April VW Cali Club Meet-up

When we bought our Cali and joined the VW California Club in January, one of the first things we did was buy our ticket for their first Cali Club meet up of the year in April.  We had been looking forward to this for months and as it had been three weeks since our last adventure in the van we were really excited about this weekend.

We arrived at Lower Lode Inn near Tewkesbury at around 4pm on the Friday and there were already some other Calis there getting settled in.  The campsite was in the grounds of a pub on the banks of the River Severn

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It was peaceful and quite pretty but the facilities were very basic.  The toilets ran out of toilet paper regularly and there were reports of the showers being cold but possibly the most inconvenient was the lack of washing-up facilities.  Not a major problem, just an inconvenience.  Nothing to stop us from enjoying the weekend though :-) 

The weather wasn't the finest (it had been raining all day) and as we were all on grass fields there was a little bit of slipping and sliding going on as we manoeuvred our vans into place.  It was also a little bit cramped as there seemed to have been some sort of mis-communication from the venue regarding how many vehicles they could accommodate on site but we all got on with it and everyone seemed happy enough.  We started getting to know our neighbours as we were setting up and it was fun to see all the other Calis arriving.   



Once we were set up we grabbed the dogs and headed into the pub for a pint (or two). We soon started chatting to another couple who were pitched quite close by to us and it was fun to exchange stories about our adventures so far.  We could have stayed there for the evening but we had food ready to eat in the van so we wandered back and settled in for the night. 

After a fairly wet and windy night (thank goodness for the Cali topper) we woke up to a beautiful morning.  We weren't disturbed too much by the weather in the night as we had decided to sleep downstairs with the roof up.  We got up and enjoyed an early walk around the campsite and surrounding country lanes.  It was fun to check out all the other Calis and to see how everyone had personalised them.



It was lunchtime before we knew it and we wanted to see the Comfortz Leisure people (who were selling products at the meet-up) so we set off to find them.  We wanted to get the waterproof mattress cover for the upstairs bed to match the covers that we have on the seats and we also wanted to find out about mattress topper options for the downstairs bed as it was not the most comfortable bed to sleep in and both of our backs will vouch for that.  We had heard good things about the ZoneSleep but unfortunately there were none in stock and the cheaper option available seemed to be quite big and bulky when folded up so we agreed to go away and think about it.

We had pre-booked a table for lunch at the pub and found the food (and beer) to be excellent. 



It set us up nicely for a walk into Tewkesbury.  We loved the walk into town by the river and found the town itself to be lovely.  



On the way back we found a nice pub garden to enjoy a cold pint and some more sunshine.

When we arrived back at the campsite everyone had their tables and chairs out and some were firing up their BBQs so we decided that now would be a good time to try out our table and chairs too.  We tethered the dogs so they could be outside with us and we all enjoyed our first taste of summer camping.  This really was the life!



We started chatting to one of our neighbours who was showing us the shelves and covers he makes for the Cali tables and interior surfaces.  We decided to buy a shelf which now sits above our cooker and is so handy for storing little things that would normally get lost in the cupboard.  It's also a very handy kitchen roll holder!

The smell of burgers and sausages on the surrounding BBQs made us decide that we would much rather have that than any of the food we had brought with us so we decided to pop over to the pub for a quick burger and a dog walk before the evening entertainment started.  We spent about 10 minutes trying to get the chairs back into their storage area in the boot.  We felt like a couple of amateurs - we actually had to ask somebody in the end as were scared that we might break them!  

The event organisers had booked a live band for the evening and there was a bar, a dancefloor and plenty of tables and chairs if you fancied a break from the dancing ;-) We started chatting to the people who were in the Cali next to us and had a lovely, fun evening.  
Going home on Sunday was the usual feeling of morose that the fun was over but we met some great people, swapped lots of stories and learnt lots of little tips and tricks from everybody.  

Bye bye Lower Lode - we'll see you at the next one...

Gorgeous Pink Sunsets

After much deliberation we decided to go to the Cotswolds for the August Bank Holiday weekend.  We wanted to do something special as it may have been our last weekend of camping for the year and we didn't have the children with us so it was only going to be for the two of us and our dog. 

We found a beautiful camp site called Ashspring Caravan & Camping http://ashspringcaravancamping.co.uk/ which is located in Great Rissington close to Bourton-on-the-Water.  Ashspring used to only accept caravans and motorhomes but with their new toilet and shower facilities and expanded site they can now accept tents.  When we arrived on Friday afternoon we had a good selection of pitches to choose from but we were faced with two challenges: the undulating,  uneven ground which made it hard to find a suitable area large enough to accommodate our tent and the distance to the electric hook-up when we eventually decided on our pitch.  However, with a few adjustments we soon overcame these challenges and focused on settling in.

After exploring the camp site and a bit of the local area while walking the dog, we cooked a nice curry, poured a few glasses of wine and enjoyed one of the most beautiful sunsets we had ever seen. We felt like we were in paradise.

The toilets were perfectly clean, the showers were coin operated but not expensive and the washing up sinks were cold water only.  This may seem basic to some but we found it to be perfectly adequate.

The next morning started off quite cold but soon warmed up and so we set off with the dog for a walk to Bourton-on-the-Water.  It took us about 50 minutes to walk there but we do a lot of walking and this didn't seem like a long way for us.  We completely fell in love with the town and spent a very enjoyable morning there.  

There was a lovely sewing shop called The Bourton Basket which had a surprising variety of stock and I managed to get some needle and thread specifically for tents so that I could fix one of the hooks which had fallen victim to my step-daughter’s slightly clumsy touch!

We returned back to our tent in time for some lunch and then wandered over to the local pub for a few pints of the local ale.  The local pub was called The Lamb Inn, it was approximately 10 minutes walk from the camp site and it did not disappoint.  When we returned to the tent, it was time to relax outside and enjoy another wonderful sunset in this beautiful place.

The air started to become slightly chilly as the night drew in and so we were happy to call it a night, retreat into the tent, put a few blankets over us and cosy up in front of our electric heater while playing cards and listening to the radio.

On Sunday morning the rain came and we knew that apart from our planned Sunday lunch at The Lamb Inn (I had phoned the week before to reserve a table) we were going to be largely confined to the tent.  Two very wet adults and one very wet dog arrived at the pub for lunch but dried off in front of the fire and settled down for a luxury meal.  It was probably the best roast dinner we had ever had and the perfect way to round off the weekend.

I will always remember our weekend in the Cotswolds for all the happy memories, the wonderful camp site and for not forgetting anything!