Yeti Weather

[Agerbundsen]

Really Yeti weather today. Snowing heavily in SW Germany, so the "Snehvide" came to her right,

Miserab had it organized. le dri ving conditins from Stuttgart south on the A81 to Rottweil, but a beautiful dri¨ve throught the southern Schwartzwals from Rottweil to Freiburg. Steep valleys with enormously tall pine trees, all covered in snow.Road conditions sucked, and Snehvide is now covered in frozen grey muck from the spray of other cars. The spray forms a sheet of icicles - but grey - from the spray from trucks and idiott Audi's whipping by as if there was no tomorrow.

Snow on the ground - and more or less spitting a bit of new snow all the way from Sturttgart to Valence, some 600 km. Road surfaces o the 'bahn was slushy, but mostly OK for 130 km - 80 mph, but you used more WW fluid than diesel oil, Inside France, they really had it organized on the passes at higher elevations. Trucks with plows, scraping clean down to bare asphalt with rubber lips on the plows, and leaving some salt after to get the last little bit. Probably necessary, as the drivers semm to think there is no tomorrow - no lights and summer tyres, 20 feet behind - or out in front of the next car. <never mind reaction times, we will all go down together.

The SM did great, but I can now see the complaint from some of water on the side windows. When the water is all grey and the water ir´tself evaporates, the crud it leaves is nigh impossible to see through. Xenons stay clean - helped by the washed, and the fogs too, helped by heat from the bulbs.

Finally gave up in Valence, about an hour south of Lyon. Turned off the Motorway and let the Columbus find a hotel. Did not follow the Columbus, as there was a closer Mercure with an available room and restaurant. One Entrecote with chips, One bottle of the local red and I am off to beddy by.byes, ready for tomorrow's push towards Malaga.

Oh, and 7.2 l/100 km on the multi. Figure it out - 1.6 km/mile and 4.5 l/gallon (UK)

[qsracing]

Is this the start of a Yeti Blog? All good stuff, can't wait for the holiday's so we can make our own trans-continental voyage, safe journey!

[Anthony 1]

I enjoy your writing Agerbundsen and stories. It makes good bed time reading. It is interesting to hear about your adventures!

[ikons]

I enjoy your writing Agerbundsen and stories. It makes good bed time reading. It is interesting to hear about your adventures!

VERY good stuff! Have a nice trip and please keep writing!..

[seo]

Nice name for your Yeti, "Snehvide"

As mentioned, good bedtime stories. Safe traveling....

[Anthony 1]

My link

[octy888]

Great little blog Agerbundsen - love to hear more!

[Agerbundsen]

Well, the saga continues.................

It did not get to be a Friday bedtime story, as by the time I had my dindins and a bottle of the local red, there was only one place for me - a good nights kip.

Friday morning in Valence, the weather was still freezing and spitting a little snow. The crappy grey ice curtains hanging off the front and lining the wheelwells were still there. I had thought of getting Snehvide washed, but knowing the carwash uses so little water that it would not melt off the crap, I passed.

heading south towards Marseilles along the Rhone river is usually a pretty drive, but the morning mist obscured the scenery. Hey, wht's that orange thing? The sun was actually showing through the mist and by the time Avignon was passed, the mist cleared and the wind started to blow. Gusty 25 mph wind out of the west al the way from Montpellier to the Spanish border. Vans had some difficulty staying the course, so passing was tricky at times.

Near Agde, the first glimpses of the Mediterranean appeared. I briefly thouht of taking a side trip, but at 3.5 Celsius, the naked city would not likely be too intersting.

It is a good thing that Snehvide knows how to deal with dwarfs! I fail to understand the dwarf mentality. Why is it that C1 lemons and 107 Peugeots can follow a truck for miles - and then have to pull out in the fast lane 20 feet in front of a passing car? Do they think that turning on the left turn signal protects them from peril?

The traffic warning function in the Columbia works as far as the Columbia is concerned. The real problem is the quality of the data it receives. All the way in France, I was warned about traffic delays - which never materialized. The problem is the old adage about computers: **** data in, **** data out. The information supply is not removed once the situation is resolved, so warns about something that is long gone.

