We survived the first night ‘upstairs’ although it wasn’t the greatest night out I’ve ever had it must be said.Firstly, we made sure the kids were all in bed then, looking like saddo’s, we wandered onto the drive with a bottle of wine, a newspaper, some munchies, a kettle full of water and some fresh milk ready to settle in for the night.
Now, anyone in the UK last night will know that it wasn’t the wisest choice of evening to kick off our upstairs experience. The wind was howling like a jumbo jet and the rain was coming down sideways. All in all a pretty challenging environment for a stay in a van. The vehicle was rocking from side to side and with the amount of water around, it really did feel like a boat. (note to self: must investigate the things they call ‘steadies’).
Anyhoo, the first thing we did was blow up a Spiderman bed which we hope our 4 year old will use. (Mrs. F surprisingly didn’t agree with me that the TV should come first). We decided on the blow up bed following the nightmare first attempt to squeeze us all in a couple of weeks ago. That was fine and will form a good bed for him in between the two beds for the girls in the lounge area we think, but we will still need to try that out first (another box still to tick therefore).
The next thing was to get the TV working of course. It did work and I did get a decent enough picture from throttling the aerial pole for ages just in time to catch the end of Parky. We had just sat down when the cab alarm went off (or is that on?) which risked alerting our neighbours to the fact we were actually in our van on our drive after 11pm; that’s if they hadn’t already spotted us creeping out earlier.
Of course, this was the first time we had been in the van since having the alarm fitted and although I had been given very clear instructions on the alarm and immobilizer and its ‘passive’ functions, that was, well days ago and at this exact point in time, I couldn’t remember what he said and what to do. I got it to stop wailing easy enough, but then the light started flashing again, first green the red. Then when we moved about it went off again. AAARRRRRGGGH!! I found the so called manual and spent the next 45 minutes or so working out what to do. Even then, I wasn’t convinced it wouldn’t keep going off all night which was I think was the genesis of what turned out to be a very restless night.
When we were happy that the alarm was set properly, pet setting they call it, we decided to venture to the first floor. Of course, everything is stored up there so we had to somehow move everything past us into a free space so we could get up there. Not the sort of gymnastics we had in mind really. Then we had to get changed and get in bed. Then I had to get out. And then again. And then again. First to turn the heating down; I had it set at 2000w and the fan was too noisy at number 4. Secondly, on instructions, to go check on the children (jeez it was 1o’clock by then) and finally to turn the heating up again; I think I shall have to cede that role to someone more capable than me.
So, by about 1.15am, I was ready for some kip, but the safety net wouldn’t stay up. I must have bumped my head a thousand times trying to make those straps stick. I finally got them to double wrap and they stayed in place. Head on pillow, I was surprised how much room we had and how comfy it was. If only the rain didn’t give us the impression the fire brigade were outside hosing us down. If only the wind wasn’t so loud. And if only the security light on our drive didn’t keep lighting us up like Regent’s Street, then maybe I would have slept more soundly, or at all for that matter. Mrs.F was fine and had a restful night and thinks the first floor is the place for us. Course, she didn’t spend ages going up and down like a yo-yo or have the worry of falling out like I did so maybe my view is tainted. We’ll see.
At about 3.30, I had that feeling about me that you get when you go to a really crap party. You know, if I left now, would it still count as actually having been there all the time? Will anyone think badly of me if I leave now? In the party timescale, I estimated that I was at about the 9.15pm stage which is way too early to wimp out, so I decided to wait until there was a slither of daylight emerging. At about 6.59 therefore, we left the party and convinced ourselves that we had actually been there for the full stretch, but in reality, we left way before the host was even given the bumps and went indoors and back to (our proper) bed with a cup of tea.
After a long bath and lots of eye rubbing, I’m now getting down to the task of planning the route. I’ve heard lots of horror stories about being gassed at ‘Aires’ but been told I should survive if I stay at an ‘Aire de Service’. Hmmm. I’ll keep that detail to meself I think.
Once I’ve mastered the route, I’ll be back out in the rain testing all the appliances. Testing, by the way, is code for sussing out how they actually work because right now, I don’t know one end of my leisure battery from the other end of my reverse polarity…
