Hello everyone and welcome back. It's been a while I know thanks at least partially to this half-term being one of the longest in the school year. Still, just a few days to go and Patsy will at last be on the road again as I embark on my first complete trip as a single caravanner.
The first leg shouldn't be too difficult as I'm going to our local site in Brighton just four miles from home and only a bit further from Patsy's resting place in the storage yard. It will be the first opportunity too to use the new Towing Jacket from the lovely folks at Pro Tec.
This was to be a Twittercamp meet but after losing Trev I just didn't feel like a big meet so there will be just a few of us including my cousin which will be nice. That's not the end for Twittercamp however as there is to be a very special meet next year - more later.
For the second half of the week I'll be returning to the Caravan and Motorhome club Crystal Palace site. This was to be our final visit before it closed and something we'd booked months ago. However it's been given a reprieve as the council has extended the lease for another year at least and I've booked for February half-term too. That will be a proper sightseeing trip but this time it's all about meeting friends, musicals and footy and am very much looking forward to it. I'm planning on a Site Arrival video and Site Tour too.
I intend as well to take off the Fiamma canopy for the winter. It will be the first time it's been off since 2015 when we bought it but it seems pointless carting it around for six months or so when it won't be used. At over four metres long it wont fit in the car but it will a school minibus so I can transport it home where it will probably live in the hall for a few months.
Patsy's next trip out will be early in December but only across to West Sussex for her annual service. She seems solid enough but I'll still be nervously awaiting the results of the all important damp test to see how her seals are holding up.
Then next will be the Christmas holidays and this year it's all about making the best of what will likely be a difficult time for obvious reasons. After a few days in Holland with friends I'll be hitching up Patsy again and heading first for the club's Henley site for a few days, then to my cousin's drieway for the Christmas period. Janet is on call with her job so it may well be Andy and I doing the dinner - perhaps a good distraction.
For new year I'm heading to another site so far un-graced by the presence of the Blogger in Black and Patsy - Bearstead in Kent. Friends are joining me for that one and we will make it as good as it can be. Not only that but new sites gives me the opportunity for some new Site Arrival and Site Tour videos too.
So that takes us into 2019 and I've already made some plans based around my idea to revisit some of the sites and places Trev and I enjoyed most. 2020 will be about exploring but 2019 will be more retrospective. As I already said, the February half term is at Crystal Palace but the schools Easter break - which this year comes long before Easter itself - will see me heading to the North East again. I'm not sure far yet but have booked a few days at the lovely Somers Wood in Warwickshire again to break the journey. There's so many places up there that we enjoyed it's going to be a fun challenge deciding where to stay and where to go.
And that brings us to the half-term at the end of May and I was thinking of staying put. However some caravanning friends have got together and organised a special Twittercamp meet in Trev's memory which I think is a lovely idea. It centres around the bank holiday weekend, so from Friday 24th May until the Tuesday and it's at the Moreton-in-Marsh Caravan and Motorhome club site in the Cotswolds. We've had two meets there in the past, the most recent being just July this year. All are welcome, just book direct with the site in the normal way but please do let me know if you're coming so the organisers have a rough idea of numbers. I'm really looking forward to it.
Beyond that it's the summer holidays and I have only one site booked so far, a return visit to Woodpecker Meadow and I'll be there for a few days around the 1st August, for obvious reasons. I have the urge to return there, next year at least.
And that is the extent of next year's planning so far. I hope to get the Easter break sorted before Christmas then next year I'll look to the summer, which given my need to be in Essex at the beginning of August will probably revolve around East Anglia. We'll see though.
Anyway, that's enough of my waffle for now. Look out for a blog or two from my upcoming trip in the next week or so. 'ish.....
Thanks as always for reading and I've said it before but will happily say it again and again - thanks for your support. We have a great caring caravanning community here.
Cheers and Beers
Rich.