My random ramblings about time spent in our caravan and the time spent wishing we were in our caravan. Touring with a caravan is something you either 'Get' or you 'Don't get.' There is no middle ground.
This one's been planned for a while, and we're not travelling far for it either, under 10 miles in fact.
We're season ticket holders at Pembrey Country Park and one weekend a while back while enjoying a post dog walk breakfast in Yr Orsaf we saw a leaflet promising 2 events over the May Day BH weekend.
Pitch booked at The Favella and we're being joined by Mike and Nursey for this one, Nelson is giving it a miss but Beastie and Bwmps are planned to come and stay with Mims and Dats, they're not too sure about it but Nelson and Teacher both insist that it's happening and they are having some child free time.
Friday 1 May
Herself is stuck in work, whereas I have leave to burn, so it's on my todd that I make my way to storage to hitch up in readiness for the long journey ahead, I may even schedule a comfort break at CK's in Burry Port for a coffee and custard slice!
In through the gates of the country park and a XC60 slows down to a crawl in front of me, eventually stopping in the middle of the road with hazards flashng, like that makes everything OK. A grubby sweat shirt gets out, flapping it's arms for me to stop - like I had any choice, before instructing me to wind down the window.
"Where are you going?"
I sarcasticaly look over my shoulder at the caravan.
"The campsite. Why?"
"THE campsite."
I glance down at the grubby sweatshirt and notice the embroidered badge noting he isn't an employee of the country park.
"Well yes, but what business is it of yours?"
"We've got an event on this weekend."
He says pointing at the badge thinking it gives him some sort of authority.
"And I'm not part of it, so could you get out of my way please."
I'm too early, but I knew that, so parked the unit upon a tump to waste some time and hatch a plan.
12 noon strikes and I make my way down to the Favella gates, parking up in front of the sign welcoming arrivals after 2pm.
A clip board appraches and I put on my best apology face.
"You're keen!"
Yes I'm terribly sorry, I misread the booking confirmation. It says pitches to be vacated by 12 noon not arrivals from 12 noon!"
"Don't worry, you're lucky, the pitch is vacant, so if you pull up to the barrier I'll escort you to your pitch."
I try to hide my glee, probable failing miserably as I fist pump thin air!
It's not until you're setting up on your own that you appreciate how much stuff your better half actually does, and setting up was a little maor laborious than usual.
However by just before 2.30 pm I'm able to announce that I is arrived before returning home to collect Herself and the dogs.
Back on site we walk over to Yr Orsaf to grab a pizza before returning to the van awaiting the arrival of Nursey and Mike.
Saturday 02 May
We're up early doors after an early night last night, and even though it's a little misty it's warm enough to set the coffee machine to go and take my first cuppa of the day outside.
As all these new influencers who think they invented caravanning will tell you, "It's hits different!"
We head back towards Llanelli to collect Beastie and Bwmps who are coming to stop with us for the night. Both are hungry so we pull up outside Yr Orsaf on the way in for Beastie to demolisha toasted teacake and Bwmps to make his way through a "Large Breakfast" ! He also had one of my sausages.
Early afternoon and we're heading west towards St Clears where Roids is playing his last game of the season. We meet the Genie and have a very pleasant afternoon. Roids' team narrowly lost, but he had a good game himself and both Beastie and Bwmps enjoyed climbing stuff they shouldn't, rolling down the grass banks and covering Gwen with grass clippings.
Back on site we throw together an evening meal with Beastie deciding that my steak had her name on it before we settled down all worn out. It would appear that Mims and Dats were more worn out that Beastie and Bwmps, both snoring well before the iPads timed out!
Sunday 03 May
Both slept the night through, but by the time I wake at 7am Beastie (an early riser) has already fired hers up and Bwmps waking shortly after follows suit.
After breakfast we take all the dogs for a bloody good walk through the forestry, Beastie and Bwmps take the opportunity to climb all the horse jumps sacattered along the trails.
