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Rodneys First Trip - 1.4.2011

The end of March sees the weather turn to spring and the clocks go forward an hour.

Two days before I am due to have a dummy run into Derbyshire I go shopping for food stuff and then fill the van with everything I think I might need, and then add a load of other stuff just in case!!??

I have filled the shelves with various books and packed the awning. So Rodney now has a Library and a Conservatory, aren’t we posh?
The happy day arrives and I throw in my personnal luggage and a few extras that I have thought of. Will the van get up the hills with all this weight?

We set off at a steady pace, not quite the speed of the old motorcycle but still quite exiting. The van seems to be keeping up with the rest of the traffic all the way to Great Longstone. I pitch up at a CS site and, after turning everything on, make a cup of tea. Two hours later I have a lot of empty boxes and all the lockers are full. I spend the rest of the afternoon faffing about and at about 7.00 pm cook my first campervan meal. It’s a proud moment when I sit down to Chilli Con Carne and Rice washed down with a glass of wine. The rest of the evening is spent Stargazing and just enjoying the views.

The next couple of days are spent cycling around the area, cooking at the van and slipping in a few pints down at the local pub. It was cold in the night but I was warm and snug in the van.

 

Back home I have a couple of things to sort out:-

The blown air heating didn’t work on the second morning. Seems it was due to me running down the Leisure Battery, the heating needs a lot of power.

The water pump didn’t work. Solution, turn on at the switch marked ‘pump’! The water pump is now working – Well, why wouldn’t it, eh!!??