April - showtime and making plans

Now that the van has been serviced both inside and out and had the gearbox sorted, we are now ready to go off on our travels again.

First off this year was to the Motorhome Show at Peterborough.  We left home on a very windy Wednesday morning up the A2 through the Dartford Tunnel and off up the M11/A1.  We have invested in the Britstop Scheme for the first time (for the un-initiated it is a directory of pubs, farmshops, vineyards, craft centres  and the like which allow motorhomes to park on their car parks overnight for no charge) so decided to try our hand at the Sibson Inn.  This was on the A1 near to Peterborough and very nice it was too. The car park was around the back away from the road noise overlooking the fields.  We partook of an excellent evening meal and then settled in for an exceptionally windy night with not much sleep.

Our first Britstop - the Sibson Inn near Peterborough

 In the morning after a wash and brush-up we headed over the main road for about 3 miles to the Showground.  After much left a bit, right a bit, back the way we had come, cussing and general domestic disharmony not helped by the fact that all the flags were either not up to start with or had blown down in the wind we finally found our allocated area with the Motorhome Facts group.

Motorhome Facts area at Peterborough Show

On the Friday we joined a load of other folk on a bus trip in to Stamford, which was a pretty little town with many old buildings and a market. As it was still quite chilly, showery and windy, we dived in and out of the many charity shops, then the church , then the library (as the Museum had closed permanently) and meandered through the market stalls until the rain became a lot heavier when we adjourned to a nearby cafe for coffee and sandwiches.  The bus took us back at 3.00pm and after dinner we relaxed for the rest of the evening watching all the other motorhomes arriving. We estimated a good 2000 in all!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and a little lesss windy, so we spent the whole day mooching around the numerous stalls on the site.  We picked up a few bits and pieces for the van, one being a telescopic ladder, so we can now get up and clean our filthy roof.  We even have moss growing in the gutter of the awning!  In the evening we wandered over to the secondary entertainment area and sat listening to 'Double Barrel' who are a Country & Western duo.  They were not bad although they played music from across the genres as well.

Sunday was also bright and sunny and we managed to sit outside with our coffees and even had an ice cream in the afternoon!  We spent most of the day looking at all the motorhomes we would buy should we ever win the lottery!

On Monday we left late morning and may our way over to Ferry Meadows Caravan Club Site - all of a 10 minute drive! As we could not get in there until mid-day, we made a coffee/toilet stop at Notcutts Garden Centre and browsed the plants deciding which we would take home with us.  At mid-day we joined a very long queue of vans to get in and pitch up, it turned out to be about 100 of us had all had the same idea (note to self - never try to go to Ferry Meadows on a Monday after a Motorhome Show again!) However by about 2.00pm we were all sorted and sitting having some lunch, after which we strolled around the site as we had not been there before.  Then showers, dinner and bed.

Tuesday, we caught the bus in to Peterborough and did all the touristy bits cathedral, museum, back streets as well as some shops.  I sorted a good deal in the T-Mobile shop (£2.99) and now have a new phone to play with, taking photos and sending emails when I discover how to do it.

Wednesday, we went for a long walk around the lakes at Nene Park and said 'Hello' to the many rabbits and squirrels along the way and 'Morning Mr Magpie' to make sure we had good luck for the rest of the day.  We came back with sore feet so just sat in the sun in the aftenoon.

Thursday was drive home day ( 112 miles) stopping at Morrisons en route to do the weekly shop, and getting home in time to get some of the washing done and out to dry.

We now have a few days in which to catch up on the garden etc. and think about what we are going to do next.  We picked up the France Passion book on our travels, which is the French version of Britstops and rather fancy the idea of meandering the by-ways of France for a few weeks later in the year. Just have to 'sus out a cheap ferry deal and we are sorted.!  As most of you know we are of the "follow-your-nose" persuasion rather than planning everything in advance.