Problems with the Van?

If I didn't have enough to worry about, I'm now worried about the reliability of the van.

When I collected it from the dealer (Barrons, Herne Bay) I had to point out a couple of (fairly obvious) faults which were happily sorted immediately. It only had 20 miles or so on the clock so I was anticipating the odd thing here or there. Having looked at the forums, it seems as though I was blessed by the quality of the pre-delivery check (despite the obvious flaws), but, nevertheless, I was still anticipating a couple of hic-cups. I was glad, therefore when I spotted one early on.

When I say early on, I mean on the first trip out, of course. We (all six of us) went to Bury St. Edmonds (about 90 miles) and when we left to come home, it was getting dark. Imagine my surprise and terror when I turned the indicator on to find that every single light went out! Total darkness. The road in front turned blacker than a black thing on national black thing day and we instantly became more invisible than David McCallum. Eddy the Eagle without his glasses could have seen more than I could at that point and Stevie Wonder could have seen more than him. In fact, to any other motor, we existed less than our still non-existant list of things still to do. Fortunately, when I turned off the indicator, the lights came back on and we could see and be seen again. However, this process of jumping beneath Harry Potter's invisibility cloak repeated itself the whole journey.

The next day I called Barrons and a few days later they took the van away. They had a couple of other things to do as well like adjusting the habitation door which was very hard to open/close which they managed no problem. The problem with the lights on the other hand was more difficult, in fact impossible to fix because, according to them, there wasn't anything wrong with them. Er, hello. Calling me a liar? I had no choice but to accept the return of the van and since then, I have been trying very hard to work out whether there still is a problem. I haven't, of course, but that doesn't make me feel any better because I haven't been out in the dark and trying to see if the lights are working properly during the day is, well, a challenge to say the least.

My freind who fitted the camera told me that the problem was probably created when the radio was re-wired to be powered by the leisure battery instead of the cab battery. I didn't know the radio was powered by the leisure battery, and, if I'm honest, I don't really care much either, but it does seem kind of plausible. In any event, I hope they have fixed it but have just chosen not to tell me there was ever anything wrong because at least that way, I know it's fixed. The last thing I need is for that problem to still be there when I get to France.

I took the van out again today on a 200 mile trip. I was aiming to familiarise myself with the handling a bit more and also get the van weighed. I thought I might also benefit from some more general experience. I was right. Within 50 yards and one bend, doors swung open, things slid about and the waste bin that had been near the sink flew about a bit and crashed into hundreds of bits on the floor. Mrs.F loved that bin. I tied everything down, closed every door properly and moved on. I then stopped and checked the aerial and steps, but that was just paranoi stepping in.

I drove to a freind's house that I hadn't been to before and the Tom Tom took us right there. Brilliant. It brought us back home again but, oddly, using a different route. A bit like Mrs.F in a way. The only concern that I have with the TomTom now in relation to my trip is that it makes no regard for the size of the vehicle it sits in. For example, there were a couple of country lanes today where tree branches whipped the side of the van and a hump-back bridge moment which could have been nasty. I hope it doesn't take me down any dodgy roads in France. The other worrying factor of Tom Tom's is that it is only as good as the person setting the route into it. I completely forgot to programme the weighbridge's address into it which meant I didn't get the van weiged after all. Der. That's a problem, because the next time available for me to get it weighed is next Saturday which is likely to interrupt the packing performance. Ho hum.

During my trip today and again when I got home, I smelled burning oil. Not chip fat type burning oil but knackered piston rings type burning oil. Not the sort of smell you expect to associate with a brand new motor and one I hope has been caused by a drip of oil somewhere like the exhaust. I'll have a look tomorrow and hopefully be more useful than I was when I had a look at the washing machine. If not, my trip could be even more challenging that it already is which reminds me, I must add 'Do I have continental breakdown cover?' to my list of things to do. That can join 'Get a Camping Card International (why do they call it a Camping Card International and not an International Camping Card?) and EHIC thingys. and another hundred or so similarly important things I still have to get around to.

Finally, they say we should try to do something new every day. It's not always that easy, but I managed it today. In fact I nearly managed it twice. The first time was going up the A12. I saw on the other side of the carriageway another 'caravan car'. As we passed, the driver waved to me and I waved back. I hadn't done that before and I suddenly felt as though I had been granted honourary membership to an exclusive fraternity. A smile broke about my face not too dissimilar from when I had a mini; a mix of jolly belonging yet slight embarrassment. The second time was when I was coming back down the A12 when the same thing happened yet this time, I was first to wave but the other driver didn't. That was total embarrassment and now I don't know what the 'rules' are.

