Happy New Caravanning Year!

A little late for some and far too early for a lot I expect, but next week is when we take Baby off her winter tyre savers and take her out for run. Not for a break I'm afraid but to the dealers for some warranty work. We've had some problems with the blinds losing tension so it was going to be sorted at the first service. Unfortunately there was a fault with one of them and the spring snapped when it was being tensioned. New blinds were ordered and are going to be fitted next week. It's taken a long time to get it sorted but I expect that has more to do with space in the service centre than the supply of new blinds. Due to work and child care commitments we will have to leave Baby with the dealers for a week as that's the only way we can fit in with the time they need it .. one consolation is that we get to take Baby out on the road 2 weeks in a row LOL.

Once we get Baby back from the dealers we'll be restocking her with toiletries and store cupboard food then we'll be ready for our first proper trip... hopefully within a few weeks.

Put to bed for the winter.

Yes, today we put our Baby into winter hibernation .. so sad.

She is now up on her tyre savers .. thoroughly cleaned inside and the seats pulled forward to let the air circulate. We have also blown all the pipes through with our Floe. She had a good shampooing last Tuesday so she she should see off the worst of the winter weather. Role on the new year and we can start looking forward to taking her out again.


In the meantime I wish you all A Very Happy Christmas.

Pembrey Country Park.

We spent last weekend with the family at the CC site in Pembrey .. it's a beautiful site right on the edge of the country park. The country park is a real asset. There is a dry ski slope, toboggan ride, pony trekking centre, 500 acres of parkland to explore and a beautiful beach for when the weather is good .. a bit cold this trip though, and there is the added bonus of no parking fees if you leave your car at your caravan.

This was an extended weekend, Thursday to Sunday, to celebrate two of our grandchildren's birthdays. So we had the company of both daughters and their families. The weather was pretty good during the day with some torrential hail storms in the night which, if you're going to have rain, is the best time to have it. :-)
The site was very quiet, we are in the far left of the picture across the road from the amenity block.

The weather was even good enough to cook and sit outside..

This was our last trip of the year which feels rather sad :-(( ..but what a year we have had!! .. every trip has given us good weather so we have been able to enjoy the great outdoors.

So Baby is unpacked of the bedding and linen and ready to be winterised .. a job for Sunday.

Then it will be time to sit down and start planning next years holidays. We have had nine trips this year which by a lot of standards is doing really well ..but!! it still doesn't feel like we have made the most of our lovely caravan. So next year we must try harder LOL ..

There's a storm brewing!!

The weather forecast for tonight is for a mega storm to hit Britain and we are right in it's path. I can't help but feel very anxious for Baby. She is sat in our friends yard with very little protection from the forecast 80 mile an hour winds. I have been thinking about her all day so I decided to take my mind of the weather forecast by carving my pumkins for halloween.

I don't think I managed it did I!! LOL.

Broadway in the Cotswolds.

Sunday 6th October saw us taking off for a week in the Cotswolds. The sun shone and the temperature reached a dizzy 20 degrees. The trip was an easy drive, though we would have liked to see a service station on the M5 to take a break. We were pretty desperate by the time we got to the A46 so we found a layby and used our own facilities.

We arrived at Broadway CC site about 12.15 and by 1pm we were all set up and having lunch. We were on pitch no 50 .. a lovely pitch with a hedge along side the awning and a wide grass area at the back, just right for Barney to have a lay down on. We had a quiet day with just s stroll around the site to get our bearings. Not a very big dog walk and the usual lazy owners leaving their dogs calling card for me to pick up on my boots ... what is wrong with people that they can't clear up after their dogs :-//

Monday morning was glorious so up early to explore Broadway.

A beautiful village that we revisited several times during our stay.

We also went to Broadway tower ..

Broadway Tower is one of England's outstanding viewpoints and at 1024 feet (312m) above sea level, it is the second highest point on the Cotswold escarpment. Unrivalled views survey an expanse of a 62 mile radius and as many as 16 Counties. After visiting the top of the tower we went back to the tea rooms where we met a lovely group of motor cyclists out on a regular jaunt. They were all aged 70 plus .. the oldest gent pictured here was 92!!!!!!

