1st stop: Tiverton Somerset.

9th August 2015

One of Bessies new gadgets the Tom Tom Truck had its first test on the journey down to Somerset,
it warned us of a part of the M5 that was closed due to a road traffic accident and took us off the M5 on a detour of 3 miles then straight back onto the M5 this new gadget worked and saved us hours of sitting in a jam! Brilliant! As we approached the M5 the other side of the accident,we saw the extent of the delay! This gadget is well worth the money!

We had our first break at the side of the road which was noisy but so cool! We just swivelled our cab seats round walked into the kitchen area turned on a tap made a drink made sandwiches sat in a comfy lounge, took a toilet break without stepping into any services for rip off food! It was great and didn't cost us a penny!
After a short break we headed to our first campsite minnowstouringpark.co.uk As we were driving along with the tunes blaring out our fellow motorhomers that were driving past us kept waving at us?  We wondered if something was wrong with Bessie some were flashing their lights but we couldn't see anything wrong? We couldn't work it out. We have since found out that apparently according to the site warden we are part of the club now and we should wave back! What a friendly lot!
We arrived at the first site after a 4 hr 20min journey and the Caravan Club site is their usual standard, immaculate and well run facilities and very clean shower facilities, so Neil will be trying out the showers later. After a walk along the canal which backs onto the site we settled in for the evening with a well earnt G&T and a fish finger sandwich!

10th August  The Wrong Turn


The road behind the site along with the rain in the night  I didn't get the best nights sleep but we are only here for one night and after lovely fry up and a few cuppas, we were soon on our way to our
next site near Ilfracoombe, Devon.

The final part of our journey was hair raising to say the least! The brilliant Tom Tom decided send us down a single track road that was supposed to be the road to the site......it was a dead end road to a farm! Bessie had to squeeze down this one way road with the hedges skimming her sides and a van coming towards us! The van had to reverse 300yds to a lay-by and there was no end to this road! We finally came to a farm i called the site and she said "Oh have you used your sat nav? its the next turning!!!" So why is there no sign!

The Hair Raising Wrong Turn!

     
Neil managed to turn Bessie around and we then had to back up the one way track only to find another motorhome coming towards us obviously looking for the same site! Neil had to reverse again to a lay-by where within an inch we managed to pass! We arrived at our second site DamageBarton.co.uk a little stressed! The site is situated high up on a hill and we have a pitch overlooking the sea. Another immaculate site with very spacious hardstanding pitches.  The awning is up along with the bunting and fairly lights so alls good.  We rode our electric bikes to Neils sons site about a mile over the hill and boy i am glad my bike is electric no effort at all i could see people staring as if to say how on earth are they not getting out of breath until they get closer and realise we are cheats! Who cares its fun!

August 11th   Bessie sprung a Leak!

We woke up this morning to a wet carpet and leak!!  One of the pipes had come loose but we couldn't get to it as it was behind the cooker.  As soon as we started the water pump the water sprayed everywhere and came up through the floor!  Neil called Swift to try and find a dealer close by, the closest workshop was 45 miles away from our site and they were fully booked for 2 weeks!  We then had to ask for help from the site and luckily there was a registered repairer 2 miles up the road but they wanted us to take Bessie up to them.  That meant taking down the awning and packing everything away! Bessie had a pipe that had come loose as we thought behind the cooker and she was soon fixed thank goodness so it was back to the campsite to set up once again! phew! In the evening we met Neils son grandson Bailey his partner Charlotte and her family for a meal.


August 12th   A Brighter Day

This morning we woke up to a dry Bessie and everything working again. We had breakfast in the awning with a wonderful view of the sea and not a cloud in the sky. We packed up our bikes and headed off to Woolacoombe beach to meet Neils son and Grandson and Charlottes family.

The ride down to the beach was so much fun and most of it was downhill, coming back up proved to be a real test for the electric bikes!  After a great day with everyone and catching the waves on huge rubber rings we headed back to Bessie. The steep hills were pushing the bikes to their limits but they managed it, just!

Bike ride uphill!

Charlotte and me

Neil tried out his new electric griddle to cook tea and it worked a treat, this will be a great addition when we have electric included on pithes. The scenery around this lovely site is stunning with panoramic views out to sea the site covers 16 acres of ground and is only 2 miles from the award winning 3 mile long Woolacoombe beach. Most pitches have a view of the sea and are hardstanding.The only downside is the poor wifi its taken me 4 days to post this blog!
Tomorrow the forecast is heavy rain so we've battened down the hatches and see what the morning brings. We are cosy inside Bessie I'm writing my blog and Neil is in bed......and snoring!
Nite all.

Neil cooking tea!

Sunset over the site

Dinner with the family!

14th August
Another night of heavy rain and gales but everything is intact and we are cosy, Neil has stubbed his toe twice this morning and i can't help laughing because he always does it in the same place! We will try out the bikes into Mortenhoe  our local village later if weather allows us but now i think its time for a fry up brunch!