Malibu Molly

It might be a bit early to be planning the return for a holiday that we haven't started yet and that's a month away! But one needs to have a look at the maps and suss out places to stop that aren't too far apart, or requite driving all day and also that mean you see little or nothing of the countryside. That's why I try and avoid motorways where possible, and toll motorways in particular. Okay, you can speed along and cover long distances.  For a lot of the time you only get to see  the road stretching away in front of you and often just a bank of grass where they have tried to hide the road from view! The rough route that I have planned from Kione Playa in Alcossebre to Calais Ferry Port takes in a route we haven't done before.  Well, some of it we have but not for many years. At the moment I have planned stops at Camping-Car Park aires, although once the route is cut down to each day (from an overall route) then we can refine, and I like the idea of the France Pa...

One of the problems with downsizing the van has been the downsizing off the fridge freezer. So after much looking at alternatives and reading reviews we opted for this portable fridge freezer. It arrived today. I was hoping to get it working this afternoon after 2pm when we get an hour of free electricity to charge as much as we can! But. Like a fridges it has to stand for a few hours for the gas inside to settle. In this case 6 hours!! It seems idiot proof to operate. It comes with a 240v UK plug and a 12v DC cable. It's main use will be when travelling on holiday and on longer journeys where the van fridge isn't big enough.... like when we go to France. The instruction booklet and I have read it, is oddly in °F rather than our usual °C in UK. Luckily the unit itself should be in °C.... we can't tell till we power it on in 5 hours from now!!!

I have a habit of breaking chairs. Usually one of the rivets that let the chair fold up. I have had an Alpha Camp chair for quite a while and it's strong and comfortable.  So when Claire's chair broke at Malvern we looked at a new one. With our spending a bit over budget we waited. Then yesterday I looked on Amazon and saw the slightly updated version of my chair.... it arrived today... It will be unveiled next week.

Most rallies run from Thursday evening until afternoon on Sundays. We tend to only do the Friday to Sunday though.  I have greyhound rescue on Thursday mornings. We also only really have enough solar power for three days!  The Bluetti AC70 did okay this weekend boiling the kettle, running the toaster and the Tassimo coffee machine. But used 85% of the battery.   So.... We arrived about 1.20pm on Friday after a longer way around due to road closures on the M20 due to an accident. In the end it wasn't that bad across country to Tenterden and then our "usual" way through London Beech and Biddenden. There were already a lot of vans on the edge of the field furthest away from the cricket pavilion and clubhouse.  We ended up at the end of the line furthest away from the entrance and the road. At all the events the club sticks to the 6m rule; a 6m gap between vans and any awnings.  It's fire safety.  There was a marker on the ground the last van in the line h...

The pads arrived a couple of days ago. The van was in secure storage until this morning. Once back I fitted the driver's seat to see what they looked like. The old one is still on the passenger seat. Let's see how these perform. If they aren't any good or too uncomfortable, then maybe we get some different ones. The DriRobes ones look popular on some vans but they are quite expensive and I've not seen them on a van that wasn't a VW!

So it seems. After all the climate change stuff with England, and possibly the other countries that form the United Kingdom, roasting under high temps that were constantly over 34 degrees Centigrade, the forecast for the next few days if not a week, is rain. And a lot of it.   Of course it will rain. We are supposed yo be going to a Motor Caravanners Club Rally at Sissinghurst in Kent with the Kent Group. The rally to be held at the Cricket Club in the village. Judging from some of the posts on the Facebook group, quite a lot of people has dropped out. We are due on Friday for two nights, but if it's raining, like it is as I type this, then maybe one night and home on Saturday might be sensible. The rallies usually cost £15 or £20 per unit per night. If we are stuck inside the van as it's pissing down with rain we might as well be at home. And that's probably the same thought that others are having and cancelling. Of course. Rain. I spent a little bit of time this afternoon...