About Me

My photo
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 March 29th 2016 - Sunshine, showers, and packing up

I woke that morning to - yes, you've guessed it - yet more rain; just what I didn't need when I had to pack up later and take the tent down. I wasn't in a rush though, and by the time I'd taken the dogs for a short walk and had breakfast the rain had stopped, the clouds were clearing and the sun was shining - great, the tent should be dry by the time I had to pack it away. My optimism was short-lived however as the sunshine didn't last long, the clouds came back and dumped a heavy rain shower on the camp site. And that's how it was all morning - short bursts of sunshine followed by heavy showers, meaning that packing all my gear into the van was done in fits and starts during the brief fine spells.

 Now in the three years I've had that tent I've never yet had to pack it away while it's wet, so far I've always been lucky that way, but there's a first time for everything and it seemed like this was it. None of the sunny spells lasted long enough for it to dry out properly before I dismantled it, and even though I shook most of the rain off it was still quite damp when I finally bundled it up and stashed it in the van. And that wasn't a moment too soon either as the next rain shower hit just as I closed the van door.

 It was 1pm when I finally left the site and as I had nothing to rush home for I decided to drive to the Rhug organic farm along the A5 just out of Corwen. There was a herd of wild bison in a field bordering the road and though I've passed them several times over the last few years I've never stopped to see them close up. Leaving the van in the farm car park I walked back along the road but unfortunately another rain shower hit just as I got to the field so I didn't linger, and the two shots I got were the last ones of the weekend.

Driving back along the A5 the rain lasted until I got onto the A539 at the far side of Llangollen, and the further away from the town I got the better the weather became. With the clouds finally cleared it was blue sky and sunshine all the way, making for a very pleasant drive, and with no hold-ups on the roads I was back home by 3.15pm. It was a pity that the long weekend had been blighted by rotten weather but I'll be going back to stay at Felin Uchaf again soon so hopefully then I'll get blue sky and sunshine for the whole weekend - I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Posted by

6 comments:

  1. Anabel Marsh3 April 2016 at 19:46

    Ha ha, that bison looks as if he is as fed up with the weather as you!
    The Glasgow Gallivanter

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tigermouse3 April 2016 at 20:03

    I hadn't thought of that but I agree, he does look rather fed up.

    I always feel a bit sorry for animals out in bad weather but I suppose if the bison were in their own natural habitat they would be out in it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eileen H4 April 2016 at 08:56

    It's a shame the weather spoiled your Easter weekend. It's April now so can only get better as they say!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tigermouse4 April 2016 at 09:11

    I don't mind an odd day of rain while I'm away but that lot was just too much -hopefully it will be much better for my next weekend away. If it was possible to order up the weather I'd have blue sky and sunshine from now to the end of October :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. klahanie8 April 2016 at 01:11

    Hey Eunice,

    Yes indeed, I'm actually here and commenting. Hope you're sitting comfortably! :)

    Too much rain! Although, whenever I'm camping, I do like to hear the rain on the tent. Not much fun packing away a wet tent. I've had a lot of experience with that when I camped on the wet coast, um, the west coast of British Columbia.

    Those wild bison make for quite the photos. Take it easy and better weather ahead, we hope :)

    Gary

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tigermouse8 April 2016 at 11:03

    Hi Gary, it's good to read your comment, I hope you're doing okay and maybe feeling a little better now the days are getting longer.

    I must admit I do like hearing rain on the tent when I'm all nice and cosy inside, but I find it very frustrating when I want to get out and about with the camera and can't. I've booked on the same camp site for the first May bank holiday so hopefully I'll have much better weather then.

    Best wishes to you and Penny, and I hope to read a new post on your blog soon :)

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)