Since the origin of this blog was prompted by our first travels back in 2008, it naturally became my 'Travel' blog - hence there has been no posting since October 2010 as we haven't been anywhere other than a visit earlier this year to our beloved El Higueral.
Our plans of marketing The Retreat on our return to the UK in March 2010 went on hold until mid 2011 resulting in a successful sale with completion end January. We'd had plenty of time to reflect on the future and decided as our priority was to do as much travelling as possible while energy and health remain good, we'd buy ourselves a motor home and put on hold buying another home some time down the line once we'd decided where and when.
All sounded very straightforward - beloved possessions into store, a 'Help Yourself' party where friends and family were encouraged to take whatever they fancied (amazing how many friends/family we've since visited and spot little bits and pieces we'd become so accustomed to seeing in our own home - weird!) - remaining small pile found its way to the local charity shop.
We had a flat temporarily while we looked for our motor home and off we'd go. Best laid plans!
This has become the silliest saga of a couple of very naive (or very unlucky!) OAPs thinking they could just sell up, buy a motor home and drive off into the sunset...........
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| Meet Libby |
OK, so house is sold end January - three and a half months later motor home is purchased and kitted out with time for a 10 day 'trial' period spent in Pevensey Bay before Michael is off to Ibiza with the lads for Sam's Stag do. So it's park on Gill & Mike's driveway for a fortnight to finalise wedding preps then after the wedding we can head off.............................
Not quite: we house and doggie sit while Sam and Sarah honeymoon in Italy (though a treat to stay in their flat in Brighton!) THEN we'll get away? Sadly we learn of the passing of my cousin's husband and will go to the funeral so one further week - and we can leave.During the planning stage (and in the days when we were optimistic of a summer here) we decided before heading over to Europe we'd like to spend a week in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival early August with an evening at the Military Tattoo so why not spend a couple of months touring Britain while the French roads and campsites are busy? Seemed an excellent idea at the time. Since our summer has looked less and less likely by the day we've questioned the sanity of this decision but with the site in Edinburgh booked and tattoo tickets purchased (top notch tickets to include all sorts of extras) we've stuck to our plans!
So, 11 July - the morning of our departure for first stop Wales (Snowdonia National Park in particular to attempt to walk up Snowdon) Michael is programming our brand new Sat Nav with the help of the Internet - oh, seems we need an additional something or other if we're driving a motor home. Phone call to the Tom Tom company establishes we've bought the wrong model! OK, so now we have a brand new useless Sat Nav (know anyone who'd like to buy a Tom Tom Start 60?) and need the one that programmes routes that don't include narrow bridges on which we're likely to become wedged; low bridges through which we could emerge roofless or lanes so narrow we become jammed with no way forward or back. There's the inevitable 4 day delivery so we decide it really is high time we make our departure from Gill & Mike's driveway and give them back their front aspect view so we decide to take off to Selsey (need to go back to G&M to collect the Sat Nav when it's delivered!). Since the day had brought with it torrential rain, thunder and lightening we decided on a site offering a club house and evening entertainment (not our usual choice).
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| Our neighbours abandoning their pitch to make way for the ducks |
We arrive, having driven Libby through deep muddy water in places en route, the rain is still bucketing down with no sign of let up so a leap from Libby to connect to the mains electricity and on with the heating, a hot cuppa and some much needed lunch in our cosy (albeit horrendously noisy hailstones hammering on the roof) motor home after our vaguely traumatic and disappointing morning. Shortly after our arrival we noticed puddles turning into ponds which the local ducks were quick to discover - we watched while our neighbours were moved from their 'lakeside' pitch where the water was creeping into their caravan awning and other neighbours who had sandbagged all around the base of their awning! Thankfully we have our wheels to give us the height needed to keep us above water level!
Ah, forgot to mention: meantime we continue to experience problems with the habitation door resisting being shut unless we stand inside pulling like we're in a tug o' war with the door handle while simultaneously putting as much effort in the opposite direction on the catch on the door frame which might result in the success of closing the door if we're lucky! We've been in touch with the dealer from whom we bought Libby with the result that rather than yet another visit to Hailsham for further attention on this door, we've now scheduled an extra stop in Tewksbury en route to Wales where there is a Marquis dealer who'll see what he can do.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, who said we had the adventure of our lives ahead of us? The adventure hasn't started yet (at least not in the way we had anticipated!) but we're learning to be very adaptable and becoming used to last minute changes to our plans!
Any hope of seeing that vaguely remembered image of a yellow ball in the sky that emits warmth???
