Malibu Molly

The little pads I bought a month or so haven't really worked out that well.  They keep your butt off the seat covers but they weren't any comfortable. So Claire decided to buy some new faux sheepskin covers. We fitted them today. They go on easily enough and are a little baggy. Hopefully, they will bed in with use. The elastic tie-downs are a little tricky as there aren't many places to secure the little hooks that each one has. I had hoped to get them under the seat like a spiders 🕷 web 🕸.  But there aren't any slots or holes to thread them through. In the end we did what we could. We will have to wait and see how they perform.

Today we had Molly booked in for the MoT test.  We got it out from storage after the fortnight it's been in there. Of course,  it started first time.   It seems the area is spider central. Both door mirrors are covered in webs! We will sort that out, a brush and hose....! The MoT? It didn't happen as when I got to the garage, Molly was too long for the test ramp. They did try and the back wheels would overhang the end of the ramp when it was raised for them to get underneath. Panic. I called around a few places with the right length ramps.  I tied the two suggested by the first garage.  One couldn't do it and suggested the other one that had been suggested earlier.  They couldn't fit it in until 4.30pm the day before we go away!  A bit late! I booked it in case I couldn't get anywhere earlier. Then I  called Choose Leisure where we got Molly from, and they suggested the garage across the road from them where they get all the Mot's done. ...

When we took the van back to the storage it was the first time on the road. The newer Dell didn't have any editing software so I had to find some, whereas the old knackered Dell had a free Windows Movie Maker installed. Basic but it worked. The link below is the example!!! The quality looks good. https://youtu.be/4aLvcef9VIw?si=i10mqzPAkSkMrpYV

Rather than take the Bosch with us from home, I had a look around for something smaller, lighter and easier to store in the van. There are literally hundreds to choose from on Amazon and the internet in general. In the end I opted for this one.  Mainly because it was prime and would arrive the next day, but also because it has 92 reviews and all of them good. Oh. And also because it was cheap enough to shrug if it turns out to be a dud. It arrived today and I charged it immediately so I could test it. The capacity of the "dust bag" isn't that great but I don't expect the van to get too filthy between cleans. Unlike the house where I only vacuum once a week (!) the van gets brushed all the time. This will make that job easier. So far so good. Used it on the armchairs and it picked up a few crumbs with ease.  Now I have to find somewhere to store it in the van. 

According to Google Maps it's about 5 hours to Plymouth and with the ferry due to depart at 3.45pm, I thought it would be better to go the day before and not rush.  Of course, with Reggie onboard it will take considerably longer! This would mean an overnight stay in Devon.  I had a look on various websites to see what sites were available in the area that would mean a leisurely scenic drive to the port at Plymouth. And also that weren't very expensive. In the end I found Cofton Holidays in Dawlish Warren on pitchup.com . Their booking system is a little strange in that it gives a pitch price, then to add "extras" like electricity and dogs. I decided to check their own website, The price was the same but it was far easier to book everything in one place.   A 7m hardstanding pitch with metered electricity comes in at £32.50. The site looks pretty big and they have a bar and a restaurant.  The site was on YouTube .

A couple of weeks to go before we set off for deepest France and Spain. The problem when trying to plan a route down is that in the end, there aren't really that many places to cross from France into Spain, and vice-versa. When you are pressed for time on the outward journey to avoid tolls limits the choices to get from the channel port, either ferry or train.  If the aim is to cross at the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees than the A75 comes up on all route planners. Also Paris site like a fat spider in the middle of its web.  Getting around always poses a problem.  The eastern route on the N104/A104 is pretty much the route you get given by Google Maps and many of the route planners that use Google Maps! Oddly, MyRouteApp decided to go to the west this time from Formerie.  I guess if we had chosen to stay at a different aire then the route might have been substantially different. Route avoiding the worst of Paris! Usually to get a route you want you have to add som...

