we hoped to buy a new battery for my iPhone, which is failing fast.   It’s rather a strange reason to visit a city, especially the city known for being the longest-inhabited city in Europe, with many architectural and archaeological sights to see.   But the iPhone brought us here. The Mac store is on a side street that the camper couldn’t get down, so Joe dropped me off and I walked down the tiny alleyway, found a man at the store who spoke English, and quickly determined that it would take two weeks to get a battery.   Joe called to let me know that he had pulled into an emergency parking area not far away, so I headed toward him.   On the way, I saw a tourist office and stopped in to ask where we might park the camper to sightsee a bit.   The clerk told me how to find a surface parking area right beside the ocean.   I hopped into the camper and guided Joe there.   It was perfect – an easy walk ...

Here are some photos from our first week on the road: Kristin and Jacob in the camper's front yard. We just bought an outdoor carpet that we'll use when staying somewhere longer, under the canopy that extends out from the van. Two burros, two dogs, a goat and a man in Beás de Granada, Spain. We walked there from our campground. Jacob was silent, watching them go by. Then he went totally crazy a few minutes later over a small yellow feral kitten. Kristin and Jacob in front of the Rock of Gibraltar on a cold, windy day. Joe and Jacob examine the map of Gibraltar.  (Actually only Jacob studied it. Joe just posed for the picture.) The Rock Alhambra - Granada, Spain - a picture of the palace taken from the gardens. Inside Alhambra, there is always the sound of water. Boats out our front window... Jacob models the bed and the back of the camper, including a glimpse of the kitchen (left) and the bathroom door (right). It's a na...

Where can you step out your front door in Spain, walk to Britain, and see Africa? In La Linea de la Conceptión!   We are “free camping” (parking with no electricity or water hookup) in a parking lot just across the international border from Gibraltar, a protectorate of Great Britain. It sits at the end of a little promontory almost at the southern tip of Spain where it shares the Strait of Gibraltar with Morocco.  Gibraltar Last night, after we pulled in, we walked across the border (with Jacob, whose papers we brought, but no one wanted to see) to Gibraltar to explore. As soon as you pass through immigration, the sidewalk and the road cross a wide tarmac that serves as the Gibraltar International Airport runway. Several times a day, foot traffic and cars are stopped with a gate and a red light and have to wait as large jets rumble across the intersection, landing or taking off. Across the line, there are red telephone boxes and double-decker buses, the grocery ca...

The Spanish Truck Stop – After a 10-hour day of driving In the night, a little dog in the distance barked and yipped. “Don’t leave me here alone!” I heard him cry, over and over, as I pictured him tied to a roadside tree by an abandoning owner, left to starve, bewildered and alone.   Trucks pulled in and out of the highway layby all night, and muffled conversations brought imaginings of young women forced into prostitution, drug deals and various nefarious dealings that are hidden in the shadows during daylight.   Although I felt reasonably safe locked inside our tiny camper home, I didn’t fall asleep until about 3:30, listening to the disturbing sounds around us.   But now it is morning, and the sun is shining and the dogs at the neighboring kennel behind the olive trees are sleeping – or playing. The friendly truckers wave good morning as they climb into their cabs after a morning walk to relieve themselves in the line of trees beside the parking area. The ...

Just a short note to say that we have arrived safe and sound in Germany.  Jacob rode in his little box like a champ (with the help of drugs), and popped out at the other end of the plane ride ready to explore and greet random strangers with a smile.  It is snowing in Bad Nauheim, where we will pick up our campervan tomorrow morning.  We're staying at a lovely six-room hotel in the heart of this historic health spa town, resting up for our big drive to Lyon, France and then to Spain.  I haven't unpacked my camera, so this little iPhone shot will have to do. 

The last travel document is in hand (paw): Jacob's European Union Pet Passport arrived yesterday. He is ready to go.  To bring a dog or leave them both behind was a spirited conversation when we first began dreaming of this trip. Joe rightly pointed out that bringing a dog would make traveling more complex, give us less flexibility about where we could go and what we could do. I whined that I couldn't live without a dog for six months. Darwin probably wouldn't enjoy the trip, but Jacob would love it. But the more we talked, the more we both realized that Jacob will bring more than complexity to our travels. He will bring a groundedness - a sense of living in a place rather than just passing through, observing. We will get to know our surroundings, and our neighbors, every time we walk him. He will provide a great conversation starter when we meet other dog people. And his joyful, up-for-anything disposition is bound to help ea...

We're leaving for Europe in 11 days!  We were right to cast our fate upon the mercies of the French bureaucracy:  our visas arrived today in record time, and we are good to go.  The dogs know something is up. They dog our every step, anxious at the appearance of suitcases. Neither has any real idea how much their lives are about to change.  Darwin will be staying with friends in Charlottesville, getting to be an  only dog for half a year (something he yearns for every day!), while Jacob will spend an evening wedged into a tiny carrier, shoved under an airplane seat for eight hours, and then greet an unexpectedly early dawn in Germany. After that, until mid-August, he will be a constant companion on our journey - doing what he loves best, being with his people,  riding in the car,  and exploring new places.  Our itinerary:  We arrive in Frankfort Thursday morning, spend ...

Joe and I are less than two weeks out from our big adventure - six months of campervan life in Europe with Jacob the dog.  Getting ourselves and our household ready for the February 14 departure date has felt totally manageable - a piece of cake after parenting for the last 28 years, Joe's 40 years of running nonprofits and my last eight years on Charlottesville's City Council.  We've been making lists and checking off to-do items – plane tickets; camper reservations; international driver's licenses; Jacob's pet passport preparation (microchip, rabies shot, health exam), carrier training for the plane ride, grooming; getting the house ready for renters (mold remediation, cleaning out the basement, going through eight years of City Council papers, general scrubbing and tidying), finding a family for Darwin the dog while we're gone, taking care of health appointments and prescriptions and haircuts. Good planning has made each of these things fal...