But I chickened out! I had been intending to go to the UKCS 'can't wait any longer to camp' meet at Riverside camp site near Skipton, organised by the same member who organised the meet last October and attended by most of the same people plus a few other members, and I'd been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. Okay, so it's winter and it's not exactly warm, but with my tent instead of the awning (less space to warm up) and a fan heater, plus thick fleece blankets and a hot water bottle for my bed, I reckoned I would be quite snug. What I hadn't reckoned on however was the quick - and inconvenient - change in the weather.
Up to about ten days before the meet it had been relatively mild - well it had where I live anyway - but then almost overnight it went bitterly cold and on the Saturday before the meet the snow came down. Now long before I ever even thought about learning to drive I'd always said I would never drive in snowy or icy conditions and up to now I haven't so I was hoping that the snow would be gone before the following weekend, especially when it started to thaw rapidly on the Monday. However it wasn't rapid enough, and after a day of drizzly rain it froze again, and although the main roads were fine many of the local streets were like ice rinks - there was no way I was driving anywhere in those conditions, not even to work. I still hoped things would be okay for the coming weekend though and my plan was to pack up the van on Friday to leave home on Saturday morning, but when the weather forecasters said there would more light snow for the area I was going to I decided abandon the whole idea.
As it happens I don't think there was any more snow, and I may have got to the camp site with no problem - as far as I know everyone else did - but if the weather had worsened while I was there I may not have been able to get back home again, so I just wasn't going to risk it. After all, the weathermen always advise people not to drive in bad conditions unless the journey is absolutely necessary and mine wasn't, so I decided to be a total wimp and stay home and stay safe. Now I may very well have given up a good weekend's camping in the company of a great bunch of people but as the saying goes, I'd rather be safe than sorry. And there'll be many more weekends to camp when the weather is much better so - roll on Spring!
About Me
- Tigermouse
- 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