Teacher turned up to collect them and we head over to have a nosey at the WW1 thing that's going on this weekend.
Returning to the van we diverted to Yr Orsaf for a cheeky cider which accidentally turned iinto 6 cheeky ciders. Tea was eaten outside, but given it's still early May Herself and Nursey were feeling the cold a little. Now if you listen to these new influencers the only way to get a cosy vibe when sitting out side is to blow £150 on an alog fire.
Bugger that, my £20 ethanol burner did just the job.
Monday 04 May
We wake to the sound of rain hitting the roof after a great night's kip. Firing up the BBC weather app does little to raise the spirits with it suggesting an 85% to 95% chance of rain all day!
Herself gets on the blower to Grumbles. He confirms he's having breakfast in Pwll and will be with us shortly after. He rocks up and we sit under the canopy for a while waiting for a gap in the rain.
One arrives and we make a dash up to the minature railway area where a load of wannabe Fred Dibnahs are displaying their pride and joy.
We have a mooch around, keeping one eye on the threatening skies overhead. Grunbles and Mike get into it full swing asking about horse power, boiler certificates, V5s and such things. I'm more interested in how much this hobby costs. A bit of thumb swiping reveals that even these small engines will set you back £25k. A trailer to drag it round in will set you back another £5k and some of these boys are towing with a £100k motorhome.
Not a cheap hobby!
We head on over to the WW1 effort for Grumbles to have a look round, but all has been put away in the tents hiding from the rain.
Back at the van we lunch of very expensive burgers and hiding under the canopy for the afternoon staring out at the heavy downpours inbetween the incessant light rain.
Grumbles finshes off my coffee pods witha custard slice before announcing his departure. Nursey and Mike are hitching up just as the rain stops and the sun comes out.
Our plan was to stop tonight and for me to take Herself to work in the morning before returning to break camp. We reconsider our plans and within 3/4 of Mike pulling off we too are hitched up and heading back to storage.
A lovely weekend away, even if we did cut it short by one night. But of a mixed bag weather wise, but the only day it spiled really was today.
Herself had promised that if we changed the van we'd use it more often. No point having an expensive asset like that depreciating while sat in storage. I do appreciate though that having a Grumbles comes with responsibility and guilt for her, so the hunt was on for a site for over Easter with a B&B adjacent or within spitting distance.
Friday 3 April (Good Friday)
After a few days respite from the rain we wake to wind and drizzle, bloody typical! We've picked Grumbles up and are hitting the road just before 10.45am and heading off onto what we hope is better weather.
Traffic along the M4 wasn't too bad, except circumnavigating Newport, but the weather ensured it was not a pleasant tow. Crossing the bridge the rain eased off but it wasn't too long before the traffic situation went tits up. We're just by the Amazon warehouses off the M49 and we hit the back of a queue of traffic.
The inside lane is at a standstill but lane 2 is flowing freely. I know it's at least another 3 miles to where we join the M5, and much to Herself's dismay I move the rig into lane 2 and cruise passed the hoards queuing to get into the West Country.
Herself starts to get really edgy as we approach J18A of the M5, thinking we'll end up either stuck or going into Avonmouth, however she'd grossly underestimated my "negotiating skills" and has her head hidden under her cardigan as I force a "Merge in Turn" picking my target very carefully - a princess in a Fiat 500 is no match for a rig coming in at around 4 tonnes!
Moving along the M5 was tortuous, and we were either at a standstill or travelling very slowly all the way to our exit at J22.
Pulling up to the barrier at Hurn Lane we're given a warm welcome by @Gailandmarkcoops (and their very friendly assistants) and directed to our pitch that had only just had electrical issues on the bollard sorted.
Set up wasn't quick. We've bought a new Isabella porch awning, and the person who we got it from had zipped out all the panels and removed all the pegging rubbers. That and taking Grumbles to check into Yew Tree means that it's nearly 5pm by the time "We is Arrived".
