I got a call from Anthony at Airstream this morning at about 11am telling me that the leak problem had been found and solved. He’d even been up a ladder soaking the trailer with a pressure washer for an hour just to make sure. If it hadn’t been a balmy 3º Centigrade in the sun, that would have been a really unpleasant job. But big thanks go to Airstream for pulling out the stops and getting the trailer back to us so quickly. John had even gone around the interior and polished everything! Good stuff.
But suddenly we were faced with a problem. We couldn’t go back to the same campsite (they close for six weeks after tomorrow) so we had to find another one. Luckily there’re not many campers around at this time of year so we found a nice little CL (Caravan Club Certified Location) within spitting distance of Keswick. Anthony offered to deliver the trailer back to us, but we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to have a go at towing for ourselves. I’ve got to admit that if the new car didn’t have a humidity-controlled steering wheel, I would have had very sweaty palms. Let’s get this straight – it’s not a little outfit (especially for someone who’s never towed before) by UK caravan standards. We measure a little over 13 metres long (that’s about 42 feet in old money) and weigh in at about 4.7 tonnes. Luckily, the campsite we chose happened to have a very long, narrow, twisty, uneven road leading up to it, otherwise we’d have been in trouble.
It’s a simple enough site – there’s room for five outfits, a tap, somewhere to empty the toilet (more on that another day, I think) and that’s about it. But right now, we’re all nice and cozy inside the silver bubble with a beer in hand, while outside there’s a sky overflowing with stars, a nice, crispy frost taking over the grass, and a couple of owls having a loud conversation a few of fields away.
This is great.
7 comments:
Wow. I'm so jealous. I've enjoyed reading about your cozy nights in your beautiful Airstream amidst all that weather up in Cumbria. It sounds lovely. I want one so much. Where are you going next?
Thanks for your kind words jr. We're going to be in the Keswick area for another week or so, then we're heading South (allegedly it's warmer and drier down there) to Bristol for a few days, then on to Cornwall and Devon for a month or so. More details as we think of them...
It's fun for an American Airstreamer to read your comments about size and weight. Over here our tow vehicles are massive and our trailers (caravans) can get even bigger. My rig is a combined 7 tons and about 53 feet long -- not something you'd want to drive in the UK!
But then again, we get a horrifying 9 MPG when towing. I'm hoping you do much better with your lighter, nimbler arrangement.
We're all looking forward to hear more of your adventures ...
Hi there, followed you from the start, if you're headed through Nottingham, get in touch and come for lunch. We spent Christmas in the states with many hours at a dealers in Sacramento chewing the cud over whether to import whilst the exchange rate is so good. Then we got home and read the Dept of Trans web about width and weight....grr. So, you're our blue peter testers. watching with interest and hope to see you some day...soon?
Martine,
Lovely to hear form you. We're not planning to be near Nottingham this side of mid-Summer, though after that - the world's our oyster! Keep in touch and we'll happily drop in if we're near you.
Shame you're not this way- but we'll wait until summer- keep dry until then!
HIPPY!
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