In the summer there's no real need for the van on a day out as we'll take a picnic and not really go back to the van to eat it as the car park is usually too far from the event we're attending and who wants to sit in a car park to eat their lunch. If we're at the beach, you can rarely park anywhere near the sea or where you get a decent view other than looking at an industrial or housing estate or you're in the middle of town, so we tend to take the car where we don't have to think about height restriction barriers either and we can access more parking spaces with multi story and underground car parks.
The van seems to be used more for days out in the autumn and winter months when less people are out and about due to the weather, when we prefer to be out, when we can shelter in the van from the rain and the cold, have a picnic in the dry, out the kettle on and get changed and dry out before heading home and it encourages us to get out the house more in the winter months than we did before.
This year I've challenged myself to camp at least one night every month in the van and this month I almost didn't make it. I managed to sneak a night on my friends drive in Monmouth, literally arriving and asking her to move a car as I was setting up.
She offers me a bed in the house each time I go over, but I sleep so well in the van and honestly it's quicker to set up the van than it is for her to have to strip and change a bed after I've stayed.
My friend's drive has a lovely view, you'd never imagine I was in a housing estate. It's lovely and secluded at the end of a cut de sac.
The other side of the fence is a walkway, rarely used other than the occassionaol dog walker, but in the night there was a bit of a panic with a loud thud and a slump, followed by a second and a third. I quietly pressed the lock button on the keys. No further movement and I went back to sleep.
In the morning there was evidence of squirrels or cats having fallen out the tree and sliding down the roof, the windscreen and scurrying away. I suspect they hadn't encountered a sloped vehicle roof before.
I've been googling and following Ford Nugget groups to try and see if there is a better way to fold the material of the roof. It appears that I;m actually folding it better than most and I've shared a few tips of my own in several places. I can fold the roof down in under a minute and I'm that confident I can do it without trapping any of the material on the outside I rarely check these days. I just there was a way to make it look neater on the inside just for my benefit.
The pink material is my bed sheet, that I forgot to tuck away properly.
July's trip so far was to Newport to visit friends and family. Schools break up soon and we'll be off on more travels soon.
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