I will admit though, I was somewhat taken aback with the demeanor of Heir in Charge at Yew Tree. Grumbles was read a big list of do's and don'ts, as well as having to book a precise time for his breakfast. He was given a piece of paper with the breakfast menu on it that had to be filled in and returned by 8pm prompt, and if it's not circled on the piece of paper he wasn't getting it!
Thoughts turn to tea, and we head into Brean. Brean is packed, people swarming everywhere as we drive through. We're heading towards The Brean Down Inn, but on arrival that too is packed out, both outside and in. Herself decides we'll have fish and chips to take back. The chip shop / Chinese adjacent has them queuing out of the door but Herself recalls a chippy back in Brean that looked quiet.
Pulling up outside Sandhu's Takeaway it is indeed quiet, so quiet in fact you would not believe that Herself was waiting in there a full 20 mins for a few portions of fish and chips!
Back at the van we realise why there were no queues for Sandhu's establishment. The food was rank and most of it went in either the dogs or the bin!
Nelson has been delayed, but is on his way and we track progress on our shared location app. He's making better progress than we did earlier on in the day. Luckily he'd prepaid for his pitch and @Gailandmarkcoops had given me his barrier pass so I could let them in. It was 8.15pm and dark as they threaded their way through the site (with many a curtain twitching) to their pitch next to us near the recently repaired electrical bollard.
Once set up they all come round to ours (with grumbles dispatched back to Colditz) for a chinwag and let Beastie and Bwmps let off some steam before settling down for the night.
Saturday 4 April
Last night was interesting, you see Bwmps has this thing about stones, and more often than not has pockets full of them.. Apparently yesterday evening was no different, and he'd filled his pockets with a few handfuls of 10mm clean.
This is all very well, but when he was playing on our bed it appears that he'd lost most of them. How we laughed as we spent the first few hours picking out the said 10mm clean from our pillows, sheets and duvet cover!
Little Git.
Dry this morning with little wind as myself and Nelson go about setting up his awning, while Bwmps make the most of the quiet site roads to terrorise other campers on his scooter.
Herself cooks breakfast for all and while we're tucking in she pops over to Colditz to fetch Grumbles.
All is not well. He was 5 mins late for his allocated 8.30am breakfast. This had resulted in Heir in Charge storming over to his Garden Room and banging on his door. Apparently this isn't good enough, and a repeat tomorrow will result in him not having breakfast as they are busier.
The dogs need a good run so we head on over the Brean to drive onto the beach. We wince at the £7 charge per car but are committed, and Herself then clocks the sign advertising a significant reduction for Blue Badges , and she's yanking on the orange vest's collar before he fires up his card machine. Both Herself and Nelson are in possession of one so our collective pain is eased as we drive down the ramp onto the hard sand.
Grumbles stayed in the car. The rest of us got out and were battered by the wind as Storm Dave starts to flex his muscles.
With the dogs ran until they could run no more we watch on as a hovercraft battles into the wind to cross the sand. I'd bet his return journey was somewhat faster!
Parking up in Brean itself we head off out for a mooch in the Tat Shops. Beastie and Bwmps spending some of their pennies before being treated to an ice-cream by Grumbles.
We pop next door into the recently reopened Brean Leisure Park. Never been in here before and didn't appreciate how big the place actually was. Armed with a card charged with credits, Nelson and Co head off while Herself and I take a seat to hold onto the dogs.
Our two are fine, they're older and when on holiday take every opportunity they can to rest. Nala (18 month old cross Staffie and American Bulldog) on the other hand is full of beans, despite having her legs run off her just an hour previously.
The smiles on their return say they enjoyed, but with credit run out it's back to the cars where Grumbles retreated some time ago to sit in peace and quiet.
Storm Dave is brewing nicely so storm straps are tightened and all pegging points checked as we settle down to eat off the Ninja for our evening meal.
Teacher didn't join us though. She's been feeling rather unwell since coming off a rather daring ride with Beastie, and has an evening cwtched up in their van while Beastie and Bwmps play Lego in ours.
