Winter was never going to be the best time to start living in a caravan. . .

When we first thought about travelling to, and taking our time in places in Europe and the UK, we had expected our house in Derby to take time to sell, and we would start the adventure in the Spring of 2014. But luck shone on us and the house sold in weeks not months – effectively giving us little choice but be "homeless" sooner than expected. Little did we know that we would experience so many windy nights in just one month.
It's three in the morning, and outside the wind is blowing and driving in the rain. Nothing like 2 weeks ago when there were gusts of 50/60 miles per hour, or the beginning of last week when they reached 80. You can tell the difference lying in bed in a caravan! But whatever the wind speed it is usually a good time to have a cup of tea. But we took the awning down before the 80 mph storm, cancelling a planned lunch with Gail's cousin to get thoroughly soaked instead. With yesterday such a lovely day, we finally took the awning out of the car where we had stuffed it 6 days ago, and dried everything off. It will probably stay folded up now until we get to warmer places.
Nonetheless the adventure has started. We have experienced bad weather, and I am contemplating writing to the caravan manufacturer to share our wind tunnel experiences. I also remember the first weekend in March we collected the caravan, and were cut off for a few days in Leicestershire with heavy snow. We have the right caravan – warm & dry – too warm according to Gail. This site is well drained, so we haven't had that side of the bad weather to contend with fortunately. This site is in a nice location just a mile from the Solent, and the River Hamble, and of course close enough for us to pop in to see Amelia, Kate & Paul, at least every other day, sometimes several days in a row. On balance, to enjoy that, it is so worth putting up with a bit of noisy wind and rain. To share Amelia's first Christmas and birthday by being so near has made it the best Christmas in a long time. Maybe that is the subject of another blog post. . .
We are moving on to the New Forest at the end of the week – mainly because Adrian & Mary are coming down for a weekend in their motor home the weekend after. But also it's a cheaper site! From there we have a Eurotunnel crossing booked on January 14, and our first site in France booked in Beauvais, north of Paris. After a few days there, further south towards Orleans, but nothing definite or booked yet. There has been quite a lot to plan in addition to the bookings. Recovery insurance; travel insurance; book the car in for service; should I get the MOT done before we go . . . etc. Just found out yesterday that in Spain we will need warning signs on the back of the caravan as we are over 12 metres, so they are on order. Already knew we have to get 2 breathalyser kits for France, but with French wine so convenient will two be enough?
Maybe that wind is dying down a little – so back to bed. No work today!