funnymummy
A Dizzy M.A.B.I.L
- Location
- Lancing West Sussex
I had mucho fun getting ready to go away on holiday as told in... Previous Thread
The first day of the holiday was like something out a carry on film, so figured It deserved sharing...
Roof bars & box fitted, all packed, loaded on Thurs eve, so just wake up Fri, dress breakfast & on our way by 7am,, Right? Wrong!
My bubs had spent Thurs out with thir dad, I didn't realise until several hours after dropping them off he had not returned #2's seizure & sleep medication or #3's inhalers...He agreed to drop them on morn on his way to work..which did not happen
Wasted an hour trying to get hold of him before calling GP to get emergency script for meds - we finaly left at 10.20am - roughly the time I had planned on actulay arriving!
The 3.5 hours drive turned into 7 hours, due to torrential rain - It had been bright & sunny at 7am Grrrr!
Traffic in parts of the M1 was reduced to crawl speed as wipers failed to keep screens clear enough to see out of!
My folks live just off J26, the campsite we were heading to is just off J28, as we passed J24 I joked (it wasn't a joke) if it's like this as we pass Nana's were staying there tonight!
But as we passed J25 the sky cleared, the rain stopped & a sliver of sunshine appeared YAY! So we headed on up to 28, arrrived at the campsite & shown to our pitch.. Which had a large bare patch where a very large tent had previoulsy stood, I unpacked the tent,( which I had only bought the day before!! A 'windshopping' look round a camp shop had lead to me buying an end of season sale, couldn't turn down, reallly must have bargain) as I rolled it out I realised it had been packed oddly, normaly the the top/fabric is wrapped with the groundsheet around it - Nope not this one as it unrolled I realised the lovely soft orangey fabric was now underneath on the sodden ground Great!!, I managed to flip it over & began pegging down the corners, only when tryin to peg in the first pole to have all the pegs pop out - The ground was so sodden they wouldn't hold. At which point the heavens open again.. I dived for the car!
20 mins later it all stopped & tried again to peg down the now completely waterlogged tent, again the pegs just popped stright out the ground, which didn't seem like your normal hardpacked campsite soil, it almost felt like sticking my hand into a growbag..?
At this point I had to go back to the office & ask for help...I hate the weak female feeling! Chappy came out & looked at tent "oh dear" my lovely new orange tent was now a mud splattered heap!
It was decided that it was probaly best to move me to another pitch - Seems this one had only been re-turfed recently & was probably not 'bedded in'
So tent was semi-rolled & hoisted accros the gravel path to another pitch, this one slightly dryer as it was under shelter of a large hedge & a few small trees.
2.5 hours after arriving my tent was finaly up... I was soaked to the skin, shivering cold my hands red raw and numb & now had 2 manic bubbas who had been stuck in the car while all this was carrying on, begging to be set free
I looked inside the tent..it was a good couple of inches deep in mucky water... 4 large towels later the floor was all mopped up, I wiped the sides down with a micro fibre cloth, but the bedpods which had come pre attached where still sodden. I decided at this point that I would just blow up the airbeds & we'd sleep in the living area, all other unpacking would wait til the morning & hopefully better weather. Any thought of cooking diiner went out the window too & the evenings meal was provided by the local Indian takeway - Mine was washed down several LARGE glasses of Sloe!
The bubs slept well, but i spent most of the night awake & shivering, I thought of getting the cooker out the car & lighting that, but figured I'd rather be cold than monoxinated.
The next morn, the rain had stopped Phew!! The bubs went off to play at the park while I attempted to set up camp... an idea i soon gave up on, the fabric to the bedpods was still soaking..and i was pretty certain that the temperature wouldn't rise enough to dry it all out...so a trip to the local camping store becconned - £55 for an electric hookup & another £25 for a fan heater
By lunch time Saturday the tent was dried out & I finaly got a round to unloading the rest of our gear & setting up camp - 30 hours after originaly leaving home!
Thnakfully the rest of the holiday passed pretty uneventfully,(apart from realisng that in the original kerfuffle packing the car the bag with my mums birthday present got left behind) it stayed dry durung the days only rained at night, we explored the Teversel Trails, Hardwick Hall, Sherwood Forest as well as visits to see various family members.
The campsite itself was fabulous, individual hedged pitches, graveled walkways & parking by each pitch, and I have never showered in such luxury..Marble bathrooms, automatic showers, constant hot water. I'm alreday looking forward to returning next year.
