For as long as we both can remember we have made a special effort to do something special on our birthdays. We were both born in the colder months of 1968, Mandy February, and Myself in November. In the early days we appreciated a city break in a car, with a budget bed and breakfast, or a hotel for a couple of nights.
As time moved on we both found that we really love the flexibility of our little T3 campervan. But I guess this birthday getaway with the inclusion of the LT Florida was really the first move towards a luxury life on the road, with large bed, central heating and a hot shower without having to rely on campsite facilities.
We set off from Derby mid morning in dubious weather conditions. Large areas of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire were hit by unprecedented rainfall causing all sorts of disruption. However, we were directed towards our campsite with no real issues. Although it started raining again as we go to our campsite early, so we chose to have a coffee in a farm shop just a stone’s throw away.
This turned out to be a hive of interest. The restaurant was amazing, with a nice open fire, but the local produce on sale, and the delicatessen was out of this world. We spent best part of 2 hours chilling and perusing the goods. Well worth a visit.
We eventually drove round to the campsite and set the van up for the what turned out to be an amazing autumn afternoon. This was a little bazaar. All I had to do was reverse the van onto some levelling chocks and that was it! Wolfgang Junior (the smaller van) needed lots more tweaks, but Senior was a breeze. Chocks leveled, heater on, job done!
The rest of the afternoon was chilled beyond belief. We had little mobile phone signal so we couldn’t really keep tabs on anything in the outside world.
Time seemed to expand and after an early evening meal, we both retired to the sound of rain on the roof as we climbed into the king sized bed upstairs. I think at this point we both realised that this campervan was genius in its design, on the footprint it had!
On Remembrance Sunday, as the sun came up, I looked out of the window and saw the rays breaking through the trees and lighting up the orchard in vivid red, amber and yellows. I dropped down from the top bunk into the living quarters, sparked up the central heating and shower heater, and put the kettle on for a brew. In a few seconds I was back in bed, and the warmth rose up as the 30 year old German Eberspacher heater did what it was supposed to do! We were still finding our feet with our new roaming accommodation, and would have to alter our routine from what had become the norm in the smaller Westfalia T3. But, we were confident that the LT would offer much more comfort during the winter months.
We chose to head the three miles from our campsite into Stratford Upon Avon for a look round. We had visited a few times in the past, but this time had a nice xmas feel to it. The rivers were high and this had started to cause some issues in the town centre. This was apparent as we entered a car park where entrance was under water causing the exit to become two way.
We headed back to the campsite late afternoon and chilled. We were really enjoying the vans extra space and retired early. That night we both slept really well and the Monday morning I repeated the routine again… heater on, kettle on, back to bed for a few mins before climbing down for coffee feeling truly revitalised.
Leamington Spa was only 8 miles away from our campsite. Again this was somewhere we were familiar with, but we always enjoyed a visit. The day followed a similar format to the previous day in Stratford, coffee, a meal, and shopping. Then back to the campsite to enjoy the warms, watch some downloaded Netflix content and chill.
We returned home on theTuesday morning and we both felt like our batteries had been recharged. We were buzzing that we had been at a campsite with limited amenities, but felt we had not been left short as a result of the van being so well equipped.
Arden Lakes, Ingon Lane, Snitterfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 0QF
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