"We are toddling along nicely, it's quite pleasant," said David P this morning. By 10am they were half way to Madrid from Bilbao and spent the afternoon enjoying warm sunshine. When they went out for their evening meal after checking in at their hotel  it was 12 degrees C . What a difference to North Yorkshire where two to three inches of snow has fallen overnight! Tomorrow they drive the 350 miles or so to the southern coast of Spain.

The team left Leyburn at 9.30am on Sunday, January 3 - and reached Portsmouth well in time for the evening ferry to Bilbao. It was not an easy beginning as more snow had fallen overnight. David reported at 10am that they were driving through snow and that the road conditions on the A684 were not good. Further south they were in a queue for about an hour caused by a crash on the motorway. But otherwise they  had a pleasant, uneventful journey.  The ferry will dock at Bilbao early on Tuesday morning. For details about the team and why they are going to the Gambia do read more.

"Twas the night before departure" was Ken's caption for this photo of the Renault van outside his home on the evening of January 2. He was due to collect David from Aysgarth at 8.30am next  morning but as you will see from the following photos he decided against driving down that hill!