From canvas to caravan...

3 years on the trot our summer camping week with the kids has been a washout!  Dispite the glorious weather the week before or the week after, we always choose the worst week in the world to go camping.  In fact, since we had bought the Mojave 5 tent just over 12 months ago, it has been up 7 times, and it had to be put up in the garden to dry 6 times due to crap british weather.  The tent is clearly cursed; this was the approach Anna took that finally won me over into buying a caravan.  That and the fact I had owned one previously, and Anna's family all have caravans.

After some searching on the web, some sundays visiting caravan retailers, we found the one we loved.  so whats the first thing you do when you find the thing you have spent hours and hours looking for?  Yes, you look some more to tryu and get it cheaper.  And we did.  And it was a year newer.  And we got loads of free stuff thrown in.

Here she is (are caravans 'she's' like boats and cars?  who knows!)  the Swift Charisma 560.

'She' has an end washroom with huge shower(!), a side convertable single for alex, which also can be bunk beds, and a double convertable at the front for us.  The 'kitchen' even has a microwave!  the small porch awning is simple to put up and can be secured enough that the Dogs can sleep in it in good weather (and in the bathroom when its colder).

We picked her up from Glossop and towed her with ease to the 'lock-up' (must be said in an east-end accent everytime).  We also joined the Camping and Caravanning club, so decided to use one of their 'club sites' for our first trip the following weekend to the bakewell club site!  it is unbelievable how much space and storage there is in a caravan!  its brilliant.

Gone are the days of packing everything into tiny bags, moving stuff away from the sides, trudging down to toilet blocks to go to the toilet or brush your teeth, or airbeds that go down in the night.  we need to get a little better at erecting the awning and skirt though!

Bakewell was great, and we are booked for a weekend in Ross on wye and a weekend in Yorkshire in October - who cares if it rains - we have hot and cold running water and a double shower!