I expect I'll find out for sure by the time I get to Calais, assuming the van is fit for the trip.

Links and Video clip

I haven't been able to get links to open in new pop ups so if you click a link, you will have to click 'back' to close that link.

The video clip runs using Flash which means you might need this software installed to view it. If the video doesn't play after a couple of clicks, please try using this link here.

Video Arrives (sort of)

The list is still in a temporary hiatus thanks to a broken washing machine suffered by the Fego household last night. Not terribly good timing I have to say, but then again when would be a good time for your washing machine to croak it? Despite the deafening noise it was making and ignoring the fact I am no more qualified to repair washing machines than I am to host Motorhome tours, I couldn’t help getting my tool box out and diving underneath the worktop and into the small gap to see what I could do. Obviously, there was nothing I could do other than make a mess which I spent two hours championing. Mrs.F was chuckling when I proudly announced "there's nothing obvious" after my two hour diagnosis and in retrospect, so am I now.

After tidying up, I realized that I didn’t have any time now to dedicate to the list so played with the new video recorder again. I did however manage to read a bit of advice from the Caravan Club’s website which made me laugh; “On your first trip out, you will probably not want to travel too far from the Port”. Hah! Not me. Full on 1,300 miles. Easy.

I received more good luck wishes today and also some good advice. I've banked some of it to use against the increasingly doubting Mrs.F in relation to weight. There is apparently, after all, a weighbridge nearby that will prove my sanity and hopefully enable us to only ferry the things we really need.

I still haven't fixed the final route, nor even settled on variables loosely related to where I might end up. I don't think it's as important now as it was so I have spent a bit of time trying to get getting video to work on here for the actual trip. If I eventually get the clip to load, you might be a bit disappointed with its quality and its boring nature, but I had to record something and that's what I ended up with. It might be a bit unreliable so don't be disappointed if it doesnt work.

Tomorrow, I really will get on with that list and I expect that will highlight a few more areas I am way behind on.

Getting a bit worried now

Another night of disappointment. Not only because Liverpool lost again, but mostly because I didn't manage yet again to get on with that list. The task of documenting everything I need to do before I can even contemplate taking 4 children and a wife on a 1,000 mile roadtrip was doomed the second I opened the box containing my latest toy; a video recorder! I thought we needed one (like we needed the reversing camera) so I bought an 'entry level' model from Superdrug of all places and spent most of last night mucking about with it. I wasted at least half an hour before reminding myself about the user manual thing and after that it got a lot easier. It only cost 70 quid and so far, I'm well chuffed with it. Of course, it's only got 32mb of memory but you can increase that to 1gb by adding a SD card. The nearest rival I could find was in Curry's at £250! Anyway, I thought it would be great fun to record a daily video diary of where we are, how we are getting on, what we have been up to and how we are feeling. So far, I haven't been able to upload a movie file yet, but I'm sure I'll get around that and soon be updating you with moving pictures.

Back to that list. It's still worrying me. There are now things on there (or there would be if it existed) which require urgent attention, otherwise I will run out of time. For example, there are a few bits I need to buy still and Ebay sits waiting, but if I don't get on with ordering them soon, I know I'll have to make another expensive trip to the caravan outlet and/or Halfords. What worries me more though are the things I don't have that I don't know I need yet. There's bound to be some which hopefully I can pick up on the way.

I've been receiving a surprising amount of email from people willing to offer advice. I haven't received any bad advice yet (although obviously I wouldn't know one way or the other), so I am very, very grateful. It is odd to think that buying a Motor Home was only an idea created by my wife about a month ago. We went full in at the deep end without any research at all other than in relation to which model van suited us best and thereafter ensuring we got a good deal for it. We never once considered there would be so much to think about and learn and maybe after this trip we won't think there ever was a lot to worry about or learn. However, right now, 12 days before we leave to drive on roads and stay at places we didn't even know existed, it seems like we have an awful lot to learn still. It's a combination of excitement and fear like a strangely concocted 50p mixed bag.

