About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Tuesday April 26th 2011 - Going home day

I woke that morning to a very overcast sky; for once the sun had deserted me, but then so had the wind - the previous night's gale had reduced itself to a gentle breeze, which I was quite thankful for as I didn't fancy taking down the awning in a high wind. I lay for a while not wanting to get up - my bed was cosy, the awning had survived, and I'd had a great few days which I would have liked to extend, but work commitments that evening meant I had no choice but to go home. The first job was to take the dogs out, and as soon as I pulled back the van door they were off their beds and waiting to go. I didn't take them far, just down the lane to the golf course and back; a longer walk would come later.

I wasn't in a hurry to leave though so I was able to dine at leisure before I had to start packing things away. I left the bed made up as I needed it for another long weekend in a couple of days time, so it was a relatively simple matter to pack the small stuff underneath it and the larger things on top. It didn't take too long, and when I only had the awning to take down I transferred the dogs and their beds to the back of the van so they wouldn't be in the way while I dealt with it. I think the worst thing about taking the awning down is getting all the pegs out, especially when they've been hammered into hard ground - it took a while but I got them all out at last, then it was a relatively easy job to remove all the poles, fold it up and get it back into its bag. With that done, and my pitch checked for stray tent pegs, it was time to take the dogs for a really good walk before I left for home.

Going down the lane from the site I went past the golf club entrance and followed the path to the cliff top, then took the steps down through the nearby glen to the promenade. I walked all the way along to Coble Landing at the far end then came back along the beach so the dogs could have a good run - and when we returned to the van they were quite happy to settle down on their beds for the journey back home. The clouds had gradually been lifting while I was out, and as I pulled out of the site entrance for the last time the sun finally decided to shine, making the drive back very pleasant. My stay at Centenary Way had been a good one - the site was nice, the weather had been perfect and I had been to some lovely places, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to make a return visit in the not-too-distant future.