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 3rd 2018 - Packing up, going home

If I'd had any hopes of the tent being dry by the time I had to pack it away they were unfortunately dashed that morning - for once it had been fine overnight but not long after I woke up it started raining again, so it looked like the thing was going to be packed away if not wet, certainly very damp. Fortunately I'd got some wheelie bin-sized liners the previous day and with everything else already packed in the van I only had the tent and the groundsheet to deal with, so once I'd got the breakfast things out of the way I relaxed with my book for a while until Paul arrived, then between us we got the tent off the fence, folded up and into a bag, with the wet groundsheet going into another bag.

 Of course it was Sod's Law that once everything was packed away the rain stopped and the sky started clearing, and by the time I was ready for leaving the site the sun was blazing through. I couldn't leave the area without getting at least a couple of sunny photos though so I stopped along the road going from the site into Corwen and snapped a couple of shots overlooking the countryside and the nearby river Dee.

Instead of taking my usual route back along the A5 through Llangollen to the A483 I decided to go a different way this time and took the A494 from just outside Corwen, which would eventually take me straight onto the M56. It was a bit twisty in places but the countryside and views were lovely and the driving time was only the same as my normal route. It was a very pleasant drive and the sunshine stayed with me all the way home - it's just a pity that the previous few days hadn't been as nice. This has been the third year in a row that my Easter break at Felin Uchaf has been blighted by bad weather so I'll have to have a radical rethink for next year - maybe a change of site and area will bring me better luck with the sunshine.

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20 comments:

  1. Eileen H9 April 2018 at 07:31

    It is sods law that the weather changed as you set of for home. This same week last year we were in Bala and we had glorious sunshine, so it seems that the curse is Bank Holiday weather and Easter being a moveable feast!

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    1. Tigermouse9 April 2018 at 09:55

      I've often said that Easter should be on the same dates each year like Christmas and New Year but I don't think it would make a lot of difference to our unpredictable weather. Easter 2015 was in very early April, it was my first time at that site and I had glorious weather all the way through, but 2016 and last year were very much hit-and-miss. Just as a point of interest what was the Easter weather like this time in your neck of the woods? If there's any possibility of there being a drastic difference I might go to Manorafon next year.

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    2. Eileen H9 April 2018 at 15:14

      We didn't have any snow here on the coast at Easter, so I was surprised when I saw your tent photos under snow. One December we took Barry and Yuko to Betws-y-Coed and it was fine when we left home but as we reached Betws-y-Coed there was deep snow and again on the return journey, once we arrived home there was no snow here. It seems that the further you travel in to Snowdonia the more chance you have of having snow. I think booking Manorafon would be a better idea for you next Easter.

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    3. Tigermouse9 April 2018 at 16:08

      Thanks Eileen. I don't know if I'm right but I figure out there'd be less chance of snow on the coast because of the salt in the air. I remember staying at Manorafon for Easter several years ago, most of the country had heavy snow a few days previously with many areas of North Wales being hit quite badly and it was piled up in many places along the A55 but when I got to Manorafon there was nothing. I drove along the coast road that weekend as far as Holywell (no snow at all) then turned off back up to the A55 and the higher up the hill I went the more snow there was.

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  2. Jules9 April 2018 at 07:38

    I'm pleased the weather (eventually) cleared for you and you were able to enjoy your drive home. I hope you managed to get your tent sorted when you got back. Maybe a change of site next year would be a good idea. X

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    1. Tigermouse9 April 2018 at 09:58

      It's very frustrating when I get good weather on the day I come home - all those photo opportunities I have to miss! The tent is still packed up as I've not been able to do anything with it without the poles but hopefully new ones will be sorted today and I can put it up to dry it out properly.

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  3. nashvillecats210 April 2018 at 06:35

    Thanks Tigermouse for sharing this weekend with us.
    I can relate to this in many ways.

    Yvonne.

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  4. Tigermouse10 April 2018 at 13:59

    I'm glad you enjoyed reading Yvonne - hopefully my next camp will have some sunnier photos for you to see :)

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  5. Rambler17 April 2018 at 22:56

    Hello Eunice. We were in touch last year and I think we both had our final camping trip of the year in September. Unfortunately, I took my new, untried tent and my new rescue dog (who had never been camping) and ran into Storm Aileen. Not the best plan when our pitch was on the clifftops of North Cornwall. My goodness, did it BLOW!!! But - the tent stood up to it very well and little Benji slept soundly all night long under my bed in the tent.
    I was hoping to go camping at Easter, but we have had months of constant rain, winds and low temperatures, so I chickened out. Now I am waiting for a clear week without appointments or arrangements when I can book a week away - hopefully in warmer, dry weather. Looking forward to following your adventures.

