Our first trip

[Tigatigatiger]

Well were had a phone call late yesterday-my stepson will not be coming over this weekend. We looked at each other and decided to go camping!

So as I am busy-got a Open University assignment to be by tomorrow at high noon, out with the girls tomorrow night and have volunteered to work at the Oxford Christmas market for the Blue Cross on Friday evening we and Johns away until Friday pm! Got a lota things to sort out?

The van-we only got him on saturday and when I should of been sorting the contents out on sunday, everything got left on the bed and I sat and drank tea all day with friends. So everything needs to be found a home, or assigned to charity shop or bin-why ho why do I have so much junk??

We have decided to take it easy and go too a CC site on saturday night-maybe Broadway? So what do we need? we have electrical hookup, levelling blocks, gas etc. So what about?????

Water? a hosepipe?? Do I need contectors to attached the hose to the tap?? we used a watering can with our Hymer caravan, as we had on board water.

Waste? do you need something to lift the waste point covers?

Someone mentioned a check list before you drive off-any suggestions?

Any suggestions of "must have items" for your motorhome.

I can see saturday morning being alittle crazy!

Anyway back to my assignment................

Thankyou in advance

Paula

 

[biggirafe]

Hi
Calm down Paula you'll give yourself an event

If its a CC site you will not need anything to lift waste points they will have nice clean emptying points with a hose etc for you to clean out your equipment. If its Certified Location i.e. a field with a watertap and emptying point, you will not need anything to open a drain but you should be prepared for it to be just that 'an open drain cover'. Usually there is a hose but not always. So take rubber gloves
Yes if you have an onboard tank you should have a hose. We have one of the ones that rolls up on a reel and goes flat at it does so. I have various firrings but the screw on one is the most used. Most big CC and CC&C sites have a motorhome fill point with a hose. We also carry a water carrier so that once we are parked if we need to topup the fresh water or toilet flush we can do so. We also have a smallish external greywater carrier that we use to empty the onboard tank if we need too.

What you take is really up to you, we find we always forget 1 thing each time, it varies but it is fun waiting to find out what it is

Recently I rushed out with my son and realised that night 'after having a wee dram with ajs' that I had left my duvet at home on the bed. My wife was very warm and chuckling at about 10.30pm

We have a list of things to take and a list of things to do before we leave home and before we leave site.

Easy things to forget should be left in the motorhome. But think about torches, matches wellyboots, Rain coats, washing up liquid, fuses, bulbs, extra blankets if the heating fails, turning off the heating at home is something we always do why heat 2 places

Have fun

 

[fiftysomething]

Hi Paula,

We went for our first weekend away last weekend - over to see our son in Oxford by chance! It poured with rain almost all the time but still we had fun.

It took us ages to get the van ready in the morning before we left home and I'm still not certain whether its better to get everything in there and then put it away tidily or to put it away as you take it in. Don't underestimate the time it takes though and remember that storing everything securely is important too!

Anyway, for a weekend at a CC camp site I think you should be able to fill up with water at home and not worry about a hosepipe. Take bottled water if you want to drink fresh water, but otherwise boiling UK water makes it good enough for tea or coffee, doesn't it? Arrive as early as you can, as the pitches are on first come, first served basis.

If you can, turn your fridge on, on Friday evening. Don't worry about not having read the books and books of instructions. They all make much more sense when you're actually sitting in front of the fridge/heating controls and you NEED to make them work.

Remember the matches, the torch, the bin bags or carrier bags and at least two pairs of rubber gloves. A bottle of sloe gin makes everything good this time of year too.

Our very simple check list was: gas off, unhook, aerial down, get in and remember to lock the habitation door.

Think you're in for bright crisp days and chilly nights. Hope you have a great time.

Fiftysomething (and should know better!)

 

[barryd]

For your hose pipe you will need a screw in type connector which I think is 3/4 of an inch like this

Green Jem 3/4" Brass Screw On Tap Fitting only £1.99 - Buy Online or Call 0800 310 2852

I struggled with this for ages when I started with our MH. The camper shops seem to sell hoses but not the adaptors. I found some plastic ones at a Garden centre.

I carry two hoses. One great big one on a reel which takes ages to role out and then back in again but I also have a 5 metre food quality piece of plastic blue hose that you can buy from a camper shop. This is the prefered hose as its much faster to use but you need to be within 5 Metres of the tap. They come with a rubber tap fitting which is rubbish. Pull this off and stuff one of the screw in adaptors down the hole. These screw on taps seem pretty standard in the UK and around Europe on CL's and Aires and presumably campsites (I try to avoid campsites so some may be different).

 

[Tigatigatiger]

Hi Paula,

We went for our first weekend away last weekend - over to see our son in Oxford by chance! It poured with rain almost all the time but still we had fun.

It took us ages to get the van ready in the morning before we left home and I'm still not certain whether its better to get everything in there and then put it away tidily or to put it away as you take it in. Don't underestimate the time it takes though and remember that storing everything securely is important too!

Anyway, for a weekend at a CC camp site I think you should be able to fill up with water at home and not worry about a hosepipe. Take bottled water if you want to drink fresh water, but otherwise boiling UK water makes it good enough for tea or coffee, doesn't it? Arrive as early as you can, as the pitches are on first come, first served basis.

If you can, turn your fridge on, on Friday evening. Don't worry about not having read the books and books of instructions. They all make much more sense when you're actually sitting in front of the fridge/heating controls and you NEED to make them work.

Remember the matches, the torch, the bin bags or carrier bags and at least two pairs of rubber gloves. A bottle of sloe gin makes everything good this time of year too.

Our very simple check list was: gas off, unhook, aerial down, get in and remember to lock the habitation door.

Think you're in for bright crisp days and chilly nights. Hope you have a great time.

Fiftysomething (and should know better!)

Did you stay at the Oxford C&CC site??

If so did you see the MH with all the christmas lights?? We popped into the outdoor shop on the way home last night-my dear dog that one MH must of being using most of the sites power! And of had a trailer for all those lights and trees!

John dragged me away before I could take a photo!

I have just drained off my sloes from the gin, had a little taster-very nice! I know I should store it for a year but..........

Funny enough I have two pairs of rubber gloves already in-and I never use them but thought they would come in handy.

I do understand about storage, thats why I plan not to rush it, we may jsut take everything we know we'll not need out until we have time to pack correctly.

Paula

Happy as assignment complete!

 

[fiftysomething]

Oxford campsite

Hi Paula,

No, by the time we had decided we were definitely going the C&CC site was full, so we went to a commercial site - Redhill - about 20 minutes out of Oxford to the north. Used the 22 yr old son who lives in Oxford as a taxi!

We stayed there two nights then went to the CC site in Bristol for one night (to see the daughter) and there were all sorts of Christmas lights on all sorts of vehicles. V Christmassy.

I didn't take rubber gloves as I don't use them at home either, but then I don't pull up drain covers much there. Will remember to put them on board before we go out again though.

Oooh hadn't thought of trying this year's sloe gin yet. There goes this afternoon....

Fiftysomething (and should know better!)