Day 1 - A new Hobby, A Great Adventure.

So, the morning of our first real trip has arrived. It started off on a bit of a downer really. When we bought our Caravan we had the intention of taking Freddy, our Dog with us but he really does not like travelling. When we go abroad one of the Grand kids stop at our house and look after Freddy but unfortunately they couldn't this time, so it was off to the kennels for my poor pooch. After being assured by the owner of the kennels I reluctantly left my dog and headed home to get the car and go and pick up the caravan.

We had a slight fright when the right indicator wouldn't work but I surprised myself by finding the fault ( which most people would have done) and fixing it, so, we were on our way.

I anticipated the A1 to be much more busy but it was quite a pleasant drive.

Now I am quite sure that there has always been a large number of Caravans on the road, especially on a Bank holiday, but it's not until you are towing one yourself that you realise just how popular this hobby is, I commented to my wife how many we had seen, must have been over an hundred, she just commented how sad I was for counting!

So, turning off the A1 at Darlington onto the A68, again another nice drive, with one or two big hills but the Car and Van behaved impeccably. Joining the A69 for the last leg we soon arrived at our destination in Melkridge, Hadrians wall caravan & camping site. It was very busy, I booked this holiday in December, never realising it was half term!

We got a nice spot with a great view.

Setting up the can was relatively smooth with the biggest drama being that the TV did not pick up ITV straight away, the Mrs was mortified, what with Britains Got Talent and Coronation Street both on tonight. We retuned and everything was cosy, so, I had a quick reconnaissance of the local area, a cheeky pint in the Mile Castle Inn then back to the campsite before nipping out for some essentials. You can travel a long way in Northumberland with out hitting a village, never mind a town.

So here I am now, sat outside my van, with a bottle of Stella and a slice of Pizza, watching the sun go down behind the rolling hills of this picturesque county. 

Hope this weather holds for the rest of the week, I've got loads planned.