Winter catering in the caravan.

I thought I'd mention about the change in how we eat whilst away in the winter. The higher grade insulation in the Orion has lengthened our season as the van is a lot cosier inside, but that means it is still cold outside so to be honest the thought of standing or worst still sitting around outside BBQing doesn't really appeal, but then neither does preparing a cooked dinner. So, because we now have a much larger fridge and a microwave in Baby, I just prepare ahead. When I'm making things like Shepherds Pie or Lasagne I make double and freeze one.
The first trip I prepared veg and put in food bags and took a frozen Shepherds Pie out of the freezer in the morning. Because the Shepherds Pie acted like an ice pack and it was cold outside I didn't have to put the fridge on and by the time we arrived the Shepherds pie had defrosted enough to put in the oven to cook. I have a 3 tier steamer into which I put broccoli, peas and carrots and then we got on with setting up and putting up the awning. By the time we'd finished we had a lovely Sunday lunch to sit down to.


I plated up 4 meals and put two in the fridge ..so the next day we had another lovely meal using the microwave.

For our second trip I took a lasagne, again enough for 2 days, the first day it was put in the oven to cook and the second just heated up in the microwave .. served with crusty rolls (always got par-baked in van) delicious!!!!

Second trip.

For our second trip out in Baby we booked a site about 25 miles away for a long weekend. The object was to find a nice site where we could take a Saturday to Tuesday break on Steve's Sunday off. It would mean that we could go away even if Steve has to go into work on the Monday as the travelling would be equal to the distance from home.

Well all was looking good for the weekend .. we'd left Baby in storage and were going from there. I'd gone up and put the food and clothes in ready for the off as soon as Steve got home from work. The weather forecast was good ..showers for the Saturday then sunny but cool. Barney and I were ready to go when Steve got in from work at 4.20, but as he arrived the rain shower which had started at 4 o'clock was starting to turn to sleet .. then snow!!!! Within 20 mins of the snow starting there was over an inch of snow and it was still coming down so we had to take the decision to postpone till the next morning. It was at this point we realised that all the fresh food including milk was in the caravan which was a mile away, I'd even out Barney's food in!! The annoying thing about this freaky weather was that it was very localised, half a mile out of the village there was nothing!

Just before we postponed...


We finally managed to get away on Sunday morning about 10 o'clock. It took a good half hour to get the frozen snow off Baby's roof, we thought it rather dangerous to try and tow with it still on, given the curved roof of the orion it wouldn't have been on there long.

It didn't take long to get to our site and we were pitched by 11am. It is a really beautiful site with very friendly wardens and we will definately be using it again .. http://www.riverviewtouringpark.co.uk/


As you can see there weren't many others who braved the weather ..pity really as it turned out to be very pleasant. :-))))

Mystery solved.

Whilst we were away in February we spotted a trickle of water running down the wall in the washroom .. now as we had water ingress in our old van it was disconcerting to say the least. So much so, that we took Baby back to the dealers on the way home. Now we hadn't had any rain for a good while so it was puzzling. The dealer took off the trim in the washroom and found quite a bit of moisture, so he took photos and sent them off to Baileys. Well it appears that Baileys have made the caravan so well insulated that the only cold spots are the metal fixings that bolt the caravan together. The moisture was simply condensation forming on the metal fixings. There has apparently been a few caravanners experiencing this .. well the few who use their caravans on frosty nights that is!!! Anyway, Baileys are going to insulate the metal fixings for us with some sort of compound .. so we shouldn't have any more problems on frosty nights.

Decisions Decisions!!!

Well the decision of which awning will suit us best has still not been resolved. Steve doesn't like the idea of the bendy poles on some of the porch awnings pressing up against the caravan .. even thought the alu-tech body shell is supposed to be dent resistant!! So I've been googling like mad and found one which I think will be ideal for our needs.

It's the Dorema Mistral Ripstop .. it's supposed to be a dream to put up !!



I have emailed Dorema to check that this awning will fit our Baby .. and if it does then we will visit a dealer to check out the quality .. watch this space!!!

1st trip 100% success!

We have just got back from our first trip in Baby and it was every bit as wonderful as we'd hoped. We arrived at Tredegar House caravan club site just after 12. I had made a shepherds pie and prepared enough veg for 2 days on Saturday so as soon as we pitched we put the gas on ..shepherds pie in oven and veg in steamer whilst we set up camp.



After lunch we went off to explore the park.




Then back to try out the awnings .. we weren't happy with the fit of our weekender porch awning ..Baby is a lot taller than our old Avondale so it didn't quite reach the ground. So we have made the decision to replace both awnings with a good sized porch awning that we can use for every trip .. The Dorema Quattro looks like it will be perfect.


Steve enjoyed a hard earned rest after we put the porch up ..can you believe it was warm enough for T shirts in the middle of February, we were so lucky with the weather.



It was really frosty at night but we didn't realise till we opened the blinds..it was so toasty and warm in the caravan even with the heating on it's lowest setting.


All in all a lovely trip in a lovely caravan .. everything worked and it was so nice having a shower without having to go out in the cold to the amenities block. Can't wait for the next trip which will be in about 4 weeks.

5 More Sleeps !!

Baby is outside the house ready and waiting for her first adventure.

We picked her up from storage this afternoon and parked her outside the house. The gas is in and the leisure battery is connected up. Tried the heating out on the gas and we're very impressed with the heat from it, the whole van was warm within 10 mins, considering it was freezing this afternoon and the van has never been heated that was no mean fete.

We also tried the radio out, we think it will be a lovely addition to our enjoyment..there is a CD player and ipod connection as well so plenty of options to listen to music. All the lights work on the 12v as does the fridge which also works on gas and mains so we can enjoy the caravan even if we don't have electric hook up.

7 More Sleeps!!!!

Yes just 7 more sleeps before we take Baby out on her first trip. It is just the most exciting feeling going away in the caravan ..but to go away in a brand new caravan is rather like waiting for Santa to arrive.

I went shopping today to get the seasons toiletries and cleaning supplies, also things like toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, cling film and foil.

We also got the sleeping bags and pillows out to air and put the towels, tea cloths and bedding in a pile ready to load up.

Tuesday will be a big day .. we will be bringing Baby down to the house to start loading her up. :-))