Bourton on the water is still a must visit destination in the Cotswolds if only to say hello to Brum in the motor museum.

One of the exhibits in the toy section of the museum really tickled me .. a child size real working lawnmower .. can you imagine giving one to a child these days, social services would have a field day .. excuse the pun lol.

Another little gem we found on a drive around was J M Barrie's ( author of Peter Pan) cricket pavilion at Stanway ..built on saddle stones.

It was truly a wonderful week and we are really looking forward to returning to Broadway as soon as we possibly can.

The Caravanning Bug.

I really don't know what it is about caravans? ..You either love them or hate them if you listen to populous. My theory is that you only hate them if you'd love to have one but can't, for whatever reason, have one LOL.

Take my husband for example, he hated caravans so I started talking about the lovely holidays I had when my children were young. We also talked about not seeing enough of this beautiful country we live in but I didn't like the idea of touring using bed and breakfasts. Now I'm not knocking all B&B establishments but I have stayed in some shockers in my time, so the thought of laying my head on any more pillows where a strangers head has been, be it with a clean pillow case,turns me off completely.

Anyway one day we had nothing planned so I said to Steve ..let's go to a local caravan dealer to have a look at the caravans, "ok" he said "only looking though" ;-)) Well by the time we left we had put a deposit on a 4 year old Avondale Dart 380/2. It was a lovely looking caravan and we both fell in love with it .. a fatal emotion as it turned out as the caravan leaked like a sieve! The only good thing about it was that by the time we had been away in it a few times and had come to the conclusion that we couldn't stop the leaks, Steve was hooked on caravanning!

So it was back to the dealer and a trade in for Baby.

Anyway, since we bought ours, my three children have also gone out and bought caravans .. we have turned into a touring family. I have just seen my eldest daughter off for their first weekend in their new (to them) Bailey Discovery 400, an ideal 5 berth caravan for them and my three grandchildren.

So I come back to my original question .. what is it about caravans? from the minute you step inside one (even if it's parked outside the house) you feel relaxed and at ease with the world, strange isn't it?.

Trip no 7. LLangorse Lake

This is a little belated but life is a bit hectic and I forget to update.. hence only trip no 7 in 10 months lol. I know we should be grateful but I would sooo like to get away more often.

Llangorse lake's Lakeside touring park is in a lovely spot near the lake for water sports. It needs a fair bit of updating as far as the amenity block are concerned ..they are all rather scruffy and uncared for, though clean enough especially as we only use our own facilities LOL.

The site itself is accessed via a rather busy and narrow couple of miles of road and more than once we found ourselves squeezed up against a hedge to allow a few cars to go past, not an ideal situation to find yourself in with your new 'pride and joy' in tow. :'-((

The pitches were on well maintained grass with a few short hardstandings. We had one of the hardstanding pitches next to our daughter. When we arrived there were a few BBQ's going on so I had quite an audience to reverse onto the pitch .. I had it right first time but Steve decided I should be more central on the hardstanding .. I pulled out and put the caravan where he asked me to, only to realise when we put the awning up that I was right first time grrrr!! we got around it by tying the back of the awning to the stays, that was ok as the weather was fabulous but would have been a nightmare if it had been windy.

The only downside of the holiday was the wasps .. what a nightmare!! .. my arms ached for a week from the constant swatting. A better waste management might have been beneficial as the bins were overflowing and swarming with the blighters. It made me do a bit of research when we got home and I came across the 'waspinator' http://www.waspinator.co.uk/ I have bought some (cheaper in Amazon)for our next trip in a couple of weeks, so will let you know if they work.

We had lots of fun though .. it was our first trip with daughter Claire and the family and their newly acquired caravan.

A beautiful day for a boat ride.



The end of a lovely day ..enjoying a drink as the sun goes down.



Next trip is to Broadway in the Cotswolds in a couple of weeks.. sooo excited, can't wait!!!!