This one wasn't planned, honest now, it wasn't.
Sitting in the house after a difficult day in work, and feeling sorry for ourselves having had to leave the others at Home Farm we muted the idea of maybe dragging the van out for August BH. We were holding out waiting on Teacher letting us know any plans for Bwmps' birthday, but with availability rapidly declining I caved in and reserved a pitch, preferring the option of losing the £5 deposit if we needed to cancel rather than sit at home over the weekend being miserable cos we hadn't gone away!
Friday 28 August
After months of gloriously sunny weather we wake and appear to have had quite a bit of rain, no storms like the rest of the country but very moist underfoot. I know the weather was bound to break at some point, but couldn't God have waited until after the BH weekend?
Lunchtime comes and with the afternoon booked off work we head down to the storage yard to pick up the van from its new plot, yes new plot after having moved it last week.
We've been getting pissed off for a while with the occupants of plots either side of us parking close to the dividing ropes on the floor marking out the plots, making it very difficult to park ours on the plot and being able to access both the offside to do the locks and open the door on the nearside. Then the final straw was when we returned from Home Farm the previously empty plot behind us had been occupied by a huge motorhome, actually too long for the plot, but they thought it OK to overhang onto our plot!
With Trude's back seats loaded up to an extent that we can no longer see the dogs in the boot we're pulling into the storage yard at the same time as Mike and Nursey just before noon, and are away in no time at all.
With only a short journey we're too early, not yet allowed within the circle of trust, so park up in the adjacent country park to give the dogs a run.
12:59 hrs and we join the back of a queue to get onto site. The wardens are keen to get everyone in and off the road so once ticked off on the clipboard we're instructed to go on in, pick a pitch, then come back to report in with Heir in Charge to collect fobs and security codes.
We round the first corner to an area we'd like to pitch up, but a car with a roof tent has just pulled up and the occupants are busy rushing around putting chairs and other assorted crap on all the pitches surrounding them to block them for family and friends later. I'm aware the club now allows you to reserve a pitch for someone if they're arriving the same day, but six??
I reversed the unit onto the pitch mind, honestly ! No motor movers were harmed in the pitching process and I'm quietly wishing Herself had filmed the effort to post on Tiktok or something.
We sit back to watch new arrivals racing round the site in attempts to get the best of the remaining pitches for a few hours and a VERY GOOD microwave curry procured from CKs is nuked for tea.
We take the opportunity to walk the dogs in the adjacent country park as the light begins to fade, ensuring they get a good run and sleep soundly all night.
Saturday 29 August
You know that one time that you hope that the weather forecast is wrong? Well unfortunately our @DerekTheWeather appears to have got it spot on today.
We wake to rain hammering on the roof, first time in quite a while. Yes I know we need the rain, but it's Bwmps' 5th birthday today and a birthday picnic is planned in Pembrey Country Park to celebrate the occasion!
Some people say they love the sound of rain hitting the caravan roof.
I'm firmly of the opinion that those people are demented psychopaths!
Herself and Nursey crack on preparing the buffet hoping against hope that it'll let up sometime soon, while I retreat to the canopy keeping out of the way of the women's stuff.
10.30am and there's still no let up. Herself is on the blower to Nelson and the decision is made to abandon the idea of an afternoon in the country park, even if it did stop raining now with the amount of wet stuff that's come down this morning everything would be soaking wet, and there's a bit of a breeze making it a bit cold for some attendees.
Herself offers to hold the party at "Home is where you drag it Towers" and all the food, some prepped some not is quickly loaded into the cars and we hit the road. Nursey via The Card Factory for balloons and banners to decorate the house.
All went off Ok in the end, well Bwmps enjoyed, and that's all that matters really. The theme is Toy Story with most of his gifts revolving around the movies and characters, and Herself's feast was appreciated by all, even if she did over cater as always with everyone taking home with them enough for another meal or two!
Returning to site after giving the dogs a run we settle down for a quiet evening before turning in relatively early after a busy day. Nursey sends us a video of the birthday boy playing with his newly acquired fart machine and a picture of him tucked up in his freshly made up Toy Story bed.
Despite being on our collective chin straps sleep didn't come for a while. The tool on the adjacent pitch has gripped my shit since we got here, he's pitched nose in with a full awning set up, effectively blocking the pitch the other side, I mean who wants to open their door only to face another caravan's door?