Crossing the Pyrenees into Spain was a relief. Back to polite drivers on the road, as the predominant nationality of the drivers changed to Spanish. In Spain, a car with foreign plates get given a lot of slack, but in France it seems like they are fair game for shenanigans.

Just into Spain was the first harbinger of spring: Flowering almond tree. A little further south, the farmers are working the fields. The grass is growing - where there is grass.

The Spanish motorways are basically a delight. The newer ones easily meets all the right specifications, wide lanes and excellent signing as well as frequent areas for resting and fuelling both man and machine. The speed culture is also very pleasant. The national limit is 120 km/hr - around 70 mph. Radar traps are clearly signposted in advance or right at the measuring point. Most people drive close to the limit, but the 10% who drive long distance regularly add 20 to that 120. So you can toodle along all day in comfort at 140 km/hr, as long as you have an awareness of the behaviour of the locals - they slow down to 120 around the radars and back up again when passed. 140 is a nice cruise for the Monster - 2600 rpm in 6th, no noise and plenty torque.

The older motorways are a lot of fun - Post Franco and pre-EU - they built them to more or less follow the land, so bendy and bumpy, windig past small towns and up an down hills, where they did not have to move too much rock to get them straight. Limit is still the same, so roadholding and suspension gets tested. Snehvide passed with flying colours.

Aproaching Murcia, I had had enough. 1200 km from 0800 to 1800. average speed per the MFD was 117 km/hr - close to distance/time measurement. The MFD also indicated fuel consumption at 7l/100 km, close to 40 mpg.

Off to the races again this morning, last 400 km to fetch SWMBO in Malaga. Cloudy moring, rain expected, which will turn ito snow in the Sierra Nieves. I guess I will wait with the car wash - some might happen naturally.

[Barsteward]

Well, the saga continues.................

It did not get to be a Friday bedtime story, as by the time I had my dindins and a bottle of the local red, there was only one place for me - a good nights kip.

Friday morning in Valence, the weather was still freezing and spitting a little snow. The crappy grey ice curtains hanging off the front and lining the wheelwells were still there. I had thought of getting Snehvide washed, but knowing the carwash uses so little water that it would not melt off the crap, I passed.

heading south towards Marseilles along the Rhone river is usually a pretty drive, but the morning mist obscured the scenery. Hey, wht's that orange thing? The sun was actually showing through the mist and by the time Avignon was passed, the mist cleared and the wind started to blow. Gusty 25 mph wind out of the west al the way from Montpellier to the Spanish border. Vans had some difficulty staying the course, so passing was tricky at times.

Near Agde, the first glimpses of the Mediterranean appeared. I briefly thouht of taking a side trip, but at 3.5 Celsius, the naked city would not likely be too intersting.

It is a good thing that Snehvide knows how to deal with dwarfs! I fail to understand the dwarf mentality. Why is it that C1 lemons and 107 Peugeots can follow a truck for miles - and then have to pull out in the fast lane 20 feet in front of a passing car? Do they think that turning on the left turn signal protects them from peril?

The traffic warning function in the Columbia works as far as the Columbia is concerned. The real problem is the quality of the data it receives. All the way in France, I was warned about traffic delays - which never materialized. The problem is the old adage about computers: **** data in, **** data out. The information supply is not removed once the situation is resolved, so warns about something that is long gone.

Crossing the Pyrenees into Spain was a relief. Back to polite drivers on the road, as the predominant nationality of the drivers changed to Spanish. In Spain, a car with foreign plates get given a lot of slack, but in France it seems like they are fair game for shenanigans.

Just into Spain was the first harbinger of spring: Flowering almond tree. A little further south, the farmers are working the fields. The grass is growing - where there is grass.

