Why retire in a crowded city?
The van comes with big urethane bumpers front and rear, which are plain black plastic. The right front had a small dent it in from a previous renter, and after "the incident" with the flat tire, the dent was much bigger. After a few weeks, we decided to fix it. You can pull dents out of these urethane bumpers by applying some gentle heat from a hair dryer and then pushing in from the back.
I unscrewed part of the inner fender liner so I could reach in. I could push the bumper out, but it bounced back. Having no hair dryer to soften the urethane, I was stumped. Mr. See suggested hot water and boiled a pan on the stove. We gently poured the hot water on the bumper and it cascaded down the bumper, even underneath. I gently pushed in from the back and it popped out! I pushed again and even the small dent from the previous renter was gone. I kept massaging it until the tiniest wrinkles were gone.
But would it stick? Or would it bounce back to the old dent? Mark ran in and got one of these huge Spanish ice cubes from the fridge and I rubbed it all over the formerly dented area to "set" the repair. When I took my hand away, no dent! Not even a scratch!
I've done this in the past, even with painted bumpers, although usually they show cracks in the paint when you are done. Still, it looks better than a dent. Why people drive around with dented urethane bumpers is beyond me.
But I digress.
We are working our way up the coast to Barcelona. We have stopped in some small towns and stayed at Mom & Pop campgrounds right on the beach. It is heaven. And every campground has a bar and restaurant - it is no big deal over here to serve liquor and food.
We did stop in Benidorm, which is an ex-pat enclave, mostly for Brits. The big deal there was the two-seat tandem handicapped scooter (coming soon to a Walmart near you!) which was made popular by a television series about that town. If you like crowds - in the stores, the restaurants, and on the beach, this is the place for you. Yea, it had its charms, but TOO CROWDED! And some Brits really make Americans look reasonable by comparison.
Cities are nice and all, but I've had my fill of "tourist attractions" - museums, cathedrals, and "sights" to see. Just the quiet sound of the surf in the background and the warm (-ish) Mediterranean sea.
