Monday August 31st 2009

After all the rain of the previous evening that morning dawned fine though still very cloudy, and I was just hoping it would stay fine till much later on. With the aid of the fan heater the awning had dried out, and as it was going home day I didn't relish the thought of taking it down and packing it away wet. After I had taken the dogs for a walk I made some tea and toast and breakfasted at leisure - there was no real rush for me to start packing up as Vanessa wasn't coming back for me till early afternoon, and it wouldn't take me long once I got started.

Malcolm had said he would come back in time to help me take the awning down even though I'd told him I would be able to manage on my own, and true to his word he arrived just after midday. Little Pip went mental when she saw him - she loves being with me but is always ready to go back to her 'dad' when he comes to collect her. By this time I had already packed most things away but I hadn't yet disconnected the electricity, so I put the kettle on and made a quick brew before we tackled dismantling the awning. And once we had got the pegs out of the ground it came down a lot quicker than it had gone up - and the weather had managed to stay fine so the canvas was perfectly dry when it was packed away. With my bags put away in the boot of Malcolm's car and the hook-up cable rolled up and put away in the caravan all we had to do was wait for Vanessa to arrive, so we took the dogs for a short walk round the site while we waited. Many of the weekend's visitors had already left and the site was beginning to look rather empty - a few ducks pottered about, going from pitch to pitch maybe in the hope of finding some tasty bits of food left behind, and a couple of rabbits hopped across the grass of the children's play area. The grey clouds had broken up a bit and patches of blue sky and sunshine showed through, so after all the rain of the previous couple of days it was really quite pleasant.

Vanessa duly arrived and after a chat we set about hitching the caravan to the back of her car. It didn't take long, and with the dogs safely settled on the back seat of Malcolm's car and me on the motorbike we set off in convoy in the direction of home. Not long after leaving the site Malcolm and Vanessa got held up behind a slow moving vehicle which enabled me to get way ahead of them, but even with such a head start I knew they would still be back at the storage site before me. They were waiting for me when I arrived, though they hadn't been there too long - once the caravan was reversed back into its place and unhitched Vanessa had to leave, but Malcolm wasn't in a rush to get home so he helped me to put the cover on, which I couldn't have done on my own, then we set off on the short ten minute drive home. Once there I collected my bags from the boot of his car and sorted out the dogs and that was it - my weekend away was over.

I didn't know then how long it would be before I could use my caravan again - I couldn't keep relying on other people to tow it for me, and I couldn't tow it myself until I learned to drive, so I had to accept that it would probably be quite a while before I had another holiday in it. But I knew one thing - never again would I use that porch awning, it would be the full awning every time in future!