Malibu Molly

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...

With the van sitting about a bit, I decided to get another bottle of this stuff to ensure that the AdBlue doesn't crystallise. I have it from Amazon on a subscription.  It saves a few pence. The next delivery will be in January.

These were an alternative to the mock sheepskin covers we currently have loosely fitted to the driver and passenger seats in Molly. The current ones came off old Molly and they are so loose and baggy we were looking for some new ones. We saw these being used and fitted in a vlog by The Frenchies Motorhomies . They are cheap enough to try and recycle if no good. Once again, they arrived after Molly was back in storage!!!

On top of the things we bought at the Malvern Show, we have been busy getting stuff together for our two outings in September or is that three... 😉  First purchase. These took a few days to arrive, or be delivered, as for some reason they had to be signed for by an adult. Or at least someone 18yo or older. By the time they came Molly was back in secure storage. They get good reviews on Amazon. Let's hope they are accurate.

Do you plan fuel stops when you are out and about? This advice from Practical Motorhome magazine is pretty good. It doesn't really apply to me though as I rarely go more that half a tank anywhere when touring in MM.  When full, the "range" is between 550 and 650 miles. Once I get to half a tank on the fuel gauge I'll start to look out for a station. I have even been known, usually in France or Spain, when I see a cheap one to top up the tank "because it's cheap"!!! This can be quite irritating for Mrs D.   What's worse, is topping up on "the cheapest diesel" for miles to find a cheaper one nearby!!! P.S. The photograph used by Practical Motorhome has a Getty tag somewhere about it.

I have been using the Fuelly App on my phones for quite a few years.  See  InvictaMoto Blogger  to see how long! I use it to keep a tally on the fuel stop and the statistics that go with each one.  Recently when we updated the phones and I had to re-install many of the apps, the Fuelly one for Android seemed to go missing. It seems they have merged the new version with a load of other crap I don't need or even want.  So I have reverted to using the desktop version through chrome. There is a link you can download to keep a website or blog page up to date with the current mpg.  You can see it on the left of the screen. A little banner. Full sized Fuelly banner! The "Avg UK MPG" updates each and every time there's a full tank entered. A part-fill leaves the calculation for the next full tank. I use it for the car, and the bikes. I have some defunct entries for the vehicles that we have sold.  I keep all three vans (currently!) so that I can see the diffe...

On the way back from Malvern, and to avoid the massive roadworks we encountered on the way in, we aimed for Stratford-upon-Avon and home from there. The first stop was not far from the showground at Warners Supermarket in Upton upon Severn for diesel as t was cheaper than anywhere else we have encountered for weeks.  The pump takes cards at the pump but I couldn't work out how to simply put my card in and fill the tank to the top.  I opted for £60's worth on a pre-set and off it went. The gauge showed full but it hadn't got the the first "click" of the pump. I logged this in the Fuelly app as a part fill. So onto Stratford-upon-Avon - the birthplace of   William Shakespeare .  One of our neighbours at Malvern said there is a motorhome park up almost in the centre by the leisure centre. I set TomTom the task of getting us there. It certainly seemed more than 37 miles! There are nine dedicated spaces for motorhomes and you can pay on the machine or the RingGo app....

I booked to come to this show months and months ago as we wanted to have the electric hook-up. The alternative was to take the Bluetti and solar and cook on gas! The overnight before was on a CL at Rhodeside.  Blogged already. We arrived around 3pm on Thursday. The drive that TomTom suggested was terrible. The traffic was almost all the way from Swindon to Cheltenham.  No reason until the northernmost part where they are building a dual carriageway.  Never again. Avoid the A419 and 417. We were swiftly on pitch. Using the compass on my phone we made sure the fridge was facing north. We had a walk over to the site. One of many. There was live music in one on the halls. No dogs though. I got some lager tops and we sat outside to listen to the music. Over the next three days we made loads of trips over.  In the end we bought some new awning ties for the Dometic awning and then a Dometic windbreak. The new windbreak has to be better than the existing Vango. Saturday even...