Anyway, when we got back earlier I saw that the awning had been dropped and services disconnected with the Aqualroll and Wastemaster bagged up. I assume in readiness for departure tomorrow. Their car is missing until they return at around 9.15pm, when there was much chatter and door banging. I look out and he's putting on his towing mirrors under torchlight, then the drill comes out to wind up the steadies before the motor mover is engaged to spin the twin axle van around to hitch up.
If the intention was to leave this evening you would have thought he'd have turned the van around earlier in readiness for a quick, and much quieter getaway, but no. More shouting directions and door banging followed until they're pulling out at 10pm FFS.
Sunday 30 August
Not much improvement in the weather when Gwen wakes me to be let out, and even if our @DerekTheWeather is predicting it to be a little brighter at times today heavy showers will not be far away.
The plan was to have a nice coffee under the canopy watching the site come to life while herself caught up on some ZZZZzzzzz. I filled the Tassimo, grabbed a mug and opened the locker to fetch out a few Costa capsules. Could I find them?
So I sit there pouting looking out through the rain drop splattered front windows as a few blue gaps in the sky, daring to hope there would be hope for the day yet.
We've very little food with us, much of what herself had bought was for the birthday feast yesterday. Not fancying cereal, breakfast was a rather strange combination of a tub of cockles washed down with an iced coffee. I drank it without a straw as well, and honestly, it was a game changer!
I would have been quite happy to veg out in the van all morning, but the dogs are getting restless, so we venture into the country park for a wander through the forestry. On our wander we come across a few painted rocks. I understand from tinternet that when you find these you're supposed to pick them up and deposit them at a different location and post it on social media. So we did.
Now these look quite weathered to me so they may have been around for a while, who knows?
We adjourn to Yr Orsaf for a coffee and piece of cake. Well I ordered just that, Herself wanted a Tuna Mayo sandwich and cider while Nursey and Mike indulged in a burger each.
The incompetence of the staff in this place never ceases to amaze me. Despite giving them my table number on ordering, #23, they attempted to deliver my Latte to another table, with the occupants of that table saying it wasn't theirs.
We'd been sat there a while and Herself says "I'm sure my sandwich just went to that table over there.", the same table my Latte went to. Whilst the Latte was sent away the chance of a free sandwich was obviously too good an opportunity to pass up. Dad Scumbag didn't delve into it straight away, but was looking around furtively to see if someone came back for it.
We're sat there and a delinquent in an apron delivers the burgers. I say "We're still waiting on the tuna sandwich, which was ordered before these burgers!" He looks over to the other table and Dad Scumbag is interested in his phone all of a sudden. The delinquent in an apron points to the table and I say "That's not table #23 is it?" at the same time giving Dad Scumbag the evils.
My money is on him being a Swansea Jack or something.
We're sat out under the canopy on return. The sun is in and out but the stiff cool breeze makes it uncomfortable to sit outside the shelter that the canopy sides afford.
Heir in Charge is approaching us, complete with an orange vest which somehow gives people wearing them more authority. Apparently she'd been called out to pick up dog shit that someone had stepped in about 7 pitches down from us. All and sundry have been walking their dogs in the fire break between our pitches and the forestry, but it appears we have been judged as the guilty parties and the opportunity is not missed to give us a telling off about our dogs being off leads, even though they are lying at our feet in the canopy not bothering anyone.
We leave it go as arguing with her would only result in us being asked to leave.
Herself gets into Nigella mode and throws together a superb Spag Bol for tea, which is shared with Nursey and Mike in our van while putting the world to rights until the heavens opened and they remembered their sky light was open!
Monday 31 August
Rubbish night's kip. I put it down to carb overload from the pasta. I did drop off at around 5am but was back up at 8am to start breaking camp.
Remarkably we're able to drop and roll up a dry canopy, and we've broken camp and are hitched up ready for the off by 9.10am.
Obviously we're not far from home this weekend, so have dropped the van off at the storage yard, transferred left over food and laundry into Trude, and are pulling out of the yard by 10.30am.
Bit of a shit weekend weather wise, and plans for Bwmps' birthday celebration ruined. That was rescued however and we had some chill time, doing nothing more than walking the dogs in the adjacent country park.
I am contemplating sending a brief e mail to the area manager suggesting that Heir in Charge may benefit from some refreshed training in customer relations!
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