I've spent ages on the website forum. There is mention of lots of other resources for information on other sites, but presently I can't even cope with the information download from just one site let alone others. Every question I have ever asked has been answered, typically within an hour. I wish I had that sort of resource available in my business life. The help I've received has made me feel far more comfortable about the safety of the stops I intend to make although I got a bit confused earlier about whether a place was being recommended or not. I've asked another question.

I will definitely get on with that list tonight. I've got no choice. The one factor which still taunts me however and which will dominate the final content of the list is weight. I've learned that the E495 doesn't have great payload and although Mrs.F thinks I'm mental for keep waffling on about it, I know we are going to have to be careful, very careful. It isn't helped that I can't find a weighbridge near me to prove my point. More on that another time.

Scoffing a Big Slice of Reality Cake

Apart from updating the blog, most of last night was spent wrestling the French campsite guide book I bought yesterday. I swear you need a qualification in Origami to extract any useful information from this book. Other essentials include a decent paperweight, a pen and pad and an endless supply of post it notes. You also need to have a fair amount of knowledge of roughly where you are trying to go and try to find a stop on your route which suits your timetable. You need to assemble several snippets of info found across several pages before any of it makes any sense at all. Maybe I just need to try harder? Maybe I just need to face the reality that creating a perfect route might not actually be possible and start putting effort into something else now instead.

As I was giving more thought to my trip this morning, three things struck me as I battled to the office on my motorbike in the appalling weather. The first thing to strike me was a windscreen wiper unit that had unloaded itself from the car in front as it furiously tried to wipe the screen dry. Not just the rubber bit, the whole unit, arm and everything hit me full on the chest and gave me a right jump. This strike enforced the reality that anything can happen at anytime to anyone. As a former claims handler, I should have known that already.

The second thing to strike me was the weather. It was so bad this morning that it made me 20 minutes late even though I gave myself 15 minutes contingency. Aside from the physical soaking that struck me, so did the realisation that if I encounter bad weather on my trip and fail to make one of my carefully planned stops as a result, then I’m knackered without a plan B.

The final strike was seeing a road sign flashing with the message ‘M25 – Long Delays J4 to J12’. Now, I’m not an M25 expert, but even I know that’s a long queue. So, it occurred to me that if I am as unlucky on my trip as the thousands of commuters I sped past this morning were, the evils of bad weather and traffic could combine to enforce the use of a plan C which I'm nowhere near compiling.

I am conscious, therefore, that I might be trying to over plan the plan at the risk of not actually being able to stick to it. I've given it a lot of thought and have received some helpful advice from more experienced owners using my post. My view now is that as I've little idea of what I'm in for, the comprehensive plan still seems the way to go for me as a starter so I will still try to find stopovers all the way and book them in advance. I can always make changes to my plan as my confidence and knowledge grows although I must bear in mind that there are two aspects I can't change and that is the fact I need to be in Rojales before Christmas Day and be in Bilbao by midday on the 29th. By giving me 4 days to get down there and another 2 to get to Bilbao, we might actually find time to enjoy ourselves too.

I did start making that list of things I need to do but then made the mistake of also trying to do the things on the list as I wrote them down. For example, I know I need to get an EHIC certificate thingy from somewhere, so put that on the list whilst simultaneously clicking websites to get one. Easy, fill out a form and its done. I thought Google's Autofill feature would do that for me. Oh no, that's disabled on the site so I had to put all our details in it handraulically. I soon realised that I couldn't submit my request because I need all of our National Insurance numbers. So now I have added 'find out all of our National Insurance numbers' to my list. I've then had to cross reference that to the EHIC thingy on the list so that I know what to do with the numbers when I find them. And then I've emailed myself a reminder just in case. In all, therefore, I think I am better off having an almighty list creation session before I try to do anything else. That will be tonight's joy in between watching the footy of course.

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By the way, I found out today that despite congratulating myself for operating the gas heater the other day, I had in fact managed to successfully heat up the water boiler instead. I'm only grateful that I was equally negligent at emptying the water boiler tank thus avoiding major self harm to the boiler. I really do have a growing respect for the user guides and finding where those guides are, is now on my list of things to do.

Planning where to stop is not easy, no sir.

I've had a surreal time today trying to find a safe and comfortable place for our first stop over. I thought that if I invested a couple of hours in just the first stop, I'd at least make Mrs.F feel a bit happier knowing that a lot of research had been dedicated to finding the best possible place for our first overnight experience. Looks like I might have to wait a bit longer before trying to install any such confidence, however.

