Maisey’s first trip and upside down sheep

 

The first day of Maisey’s first trip started well, it was raining, however a trip to Aldi put a smile on my face, a camper van sat nav, £135 off the list price. Good old Aldi. No chance of going the wrong way now. She is like the Tardis, she swallowed all of the kit without a wimper, and after setting up the sat nav and sussing out the cruise control we pointed her in the right direction and off we went. Maisey is a joy to drive, very easy and smooth, purring along the motorways, passing Birmingham, Bristol and Exeter without a murmur.

 

Whilst cruising down the A30, the ‘Cornish motorway’ a mini in the same colour as Maisey drew parallel with us, two young guys gave a big grin and the thumbs up. Always good to be appreciated on the road. Hopefully we will get more of this when she is decorated. Flowers, lizards for the sides and clouds for the roof will look good. Just need to decide on the colour scheme.

 

Arriving at the campsite practical issues had to be addressed like getting the van close enough to an electrical hook up, making sure the awning had space in the trees and was the ground flat enough to avoid sliding out of bed (a potential disaster if sleeping in the raising roof, landing on the steering wheel in the middle of a deep sleep would be a tad uncomfortable). Once the raising roof and awning were up Maisey looked fabulous, ready to be a home for the next two nights.

 

Champagne, red wine, pate, pasta, cheese, port, coffee and desert christened the van nicely. The kitchen works well with everything you could want for. Sink, hob, grill and a fridge. I never thought I could get excited about curtains, but tonight I did. They transformed Maisey from a van to a restaurant, lounge and bedroom all in one. Wow. The first night sleeping in Maisey was marked by sliding towards one side of the bed due to a slight slope, it is good to know that the issues with a tent still apply to a camper van. However tea in bed the next morning and not having to get dressed before breakfast is good news.

 

The van is to enable more mountains to be climbed, so today it is a walk up the highest part of Dartmoor, Yes Tor and the High Willhays, at 621m. Even though I used to live on the moor when I was a boy 
 I never climbed these tors, so at nearly 56 years of age it is about time I did. The weather was kind, and the views good. On walking off of the High Willhays I saw something sticking point out of the tufts of grass, getting closer it moved up and down and waved around, then I realised it was a sheep’s leg. The animal was on its back wriggling around unable to right herself, so a little help in the way of two hands to push her over and she was on her way. I guess we are all like sheep and need a little help on occasion.