The Spanish motorways are basically a delight. The newer ones easily meets all the right specifications, wide lanes and excellent signing as well as frequent areas for resting and fuelling both man and machine. The speed culture is also very pleasant. The national limit is 120 km/hr - around 70 mph. Radar traps are clearly signposted in advance or right at the measuring point. Most people drive close to the limit, but the 10% who drive long distance regularly add 20 to that 120. So you can toodle along all day in comfort at 140 km/hr, as long as you have an awareness of the behaviour of the locals - they slow down to 120 around the radars and back up again when passed. 140 is a nice cruise for the Monster - 2600 rpm in 6th, no noise and plenty torque.

The older motorways are a lot of fun - Post Franco and pre-EU - they built them to more or less follow the land, so bendy and bumpy, windig past small towns and up an down hills, where they did not have to move too much rock to get them straight. Limit is still the same, so roadholding and suspension gets tested. Snehvide passed with flying colours.

Aproaching Murcia, I had had enough. 1200 km from 0800 to 1800. average speed per the MFD was 117 km/hr - close to distance/time measurement. The MFD also indicated fuel consumption at 7l/100 km, close to 40 mpg.

Off to the races again this morning, last 400 km to fetch SWMBO in Malaga. Cloudy moring, rain expected, which will turn ito snow in the Sierra Nieves. I guess I will wait with the car wash - some might happen naturally.

Sounds a great trip, can't wait for ours in April ( London to Monte Carlo ) know what you mean about the French driving habits, Happy Safe driving.

[Agerbundsen]

Last leg......Murcia to Benalmádena

Just 400 km today, so leasurely breakfast and 0900 departue. Looks like nice driving weather, cloudy, but clear. That did not last long. The route from Murcia goes via Lorca and the high plateau to Granada and from there to close to Antequera before following the Guadalmedina river down to Málaga. Between the route and the Med are a series of mountains, Sierra Baza and Sierra Nevada. Wide open spaces followed by some curly up and down stuff, just to keep it interesting. The only towns on the route are Lorca, Baza and Granada - all else is open country with nothing.

As soon as we got up on the plateau, big surprise - everything is WHITE. Exception is the road, which is kept very clean and salted, so no driving prioblems, except it changed from heavy snow, pelting rain, fog and sleet with unerring regularity every ten minutes. Olive groves covered in snow are very picturescue. So are pink flowering almond trees. The Spanish drivers out this saturday morning were split into two groups: The don't giva a damn, press on guys and the "What the F"""" is happening? guys at 60 km/hr in the right lane.

I suppose this sort of thing does not happen too often here, so I have to take my hat off to the road crews. The Autovia del Mediterraneo was scraped clean down to bare asphalt and slightly salted. The temperature was only hovering around freezing, so no drastic measures were necessary. A black asphalt road picks up here from very little sun very soon.

After Granada, the elevation is a little lower and the temperature increased to 6 C, so no more snow on the ground, but every now and again driving into low cloud - thick fog.

The last bit down to Málaga always amuses me. It is in a quite narrow gorge, following the Gualmedina river. As nature will, the river meanders quite a bit, so there are many bridges across it. On the way down, you cross the river 14 times, each time with a brown sign saying Rio Gualmedina, sometimes they are 100 m apart. The other way, there are evn more signs and bridges -19 in fact. All in about a 5 mile run. Somebody must be doing all right making the signs.

Málaga was and is pelting down with rain, but 10 C. Where did Costa del Sol go?

The apartment is quite funky - converted loft with two terrasses. I presume we can see the Med from here when the fog clears. Parking in these villages is always a problem, but this time they decided to rip up the streets too, which makes it even more interesting.

Done the shopping at Mercadona - essentials like beer and Rioja - gotta go pick up SWMBO from Aeropuerto de Malaga.

Now why did I forget to bring an umbrella?

[seo]

Thanks for these interesting reports from the south, . Guess you look forward to some calm days now :-)

[aerofurb]

Excellent report and a real long distance trip for Snehvide!

I've found that Rain-X has done a great job on keeping the side windows clear and clean - that said I'm sure that with the amount of filth and salt etc you have encountered on your many miles (sorry, kms) Rain-X may not have helped.

[octy888]

Another excellent report - enjoyed reading very much, thank-you!

