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...