Saturday 23 February - Silves

Where's Bertie? He's still at the commercial Aire at Silves.

Weather: Wall-to-wall sunshine and very pleasantly warm (low twenties).

The track that runs around the riverside parkland (and huge town car park) in Silves is just under 1.1 miles in length. First thing this morning, starting before the sun had burnt off the overnight mist hanging above the river, I ran 10 miles on it. I can't claim it was the most interesting route I've ever run, but it was easy and required no concentration.

Whilst I was out, Mick extended our stay. We'd talked about staying one extra day, but he slipped and paid for two. That will be the longest stay on any tour we've made since February 2013 (in Braemar, when snow kept us in situ longer than intended). This brings me to the subject of the wonder of solar power.

Our previous van, Colin, didn't have solar and whilst we are not generally power hungry, with only one 100Ah battery (giving a total usable capacity of 50Ah) we couldn't sit still for more than three days without being very frugal with our energy usage. We would then need a decent length of journey (or a hook-up) to recharge. We did consider having a solar panel retrofitted, but were put off by the cost, combined with uncertainty as to how long we would keep Colin (as it happens, easily long enough, at 5.5 years, to justify the outlay).

For Bertie, we specified a solar power from the outset, and realised its value within a week of our first trip (even though it was Scotland in February). This week is a prime example: the only pitch available at this Aire didn't have electricity, but six days of sitting still here has not been a problem, because not long after the sun hits the solar panel each day, the power we've used overnight has been replaced. With electric hook up being €2.50 here (it's often more, sometimes a bit less), it's a money saving thing, as well as a convenience.

Other stuff from today:

• It was market day - I saw lots of people carrying bulging bags of produce during the latter laps of my run. So, once I'd stopped glowing and had showered, breakfasted, elevensesed and all that good stuff, we headed off for a look. The verdict: the market is *the* place to buy your fresh fruit and veg! So much cheaper than the supermarkets. Having failed to take a bag with us (how?!) we had to be a bit restrained coming away with two enormous (and very hard; if they do ripen it'll be at least a week, I reckon) avocados and one fig and almond cakey thing.
• I finished the gloves I've been knitting. The pattern was of my own devising (based on a fingerless mitten pattern that I liked and a glove pattern that had elements that I didn't) and I fine-tuned the stitch counts on the second glove, so it was pleasing to get them to match to such a high degree:

• In a bit of a random opportunistic purchase from one of our neighbours, I bought a Brompton:

  

  

  I've wanted one of these for a long time and whilst this one could generously be called 'a little tired', it was cheap enough (in Brompton terms) not to be put off from using it by fear of theft. Before it can be used, however, it's in need of a spoke, some brake blocks and a good lock, so it'll likely just get in the way for the rest of this trip.

• Mick's out running as I type this. He says it's going to be a gentle affair, so that he can run again in the morning ... we'll see.
• The storks who have taken up residence in a lopped tree are making steady progress on their nest (I cannot tell you how many storks I saw this morning, as I circumtrotted the park, carrying large sticks in their beaks). Below the nest there are, predictably, plenty of sticks that have succumbed to gravity. It seems that they don't pick these back up (perhaps they're considered defective because they wouldn't stay where they were placed?) but fly off down river for more.