Monday 25 June 2012

Time for a change...

We've been in soggy York at http://www.yorkcaravanpark.com/ since the beginning of July which has become our base for visiting family and friends. Great to see everyone again and more importantly an opportunity for them to see we are ok and enjoying our chosen lifestyle. The weather has been shocking, wind, rain and far to cold for us to explore or enjoy our beloved East Yorkshire, but bad weather never stops us from spending time with family and friends.  

After nearly a year on the road we've reviewed our options before  setting off abroad again. As I said in my last post, visiting Signature Motorhomes is dangerous and we decided to trade in our beloved bus for a newer model. Mr H did his best Yorkshireman negotiations on the price and we got a good deal from our extended family at Signature. Afraid we are spending even more of our children's inheritance and have purchased the most fabulous new Thor ACE 30.1 in Twilight Dawn she's a beauty!! The bottom line is it gives us so much more room and has been pimped to the max. 
http://acemotorhome.com/floorplans.php


Our next decision was to buy a Piaggio MP3 300LT scooter for our local transport needs. Mr H loves it and has gone all retro with a fish-tail parka, levis, open faced peaked helmet, Ray Bans and a harrington jacket! We had to run the engine in before leaving for Europe again so we have been whizzing about a lot. We did a run from York to Hull then to Bridlington and Scarborough and it wasn't even a bank holiday. I am learning the rules of being a pillion passenger and have developed the following tricks to stay alive;
1.  clamp Mr H between my thighs at all times with a grip that would make a nun blush
2. ensure I move / lean as one with Mr H when cornering without screaming like a girl in his ear
3. ignore the lorries, ambulances and motorists that think its ok to come close enough for me to see thier tyre tread thickness and the text they are busy sending.
Despite all this I am growing to enjoy the wind in my face, frozen extremeties and just being able to dodge the traffic queues!


Finally, we needed a custom built trailer to carry the scooter, bikes and odd bits so Mr H ordered one from http://www.ticknertrailers.co.uk/box_gt.html 
The GP85 trailer looks smart, seems to be well built and tows well Mr H reports. Delivery was delayed so we had a wasted journey going to pick it up as arranged. However they did complete a week later and delivered it to us at York at their expense.


So after weeks of rain, gales, delays, endless locker and internal RV cupboard shifting and road trips visiting family we're all geared up and heading for Germany next so auf wiedersehen for now!