Friday 31 August 2012

We're Back

Family emergency concluded in England, were back in Canada and looking forlornly at Towed Haul, sat on the driveway as she has been for three months, and not a wheel turned in that time.

The weather has been pretty good here and I'm wondering how much of that is down to our inability to deploy the awning, an act far more potent and guaranteed to induce rain than any rain dance or cloud seeding programme known to man. Of course, Mrs Toad spends ten weeks of the wettest summer in England since 1912 (official records, not experience!) with the Tadpoles and I sharing five of those; politely I could say the summer has been a wash out but really I'm thinking, what a bummer summer!

So, we have two months remaining of our northerly camping season and we'll be restricted to short, weekend sojourns, which makes me a bit sad. However, as soon as the bags are unpacked, the Internet will be hot with campground bookings because we're going to try to make up for lost time and camp our little socks off. Hopefully. 

Back in England, we did see two Airstreams on the road, both vintage and therefore imported from North America. Sadly I hadn't the wit to catch either on film but it was still a thrill to see them. The first we saw had been much modified and was acting as a mobile theatre, with its road side windows covered with a sheet of aluminium. It looked a bit odd but at least it was being towed, which is what Airstreams were made for, isn't it?

I never did get to see inside an English caravan, but there were so many on the road; thousands of them in fact. I know they're lightweight but a few North American sensibilities would have been tweaked at the types of tow vehicles used; nearly all small and nearly all four cylinder, gas powered. They don't use weight distribution, either, but there didn't seem to be too much sagging on the back axles. Mind you, get stuck behind one off the highway and you tend to be in for a slow trip. 

Anyway, I'm off out to hook up the 30 amp service, switch on the fridge and re-sanitize the water system - camping in 7 days and counting!



Oft seen!