1st Day - kind of.

Need a name for the van!

The first day was somewhat of a salvage attempt. Originally due to set off at 08.30 we had to put all plans on hold as Jim had a 15.30 hospital appointment at Ninewells that couldn't be moved. We spent the morning packing the van with both of us trying to claim certain cupboards and areas as our own like some kind of land rush. I had been given a couple of presents from my friend Amanda for Christmas with instructions that one should be opened before we left - but after we had the Motorhome. As I pulled out a rather lovely pop up Christmas tree Jim's face said it all - the 'no Christmas rule' was about to be enforced, however I reasoned that we couldn't possibly throw away a present. Argument won - nice one Miller ;)  As usual I finished with about 5 minutes to spare and no chance to double check possible forgotten items (like the sweeteners which I remembered about an hour later) and that was it - we hit the road.

Millerbobs Xmas tree

One of the big challenges of the pre-planning was where to put the dogs both during the travelling and in the evenings when we had stopped. I bought a travel crate to keep them contained but it is rather on the large side so we dismantled the table and put them behind the drivers seat. Once the seatbelts were hooked through the handles it was perfect to store them safely whilst we were on the move. They were excited at first expecting a short journey and a walk but I'd imagine this will subside when the get used to the idea they are actually home!

We travelled to the hospital with no incidents and I made myself a cuppa whilst Jim went in. I'll admit, I didn't really need one, just because I COULD! Tested some of the other facilities (ahem) and then Jim was back so I punched the Woods Campsite address into the Satnav and we headed towards Stirling. We decided against heading to the Falkirk Wheel or Wallace Monument purely as it was pitch dark and daylight tends to help when looking at visitor attractions. Aside from some pretty terrible carol singing on my part and trying to get other Motorhomers/Tuggers to wave (was told this is good etiquette - yet no one waved back) it was all very non-incidental. 

Could have been worse than it actually was!

Driving the Motorhome is ridiculously easy. As long as you are aware of your dimensions and can get used to using your wing mirrors instead of the rear view it's a doddle. I do get a sense of superiority being so high up, I now understand truckers that pull out in front of you when your doing 70mph, it's a case of mines bigger than yours so deal with it!! A mile from the caravan park we came across a road block which we had to circumnavigate but found the site with no issues once the Sgt Major (my Satnav) got his bearings again.

Who knew what was lurking on my wood flooring!?

Things had been going far too smoothly by this point so it comes as no surprise that once we arrived things would go slightly downhill. We are the greenest motor homers ever, so didn't have a clue what to do when we hit the site, people at reception were lovely however and explained everything. I think the fact that it was now dark added to the stress and after finding a bay I tried to recall the plug in sequence. Van first - hookup second (OK not rocket science but I had a lot going on in my head!) and then we walked the dogs around the site. This is when the friction started, even walking the dogs on a lead they still manage to make a bee line for every muddy puddle, like narcotics dogs to hash cake and arriving back at the van there was some damage limitation to control. We had earmarked the front bench for the dogs 'down time' ie night or when we are not moving and had put a lovely microfibre fleece to keep the upholstery clean. Hadn't really thought about how to keep the the fleece clean however :\


The pressure of the day started to get to us a bit and the 'it was your idea' and 'you wanted to do this' along with 'I knew this would be a s*** holiday' mutterings started to creep in. I had been anticipating this, after all it WAS my idea and I TOTALLY wanted to do this, so my preparation for such a conversation was already lined up, something that would diffuse and placate a tense situation...

'Oh F*** O** you miserable B******!!!!'

Hands up, I had misplaced the guide cards but I'm sure that's close to what I had carefully written out. Some colourful words later and lots of huffing/puffing/loud putting down of objects we both started to laugh. Ah well.

Rest of the night was nice, went for a quick beer in the new restaurant that just opened on site (lovely although we were very under dressed as it was full of work Xmas parties) and unfortunately they were fully booked so we couldn't get food, then we came back and decided to watch telly in bed. The great thing about this new Motorhome is that you can move the flat screen from the bottom end by the table to the end of the bed, stick it on the bracket, plug the power and the aerial in to the wall and Bob's your Mother's Brother. Totally great when Mike (from Rennie Mototrhome hire) told me. In practice we plugged it in, it smelt like burnt hair, made a fizzy, crackly, sparky noise (with nice illuminating flash arc) and died. My fault obviously. 'YOU broke the telly' has been ringing in my ears ever since.

All in all, pretty much what I expected from a first day. Love it!

Fay x

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