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  6. Tigermouse17 April 2018 at 23:15

    Hi, great to hear from you. I've actually been following your blog for a while but for some reason Blogger hasn't included me in your list of followers. I did leave a comment on your post with the blue-steepled church and I saw your last post-that-wasn't - that was rather confusing :) I don't think you missed much by not camping at Easter, the weather wasn't good at all, at least not where I was. I haven't decided yet if I'm going anywhere for the next bank holiday, hopefully the weather will be much better when I finally do go again :)

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  7. JEN Garrett21 April 2018 at 06:43

    If there's one thing I do not like, it's soggy camping. I just saw a video about the filming of Hello Dolly and they had a similar experience. They were going to film one week, but the weather expert said it would rain the whole time that week, so they rearranged the schedule and did all the inside stuff when they had plan to do the outside stuff and vice versa. But the weather expert was exactly wrong and their original schedule would have given beautiful weather instead of the rain they dealt with all week!

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  8. Tigermouse21 April 2018 at 10:07

    I don't mind a bit of rain during a holiday as long as it's fine by the time I have to pack up and go home, at least that way the tent can be dry before I pack it away, but it was so frustrating to have the dry spell overnight only for it to rain again the following morning. If only I could have stayed on site a few hours longer the tent would have dried when the sun finally came out.

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  9. Bag End Gardener5 May 2018 at 11:17

    It's a b*gger when the sun comes out just as you are moving on - a bit like my trip to Scotland.

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    1. Tigermouse5 May 2018 at 12:24

      That's very often been the case over the years I've been camping Jayne - I should be used to it by now but it still p's me off if when I get sunshine on the day I go home after it being horrible the rest of the time! :(

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  10. Rambler5 May 2018 at 11:18

    I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get away in 2 weeks time. Starting today we have sunshine which is forecast for at least 7 - 10 days, but it might just continue, mightn't it? Trust me to have arranged several appointments for either myself or Benji next week . . . aaarrrggghhh!
    As for the trials of having to pack away a wet tent, I have started to book an extra night, so that if the weather looks 'iffy' I can at least have a full final day when I can hopefully pack the tent up once it's dry. I pack everything else, just leaving my single burner, food and coolbox (which doubles as a stool) handy. However, the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley, don't they?

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  11. Tigermouse5 May 2018 at 12:30

    It's absolutely glorious here just now and set to continue for the rest of the weekend. It's just typical, a nice bank holiday long weekend and I'm not going camping! The day I came home from this one WAS my extra day - if only I could have stayed a few hours longer the tent would have dried out properly once the sun came out but everything was packed away by then :(

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  12. Rambler5 May 2018 at 22:20

    That really was Sod's law, wasn't it?
    Since I retired 13 years ago, I have avoided going camping during holiday times, preferring the quieter times with fewer people being in Cornwall - or indeed, on the campsites. It would be nice to get away in between the 2 May Bank Holidays, otherwise I shall have to wait until June.

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  13. Tigermouse5 May 2018 at 22:34

    Unfortunately, apart from my two 10-day holidays each year - June and September - work commitments mean that I rely on the bank holidays to get away for a decent long weekend. Theoretically I could go away any weekend I want as I don't work them but it's not always practical to go just for two nights so I tend to stick to the bank holidays unless I have somewhere/something in particular I need to go away for.

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  14. Rambler7 May 2018 at 00:24

    I understand the 2-night holiday; erecting and pegging down a tent and all the paraphernalia that needs transferring from car to tent takes up so much time and effort - and that's on a nice calm day. To have to do it all over again in reverse after only 2 nights is a terrible anticlimax and preferably to be avoided.
    Personally, I need a quiet, relaxing, sitting around day to recover after setting up the tent before I can enjoy the rest of the time there.

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  15. Tigermouse7 May 2018 at 10:29

    In the early days of my solo camping I often did a 2-night weekend as I was really enjoying my new-found camping freedom but nowadays I keep it simple just for two nights. I sleep in the van and though I still put the tent up I only use it as somewhere to wash and dress in private so have no need of the bedrooms and all the other paraphernalia - if I leave home early enough I can be on site and set up by 9am and have the full day ahead, so plenty of time to relax for a while before going anywhere :)

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