I've been working on the route. It was much more difficult than I expected and took far longer 
than Mrs.F thought it should have. Anyway, this is what I came up with so far:
Calais to Reims via A26, then down to stop overnight somewhere near Troyes (we thought we ought to park up whilst it's still light). Then Troyes down to Chablis via Auxerre (N77 -> D91 then to Burgundy (A6 -> E607 -> A62) for another stop overnight somewhere. Then A62 -> A71 -> A75 to Clemont Ferrand which I hope takes us over the big bridge? Another stop here. Next day down to Barcelona A75 -> A9 -> Ap7 ->C33 -> C31 stopping somewhere west of Barcelona. Then the C32 -> Ap7/E15 -> V21 into Valencia followed by A7 to Murcia arriving at my parents in time for tea :-)
I will still have to find out where to stop and I imagine that will take me too long too!
I've become a member of a Motorhome Owners' website. Very handy and very helpful people. I'm sure some of them must be squirming at what I am planning to do and how I'm going about it though. The website is http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ and it costs a tenner a year to be a member but I'd wager it's fantastic value and well worth a visit. I put a post up there about my trip and have received lots of messages of support and help as a result. See http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-21282.html.
This afternoon, I have been testing all the appliances. I connected the gas first and then tested the cooker, the fridge (how can a fridge run on burnt gas?) and then tried out the heating. It was very complicated and being a bloke I simply tried to work it out for meself instead of reading the instructions. Mrs.F hit me with the instructions and 5 minutes later we were roasting. It then took me 25 minutes to work out how to turn it off. 
I took the plastic cover for what I thought was the boiler exhaust off on the outside but have no idea if that was right or wrong. Either way, it worked although I couldn't work out if fumes were coming out or air was being dragged in.
Next, I mucked about with the reverse camera. Not sure I actually 'need' one, but I like toys and my mate fits them for a living so I convinced meself (and importantly Mrs.F) that it was essential. When we went for a quick out yesterday, I kept saying things like 'thank god I bought that reversing camera' to kind of justify it. So far that's been good enough for Mrs.F but I better watch out how often I keep saying it or I might actually start believing it too. Anyway, this camera is very good and my mate was a bit naughty because he wired it up so it works whenever I want it to (not just whilst in reverse). He also fitted extra cables so if I wanted to, I could watch a DVD on the go.
Whilst the quality is excellent, including at night, the standard settings make the screen too light so a bit of tampering by yours truly and its virtually HD ready! In the process, I completely mucked everything up several times of course courtesy of yet more male instruction manual denial (at one point the instructions were in Punjabi) but in the end I was pleased to have invested the time. I found out, for example, that you can reverse and/or invert the picture (how that would help gawd knows) and that it has loads of games built into it for those moments when texting whilst driving just isn't dangerous enough for you. The most crazy and over engineered part of it, however, is its remote control. Er, why? And it's so small that I bet I'll lose it before Christmas.
Next up for the Fego treatment was the awning. I thought this would be easy and in fact hadn't even planned to try it out, after all, we're unlikely to be needing this winter. I was on a roll
though and couldn't help meself. It took me about three minutes before I was regretting it. I got that mid Channel crossing moment swimmers get. I got halfway and wanted to stop but whether I carried on to open or returned to close was just as much of an effort. I persevered and was ultimately successful although I did end up with a load of spare bits and it did take me three attempts before the 'red bits' disappeared per the instructions which I have a growing respect for now. I wish the dealer had spent a few moments with me on this.
than Mrs.F thought it should have. Anyway, this is what I came up with so far:Calais to Reims via A26, then down to stop overnight somewhere near Troyes (we thought we ought to park up whilst it's still light). Then Troyes down to Chablis via Auxerre (N77 -> D91 then to Burgundy (A6 -> E607 -> A62) for another stop overnight somewhere. Then A62 -> A71 -> A75 to Clemont Ferrand which I hope takes us over the big bridge? Another stop here. Next day down to Barcelona A75 -> A9 -> Ap7 ->C33 -> C31 stopping somewhere west of Barcelona. Then the C32 -> Ap7/E15 -> V21 into Valencia followed by A7 to Murcia arriving at my parents in time for tea :-)
I will still have to find out where to stop and I imagine that will take me too long too!
I've become a member of a Motorhome Owners' website. Very handy and very helpful people. I'm sure some of them must be squirming at what I am planning to do and how I'm going about it though. The website is http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ and it costs a tenner a year to be a member but I'd wager it's fantastic value and well worth a visit. I put a post up there about my trip and have received lots of messages of support and help as a result. See http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-21282.html.