I decided to find a campsite with services for a M/H (or Camping Car as I've learned they say en France) sort of near the Troyes region. This will give us the requisite time to quaff and buy the liquid of fizzy dreams in Reims but still be able to arrive and settle in before it gets dark. I didn't think our first night should be gambled on finding a suitable Aire. Clever me eh? I started with the Caravan club; they simply said all their sites are now closed and couldn't help me, but they still sold me a book containing details of all of those closed sites. Who's the clever one now eh?

If I'm honest, I was disappointed with the help I got from the Caravan Club. First of all, the website would only show me sites AFTER I booked them and I could only book them if I also booked a ferry too. I've already booked the ferry and I don't have any idea what site is what or even where they are in relation to where I am going. I pointed all this out and was told that the 'web people' would look into it. No matter what I did or what they told me to do, I couldn't get any info on any site in France or Spain from the website. Not exactly sure why I joined now.

As the book of closed sites won't arrive for a few days, I decided to exploit the value of utility and went into a book shop. Isn't it kind of them to provide leather sofas for you to relax on and read their books free of charge so you can find out what you need then leave without paying? Unfortunately, however, after 30 minutes of sitting and flicking, I was reaching the piss-taking stage and getting severe evils from the cashiers. The only useful book they had there was 'Camping France' by Michelin and it was so complicated for the first 30 minutes of flicking that I had no choice but to buy it. Another 11 quid on top of the 10 lifted from me by the Caravan Club.

Back in my office, I phoned a couple of sites I found in the the Michelin guide book but they were closed too (even though the book said they'd be open). So I rang the Tourist office in Troyes who didn't speak any English but gave me the number of a site they thought was open. I phoned the site but the guy didn't speak much Englise, certainly not enough for me to work out exactly where he is, but enough to know that he is open and he is now expecting me to turn up on the 18th Dec. Somehow I had to work out who I spoke to, whether they can provide the comfort level acceptable to Mrs.F, where the hell it is and whether it's convenient to our route, failing which I'd have to find another play to stay. I decided to ask for help and put up a post on the Motorhome facts website hoping someone might recognise the place.
I also surfed the net and looked up as much info as I could find about 'Aires'. Seems the best thing I can do is get me hands on a publication called 'Guide Officiel des Aires de Services Camping-car (MODEL107)' I did that from the same website making the recommendation and was immediately relieved of another 8 quid.

At roughly the same time that I realised how brilliant I am at being sold books to, I had a reply to my request for help on the website and was sent a link to the site I had rung earlier. It looks like it could meet 'our' requirements, but I sent them an email to double check the details I jotted down during my woeful conversation earlier. I was pleased to see a reply when I got home wishing me 'good travels' and pointing me to their website. I didn't tell Mrs. F that the websites claims "It is a halt privileged for all the tourists of passage who increasingly many become accustomed", I just showed her the video from the site which shows the rooms and breakfast which she may call on if needs be. Presently, her only concerns seem to be to ensure the children survive and that there will always be a hairdryer on tap! She doesn't seem to see how difficult this really is and how I'd probably find it easier and more familiar to be teaching Russian to tortoises.

Anyway, today's progress to report is that I have booked our first ever stopover. Well, when I say 'booked', I don't actually mean booked. There's been no exchange of funds (in fact I haven't got a Danny how much it's gonna cost) and I haven't received anything resembling a receipt with check-in instructions. What I mean is that there is a place somewhere near where we think we are going that might be able to offer us what we think we we need. Being greener than green tomatoes at this motor touring lark, I've no idea if I will be satisfied with or chastised for the selection I've ending up making. Either way, step one is now on the plan so it's time to get on with all the other things still left to do.

The rest of this week looks like it is going to be just a difficult and time consuming, but at least I'm still learning stuff and enjoying the challenge which is what this all about. The biggest thing I need to do still is to actually commit my 'list' into list form. Currently it's still in my head and I can't help thinking that I might miss something if I don't have a checklist to physically tick off everyday.

PS If anyone hasn't shifted any books recently and thinks I'm a soft target, please let me know what other books I need...

Planning the route and testing Stuff

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.

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.

The First Night 'Upstairs'...

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…