Day 1.  After some time of avoiding Le Shuttle, we booked again, the first time in Malibu Molly! It's always a toss of the coin whether we go by Le Shuttle or the ferry from Dover. Since we've had Reggie for eleven years we have opted to use the tunnel more, simply when in the car it was easier and the price was comparable with the ferries. Since Covid though, Le Shuttle (train!) prices have climbed and climbed and not kept pace with earnings nor with the ferries. As a Club Le Shuttle member every so often I get offers to save some rather decent percentages off the fare. This year the booking offer would only cover the outward journey to France and though still more than the ferry for the same date it wasn't the usual £100 plus difference. So I booked the outward only.  The return leg would have been around £150 more than either of the Calais to Dover ferries, including access to the pet lounges! I wasn't going to book a return until we were over there to keep our optio...

Each an every day since April 2015 I have been taking a load of pills. Everyday since the stent went into my heart. Then since January 2024 I have had another two added to the list. This time due to my raised PSA and the chances of prostate cancer.  I usually just count up the number of days and start a new bag with the bubble packs for all eight inside to cover the time away from home. This time as I am a little more forgetful so I bought, on eBay, a pill box that covers 28 days. Each day has a compartment of its own.  I have spent a fruitful fifteen minutes filling all the little boxes with the days pills. I still have one more pill to be added as I haven't received them from the pharmacy yet.   The holiday start in what will Wed W1 so to keep it working Sun W1 will be the first taken.  Easy innit?

Sadly the event has been cancelled. We were booked to go last September and it was rained off. The same has happened and the field is once again flooded, plus some reckless car thieves managed to crash through the fence and cause a lot of damage. I have replied to say we'll roll over our tickets to next year. The dates are yet to be released. 

Have been thinking about getting a dash cam for a while.  With the Remis blinds fitted it reduces the space between the screen and the runner the blind moves on. So it had to be a small one. Many of the small ones have no internal battery so need to be connected to the van or car's electrical system. The Ignite comes with a power lead that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. When the power comes on, it starts up. There is an off switch if needed. I fitted it this afternoon. They supply it with a sticky pad on the mount and also a plastic sheet that apparently makes it easier to remove....  How does it work?  Once the power is on it starts automatically.  It only records in three minutes chunks. Everything is controlled through an app. The unit creates its own WiFi and once connected to my phone I can enter the setup.  Through the app I can see where the lens is pointed. I had Claire check that I had fitted the bracket level!  I don't like the plastic s...

I sent the first couple of blog entries using Gmail but as I had included some embedded photos, Blogger/Google/Gmail threw a wobbler and failed to post. It worked alright to Travellerspoint and so rather than re-invent the wheel all four days are in the link below. https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/tag/suffolking_weekend/

On the way back from Suffolk to the Garden of England the AdBlue warning light came on. Rather than get ripped off at the Shell on the approach to the Orwell Bridge I looked at other stations... a BP near Colchester showing it on the signage below diesel... £1.399 a litre!!! Today at Home Bargains got 10 litres for £7.99. Yes it's heavy. Yes it's harder to pour.... It took a fraction under 10 litres to be up the filler.... so based on my notes, 230 miles to the litre. It seems it's another rip off we have to endure in the UK. In Peñiscola last year I filled up old Molly's tank at €0.39 a litre!!

I was reading a motorhome magazine today and it has a largish section on touring and trips that people, not necessarily professional journalists, have taken. One was in the Centre area of France, and Bourges in particular.  I think we have driven or even ridden this route once, but it was long ago. So long ago I can't remember when! Anyway.  The write-up and review of the Camping de Bourges site was good and so as it's only a few € more than the Camping-Car Park I was looking at for the same overnight, it seemed like a good change of plans.  Until I looked on the website I didn't realise it was another chain of campsites.  Previously we have stayed on other campsites that are part of a chain; Sandaya and Flower Camping. So I booked it through ACSI . All in with local taxes it's €21 for a pitch with leccy and of course loos/showers. On the way south from here we should pass through a village that is the centre of France, geographically that is.  

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!!!