This afternoon, I have been testing all the appliances. I connected the gas first and then tested the cooker, the fridge (how can a fridge run on burnt gas?) and then tried out the heating. It was very complicated and being a bloke I simply tried to work it out for meself instead of reading the instructions. Mrs.F hit me with the instructions and 5 minutes later we were roasting. It then took me 25 minutes to work out how to turn it off. 
I took the plastic cover for what I thought was the boiler exhaust off on the outside but have no idea if that was right or wrong. Either way, it worked although I couldn't work out if fumes were coming out or air was being dragged in.Next, I mucked about with the reverse camera. Not sure I actually 'need' one, but I like toys and my mate fits them for a living so I convinced meself (and importantly Mrs.F) that it was essential. When we went for a quick out yesterday, I kept saying things like 'thank god I bought that reversing camera' to kind of justify it. So far that's been good enough for Mrs.F but I better watch out how often I keep saying it or I might actually start believing it too. Anyway, this camera is very good and my mate was a bit naughty because he wired it up so it works whenever I want it to (not just whilst in reverse). He also fitted extra cables so if I wanted to, I could watch a DVD on the go.
Whilst the quality is excellent, including at night, the standard settings make the screen too light so a bit of tampering by yours truly and its virtually HD ready! In the process, I completely mucked everything up several times of course courtesy of yet more male instruction manual denial (at one point the instructions were in Punjabi) but in the end I was pleased to have invested the time. I found out, for example, that you can reverse and/or invert the picture (how that would help gawd knows) and that it has loads of games built into it for those moments when texting whilst driving just isn't dangerous enough for you. The most crazy and over engineered part of it, however, is its remote control. Er, why? And it's so small that I bet I'll lose it before Christmas.
Next up for the Fego treatment was the awning. I thought this would be easy and in fact hadn't even planned to try it out, after all, we're unlikely to be needing this winter. I was on a roll
though and couldn't help meself. It took me about three minutes before I was regretting it. I got that mid Channel crossing moment swimmers get. I got halfway and wanted to stop but whether I carried on to open or returned to close was just as much of an effort. I persevered and was ultimately successful although I did end up with a load of spare bits and it did take me three attempts before the 'red bits' disappeared per the instructions which I have a growing respect for now. I wish the dealer had spent a few moments with me on this. Finally, I ventured into the smallest closet and removed the bog's cassette. It was a first for me and the van and I was surprised by two things; first how heavy it was and second how easy and un-messy it was emptying it down the khazi indoors. I'm not sure if I did the right thing emptying it down the toilet, but I don't see I had any choice; I could hardly leave it in there any longer or bung it over the fence, could I? It wasn't the highlight of my weekend it has to be said, but it wasn't as awful as I expected either. Pressing all the buttons on the cassette whilst emptying it seemed to help although I don't really know why.
The last chore of the day, at least relating to the MH anyway, was to put the cover on it. As we all know, the weather is right cak at the moment and as we wont be using the van this week, we took advantage of the cloth garage we had chosen to invest in. I dunno about other people's experiences, but in my case, every time I have tried to drag that bleeding thing over the hulk of the vehicle's structure, I have lost my patience and given meself a good telling off for buying the bloody thing in the first place. If I hadn't bought it, I wouldn't have to use it, but since I have it, I feel obliged to gift wrap it.
I've only successfully completed the simultaneous marathon stretch, pull, lift and drag three times. The first time it ended up being on back to front of course and during the subsequent attempts, it ended up on the floor at least twice.
This is a three person job and it's far worse than having to do the dishes. The cloth itself its soaking wet and invariably covered in dirty stuff. It would be extremely benevolent to suggest that I have mastered the knack of putting this cover on, but for what it's worth, our 'routine' involves one on the left holding a strap attached to the bottom left rear corner, one similarly placed on the right and one (always me) in the middle underneath the fabric with an extended window cleaner pole pushing towards the unsee-able stars.
The cover always gets stuck on the chimney bit or the aerial or both which means having to get up a step ladder at some point. In all, it takes about 30 minutes (including attaching and adjusting the straps), so it's not something even worth considering taking with you. BTW, the straps are a bit rubbish (two have already broken) but if you don't put lots of them on, the whole thing comes of and ends up down the road. It's bad enough asking for your ball back from your neighbours, let alone a very bulky piece of grey cloth.
So, with the caravan car safely tucked up and much progress made towards planning our maiden voyage, time to celebrate my enhanced knowledge with a cold glass of something.
Tomorrow, I've got to put my mind towards finding actual places to stop according to our planned route. Mrs. F won't let me chance it and I don't want to be left feeling unprepared either.
So, with the caravan car safely tucked up and much progress made towards planning our maiden voyage, time to celebrate my enhanced knowledge with a cold glass of something.
Tomorrow, I've got to put my mind towards finding actual places to stop according to our planned route. Mrs. F won't let me chance it and I don't want to be left feeling unprepared either.
