scotsy
Guest
...our 1st time out in the Motorhome
As some of you may be aware we recently bought our first ever MH and are just back from a fabulous weekend at Castlerigg farm campsite just on the outskirts of Keswick in the Lake District.
After lots of preparations and 'list making' over the last couple of weeks we managed to survive a whole 2 nights away from home
We were also new to 'walking' which is now known as 'hobbling' due to doing 'too much, too soon'.
We thought it would be a good idea to set up camp at the top-end of the field to give us better views of the lake (Derwentwater), add to this the fact that the campsite itself is at the top of a hill just off the A591 Windermere rd (where the national speed limit starts) and you'll see our problem. Wherever we went from the site...it was UPHILL all the way back (not easy for us 'newbies' but the dog loved it
I managed to 'field test' a few items as well whilst there due to the fact there were no EHU's available (we knew in advance). Our Hymer has only one leisure battery fitted (85AH) so we didn't use the lighting too much on friday night (need to convert to LED bulbs in the future) but we watched 'Gran Torino' on my laptop using a 12v/19v voltage adapter (laptop battery is completely 'dud'). It was cold in bed during the night (Margaret thought i was being 'grumpy' when she brought a 4.5tog quilt home last week for the MH) but i was up before 6am to take out the dog so i put the heating on low and when i returned after a couple of hours 'exploring' the MH was very welcoming and Margaret had managed a couple of hours of 'lie-in' catch up sleep so all was well. After breakfast we set off to the Castlerigg stone circle and then on into Keswick via the 'railway line' footpath to the old station behind the keswick hotel. We had been promising ourselves a 'chippy-dinner' and i was going to buy a decent map and a compass... this is the point when i realised that after changing coats at breakfast time that i had left our money in my other jacket in the MH
We were hungry and a little tired so headed back to the campsite at Castlerigg, .......UPHILL all the way!!! we made it back OK but after a bite to eat and a brew me and the dog 'nodded off' on the bench seat for an hour.
No more walking today was our decision!!!
So i set about setting up the portable satellite (thanks ian n suzy) dish to see if we could get the TV working (we inherited a 10" Avtex from John and Sheila 'johnnyro').
Margaret said it was like watching the 'TIME TEAM' as I walked around the field with the 'dish' and its umbilical connection to the TV, unsuccesfully trying to get a 'screamer' signal
After 10 minutes of looking like a right t*t I decided to ask one of the fellow campers for a loan of his compass so i could establish where true south was, it turned out to be 'behind me'
Once 'south' had been established it only took me around 10 seconds to find 28.2E from it and get the 'screamer' i required for a good reception and the rest of the evening was spent 'chilling out' with a couple of beers, heating on, Margaret watching TV, dog snoring.....i could have stayed at home
On Sunday we walked through the 'great woods' down to the lake and along the shoreline to the lodore falls but we caught the bus back , we were both 'leg weary' and didn't fancy struggling up the hill again!!
We are heading for Hayfield in a couple of weeks (if we get in) so we'll maybe see you there
cheers all
Ian, Margaret and Bailey.
As some of you may be aware we recently bought our first ever MH and are just back from a fabulous weekend at Castlerigg farm campsite just on the outskirts of Keswick in the Lake District.
After lots of preparations and 'list making' over the last couple of weeks we managed to survive a whole 2 nights away from home
We were also new to 'walking' which is now known as 'hobbling'
due to doing 'too much, too soon'. We thought it would be a good idea to set up camp at the top-end of the field to give us better views of the lake (Derwentwater), add to this the fact that the campsite itself is at the top of a hill just off the A591 Windermere rd (where the national speed limit starts) and you'll see our problem. Wherever we went from the site...it was UPHILL all the way back (not easy for us 'newbies' but the dog loved it
I managed to 'field test' a few items as well whilst there due to the fact there were no EHU's available (we knew in advance). Our Hymer has only one leisure battery fitted (85AH) so we didn't use the lighting too much on friday night (need to convert to LED bulbs in the future) but we watched 'Gran Torino' on my laptop using a 12v/19v voltage adapter (laptop battery is completely 'dud'). It was cold in bed during the night (Margaret thought i was being 'grumpy' when she brought a 4.5tog quilt home last week for the MH)
but i was up before 6am to take out the dog so i put the heating on low and when i returned after a couple of hours 'exploring' the MH was very welcoming and Margaret had managed a couple of hours of 'lie-in' catch up sleep so all was well. After breakfast we set off to the Castlerigg stone circle and then on into Keswick via the 'railway line' footpath to the old station behind the keswick hotel. We had been promising ourselves a 'chippy-dinner' and i was going to buy a decent map and a compass... this is the point when i realised that after changing coats at breakfast time that i had left our money in my other jacket in the MHWe were hungry and a little tired so headed back to the campsite at Castlerigg, .......UPHILL all the way!!! we made it back OK but after a bite to eat and a brew me and the dog 'nodded off' on the bench seat for an hour.
No more walking today was our decision!!!
So i set about setting up the portable satellite (thanks ian n suzy) dish to see if we could get the TV working (we inherited a 10" Avtex from John and Sheila 'johnnyro').
Margaret said it was like watching the 'TIME TEAM' as I walked around the field with the 'dish' and its umbilical connection to the TV, unsuccesfully trying to get a 'screamer' signal
After 10 minutes of looking like a right t*t I decided to ask one of the fellow campers for a loan of his compass so i could establish where true south was, it turned out to be 'behind me'
Once 'south' had been established it only took me around 10 seconds to find 28.2E from it and get the 'screamer' i required for a good reception and the rest of the evening was spent 'chilling out' with a couple of beers, heating on, Margaret watching TV, dog snoring.....i could have stayed at home
On Sunday we walked through the 'great woods' down to the lake and along the shoreline to the lodore falls but we caught the bus back , we were both 'leg weary' and didn't fancy struggling up the hill again!!
We are heading for Hayfield in a couple of weeks (if we get in
) so we'll maybe see you therecheers all
Ian, Margaret and Bailey.
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