I have a feeling that whilst we'll have no stones I may be stepping on Lego pieces on my way to the toilet in the early hours!
Nelson pings us late on. Teacher isn't feeling great and is on the phone to 111. We ready ourselves to have Beastie and Bwmps transferred into our van if Nelson needs to dash off with Teacher and attempt to go to bed as Storm Dave tries to use the awning as a sail to drag the caravan onto the fully serviced pitches opposite!
No further word from next door, but Herself can't settle and goes to sit up front, opening blinds to watch both ours and Nelson's awning as Storm Dave does his stuff/
Yes I did step on Lego.
Sunday 5 April
In the words of the old Carling Black Label advert ..... "I ain't never known a night like it ..... and I'm not looking forward to the journey home neither!"
But we survived, and there's something to be said for good old fashioned Isabella poled awnings. Whilst the canvas flapped and tugged, the frames remained rock solid whilst Dave destroyed much of the rest of the country.
We wake to bright sunshine, and in our sheltered part of the site there's little wind. Easter Bunny has been, decorated our awning and scattered eggs around the place for little hands to find.
They had a bit of a haul on top of what he left in their caravan!
If I actually cared about the numbers that read this blog, or I was trying to build an on line presence I would be posting teasing click bait thumbnails about medical emergencies, but cutting to the chase, Teacher has a 11am appointment in Bridgewater, so Herself, Grumbles and I are looking after refereeing Beastie and Bwmps while Nelson and her head off.
My word, those two could squabble for Wales!
They come back, and Teacher has a bag of smarties to sort out an infection but is feeling Ok to go out as long as it's nothing too strenuous. Strenuous? Grumbles is 86 and Herself has two knackered knees and a hip that's starting to play up!
We make tracks into Weston. I was aiming for Uphill, but somehow missed the turning for the beach itself. Cruising along Marine Parade we take a left to park on the beach. £7 each the girl wanted but I figured that once the dogs have had a good run we could abandon the VWs and take a walk further on to the attractions.
Any thoughts of doing that quickly dispersed as soon as the car doors were opened. Once again Grumbles is staying put as we do battle with the tail end of Storm Dave on the beach. £14 to give the dogs a 15 min run!
A new plan is hatched and we head inland towards Cheddar. It's very busy but we manage to bag two spaces in the car park next to The Riverside Inn.
Herself's knees are giving her some serious gyp, and Bwmps is not playing ball, so we offer to look after to dogs at "On The Rocks" while the rest of them take a wander around the village. Cheddar is very busy and I'm of the opinion that up here is the best place to view it from!
We're all hungry now so retreat back down to the Riverside Inn, where Grumbles very generously flexes his plastic and treats us all to a slap up meal.
Teacher's never been here before and has therefore never seen the Gorge, so we take a spin up and down it as hoards of NEDs stand around wanking furiously as the sound of baked bean tin exhausts echo of the surrounding cliffs.
Somehow I don't think the sound of two deasil VWs quite cut it for them
Monday 6 April
We wake to the best weather of the weekend, blue skies and no wind. Still, at least by the time it comes to drop the awnings the morning dew had had time to dry off.
I popped over to have a quick chat with the wardens as we've not seen much of them this weekend, but they've had the audacity to have a day off and have gone out!
10.15am and both units are packed away and hitched up, and we're shouting "Wagons Roll" and hitting the road reasonably early in the hope of doing the M5 before the rest of the Bank Holiday traffic from further west joins us on it.
Seems like the rest of Brean also had the same idea because we hit the rear of a very slow moving queue to the M5 on the B4130 crawling the last 2 miles of the approach. To be fair, once on the M5 we didn't stop rolling once, even if the going was decidedly slow at times.
Traffic was also heavy along the M4 in south Wales with hold ups at the usual hot spots, and were back at our storage yard by just after 1pm.
Not great weather, but considering what was forecast I think we did OK. Love spending time caravanning with the Grandkids and making special memories.
