Second time getting stuck
Finally, we reached the ocean!
This was one of our goals so we slowed down with our tempo - which doesn’t mean fewer adventures and challenges. We woke up next to Santander and I decided to go for a run (was a bit tricky terrain but was worth seeing the morning sun) in the meantime Máté also left for a walk. I took a different path to go back and we missed each other so I found myself locked out of the car which was a bit of an issue because it got windy and I was sweaty. I had no choice but to break into the RV to put on a sweater! I found a smart solution without actually breaking anything and since that moment, we also decided on secret storage for the key.
We decided to only go about a hundred kilometers and we chose a beautiful spot where a few comments mentioned “steep road”. We stopped with the car while the road was okay and could turn around even, and went down to the last bit by foot which was genius! The comments didn’t lie and the road was indeed very steep and filled with potholes - we decided not to risk it with Lagertha. If someone wants to be off-road, it worths choosing a vehicle accordingly.
So we chose the next spot to sleep based on a satellite image from Google Maps but driving there we found a height restriction. So we chose the next spot and you can grasp how “we just drive hundred kilometers” can turn into a half-a-day adventure…To reach the destination once again we had an issue with our height because the road led through a natural cave and we did not fit. No problemo, we thought: let’s try to get there from the other direction! We were driving up on a one-lane concrete road until the moment it turned into a rough dirt road covered with bushes on both sides… After two meters in we decided not to scratch the car anymore and let’s turn around (to seek a fourth spot). Luckily there was a little patch of grass and we drove in to turn around. What we could not see is that this little patch was slightly crooked, the grass was wet and the soil soft so while driving in was easy, the car did not come out and we go stuck in the mud.
It was still bright outside when we started to get out and way after sunset by the time we left. First, we tried to place our plastic wedges underneath so they give some friction and possibility to leave the mudhole we dug with the wheel, but this was not enough - in some trials, we just pushed the wedge more into the ground. Later we tried to place little rocks and branches under the wheel - this combined with some digging around the wheel turned out to be a success. Big thanks to my Dad who gave us my grandpa’s magical 3in1 shovel-hammer-saw tool because that shovel was more than useful.
The whole situation was made worse by some new issue with the engine at idle and Lagertha also did not fully react to the gas either. This issue came up earlier the day already and we suspected to have tanked bad quality diesel because after the next refuel, there were no problems anymore. These few hours of challenge created holes in Mate’s palm, I was scratched by the bushes around and we were both soaked in mud.
We were exhausted and wanted to see this beach so went back to the entrance of the cave tunnel and spent the night right next to it at the roadside. In the morning we woke up without seaview which lately became our standard - but looking at the wilderness from bed is still much nicer than a house or some neighbor.
It took us two minutes to walk to the beach where we started the day with a quick dip - I was screaming from the cold water but felt amazing to cleanse all the exhaustion from the day before.