[Dmac1969]

Another excellent report - enjoyed reading very much, thank-you!

I concur!

[Agerbundsen]

One week of driving around the Sierras around here in the worst weather experienced in Costs del Sol for years has proven the SM 4WD very useful. Road grades with 15% or more are common and mudslides, excessive water from torrential rains and some road flooding is just not a problem. It is a little unusual for a flatlander like yours truly to drive for hours in 2nd, 3rd and occasionally 4th gear. Elevation changes yesterday were from sealevel in Malaga to 1360 meters in Puerto de las Palomas.

If you want to try a Google map tour, take this: Benalmadena, Ronda, Grazalema, Zahara de la Sierra, Olvera, Setenil de las Bodegas and back to Benalmadena. The road up over the Pte. de las Palomas is very beautiful, with good surfaces on one side and so-so on the other side. Two cars can pass in opposite directions, but as the drop offs on the down side can be as much as 500 meters with hard rock on the other side, it gets done very carefully. Around a 200 km rond trip with everything from 25 km/hr mountain roads, wide open A-roads in terrain and the motorway into Malaga. Average 6.3 l/100 km is pretty impressive. Downhill from de las Palomas was mostly in 2nd with the foot off the accelerator. Did not need to, but did test the down hill creep function on a couple of hairpins with a 30% slope - it works.

Some of the white villages have very narrow streets, so the higher mounting of the Yeti mirrors is a real benefit - it allows passing parked cars without banging mirrors. The short overhang and rounded front corners make parking in tight spots - particularly underground with very narrow aisles - quite easy as soon as you have figured out where the corners are.

We did have a week of no communication, as the laptop, cell and camera was nicked from the apartment the first night. Reporting to the Policia National was well organized with an english speaking reporting by phone, then going to the local nick to sign the report in septiplicate. Very polite treatment, but time consuming.

White softroaders and smallish off-roaders abound here - both locals and native. With the roads here and the long gravel drives up to the houses, they make an awful lot of sense too.

The cleaning up of the rads after all the flooding and mudslides, rock falls and occasional parts of the roads disappearing downhill is very impressive. The Departamento de Carreteras Andalucia are both quick and thorough. They clearly have organized where they can dump the debris over the side and have all the machinery to get it done quickly. We are still impressed with the Spanish road culture. They drive fast on bendy roads, but are totally non-agressive and very forgiving of someone in front with no local knowledge, so more sedate in their progress than the locals. Exit turn signals in roundabouts are not used, so you have to assume thy follow the main traffic pattern - but they often signal the other way if they do not follow the pattern - typically Spanish politesse. Horns are mainly used to get the attention of friends on the sidewalk, so they can wave hello. Smiles and hand waves to the foreigner to show that you can proceed are de rigeur. We could certainly use that at home.

One other Yeti spotted, parked in an upscale suburb of Malaga. White 170 hp with a sunroof and Spanish plates.

[YETII]

Nice write-up, thanks. Pity to hear about the theft incident though...

[The Plumber]

Hi Agerbundsen

glad to here your enjoying both your time in Spain and the Snow-Monster and many thanks for the excellent posts, much appreciated. Concur with YETII sorry about the theft, not a pleasant experience :(

Anyway I hope you continue to have a great time, currently looking out our window at another un-forecast heavy fall of snow :S and my good lady was hoping to go out for Sunday lunch

Regards,

TP

[aerofurb]

Sorry to hear of the theft, Agerbundsen. I reckon you must now be the most experienced Yeti driver worldwide on roads of all conditions! Still, you haven't tackled West Sussex yet....

[Anthony 1]

Wonderful storey telling. I am sorry to hear about the theft. I hope that it does not put a blight on things. I am looking forward to the next episode.

[Agerbundsen]

Benalmadena Pueblo is almost like West Sussex - lots of British Expats here. They are rather ticked off at the weather, though. Overheard two old dears yesterday in a restaurant complaining of nothing to do - they were too skint to go shopping and those Spanish ceramic tiled floors were too hard to play tiddlywinks on.