The first day of the holiday was like something out a carry on film, so figured It deserved sharing...
Roof bars & box fitted, all packed, loaded on Thurs eve, so just wake up Fri, dress breakfast & on our way by 7am,, Right? Wrong!
My bubs had spent Thurs out with thir dad, I didn't realise until several hours after dropping them off he had not returned #2's seizure & sleep medication or #3's inhalers...He agreed to drop them on morn on his way to work..which did not happen
Wasted an hour trying to get hold of him before calling GP to get emergency script for meds - we finaly left at 10.20am - roughly the time I had planned on actulay arriving!
The 3.5 hours drive turned into 7 hours, due to torrential rain - It had been bright & sunny at 7am Grrrr!
Traffic in parts of the M1 was reduced to crawl speed as wipers failed to keep screens clear enough to see out of!
My folks live just off J26, the campsite we were heading to is just off J28, as we passed J24 I joked (it wasn't a joke) if it's like this as we pass Nana's were staying there tonight!
But as we passed J25 the sky cleared, the rain stopped & a sliver of sunshine appeared YAY! So we headed on up to 28, arrrived at the campsite & shown to our pitch.. Which had a large bare patch where a very large tent had previoulsy stood, I unpacked the tent,( which I had only bought the day before!! A 'windshopping' look round a camp shop had lead to me buying an end of season sale, couldn't turn down, reallly must have bargain) as I rolled it out I realised it had been packed oddly, normaly the the top/fabric is wrapped with the groundsheet around it - Nope not this one as it unrolled I realised the lovely soft orangey fabric was now underneath on the sodden ground Great!!, I managed to flip it over & began pegging down the corners, only when tryin to peg in the first pole to have all the pegs pop out - The ground was so sodden they wouldn't hold. At which point the heavens open again.. I dived for the car!
20 mins later it all stopped & tried again to peg down the now completely waterlogged tent, again the pegs just popped stright out the ground, which didn't seem like your normal hardpacked campsite soil, it almost felt like sticking my hand into a growbag..?
At this point I had to go back to the office & ask for help...I hate the weak female feeling! Chappy came out & looked at tent "oh dear" my lovely new orange tent was now a mud splattered heap!
It was decided that it was probaly best to move me to another pitch - Seems this one had only been re-turfed recently & was probably not 'bedded in'
So tent was semi-rolled & hoisted accros the gravel path to another pitch, this one slightly dryer as it was under shelter of a large hedge & a few small trees.
2.5 hours after arriving my tent was finaly up... I was soaked to the skin, shivering cold my hands red raw and numb & now had 2 manic bubbas who had been stuck in the car while all this was carrying on, begging to be set free
I looked inside the tent..it was a good couple of inches deep in mucky water... 4 large towels later the floor was all mopped up, I wiped the sides down with a micro fibre cloth, but the bedpods which had come pre attached where still sodden. I decided at this point that I would just blow up the airbeds & we'd sleep in the living area, all other unpacking would wait til the morning & hopefully better weather. Any thought of cooking diiner went out the window too & the evenings meal was provided by the local Indian takeway - Mine was washed down several LARGE glasses of Sloe!
The bubs slept well, but i spent most of the night awake & shivering, I thought of getting the cooker out the car & lighting that, but figured I'd rather be cold than monoxinated.
The next morn, the rain had stopped Phew!! The bubs went off to play at the park while I attempted to set up camp... an idea i soon gave up on, the fabric to the bedpods was still soaking..and i was pretty certain that the temperature wouldn't rise enough to dry it all out...so a trip to the local camping store becconned - £55 for an electric hookup & another £25 for a fan heater
By lunch time Saturday the tent was dried out & I finaly got a round to unloading the rest of our gear & setting up camp - 30 hours after originaly leaving home!
Thnakfully the rest of the holiday passed pretty uneventfully,(apart from realisng that in the original kerfuffle packing the car the bag with my mums birthday present got left behind) it stayed dry durung the days only rained at night, we explored the Teversel Trails, Hardwick Hall, Sherwood Forest as well as visits to see various family members.
The campsite itself was fabulous, individual hedged pitches, graveled walkways & parking by each pitch, and I have never showered in such luxury..Marble bathrooms, automatic showers, constant hot water. I'm alreday looking forward to returning next year.
