Friday, April 26, 2013

The Corkscrew.....

Just a quick Blog this morning as the heavens have opened and I have ten minutes to spare while I drink my cuppa.
  The Corkscrew...no I'm not on about any new theme park roller coaster ride, but that humble implement that's supposed to sit in the cutlery draw at home or in your campervan. It comes in a variety of designs but its purpose is simple, to allow its owner to open with a minimum of fuss a  bottle of their favourite plonk.
  A straight forward task you may think, ahh but no. Picture the scene.  Your meal is ready you have a bottle of wine in hand, but can you find the corkscrew??? Can you heckers like. I have come to the conclusion after many years of research that "corkscrews" have the same paranormal abilities as "the odd sock" or the "missing keys". You'd think with our advanced intellect humans would have no problem getting a cork out of a bottle without a corkscrew, but under pressure we seem to resort to the problem solving abilities of a chimp.(no offense to chimps implied.
  So what's the answer I hear you say?... Simple, you buy more corkscrews!! So that why now we now have six corkscrews, there are probably more but they're off having a party with my odd socks and car keys. So tonight when you come home in desperate need of a glass of Merlot and can't find your corkscrew, just give us a shout as I might just have a spare one to lend you.... Ohh its stopped raining! Now where did I put my Campervan key's??????

Friday, April 12, 2013

Spring Break.....Not in a Campervan...

Easter usually heralds the beginning of the camping season for us, but with Easter varying from late March to April the weather can be a bit variable. However we were optimistic this year as last year in March and April it reached around 70f and since it was the first week in April the weather was bound to be better....How wrong we were.....
  March turned out to be the worst winter weather for decades and even though now its turned mild I can still see snow drifts on the hills from my lounge window and its mid April..What to do???. Now I can put up with cold camping but the rest of the family would not share my enthusiasm , especially in the biting easterly wind straight from Siberia...brrrr.

   Fortunately my wonderful wife Laura is always on the look out for a "deal" and spotted an offer at a "holiday park" in Devon in a static caravan..."with full heating" for the very week we we're planning to go camping...Now I have a confession....I "HATE" caravans....there I said it. To be honest I have never stayed in one but the idea of living in little boxes all lined up in a row sprawling over the hillside brings me out in a cold sweat.
   Now many will no doubt agree with me on how these places look from the outside, but the fact is the park had full indoor "fun" pools , a SPA, restaurants, and tons of stuff to do for the kids even if the weather was dire. So I bit my lip took a sedative and off we went for five days at Devon Cliff's. leaving the poor Campervan at home. I will admit I had a preconceived idea as to what these Parks were like and what type of people  go to them....again so so wrong. The caravan was luxurious , the Park spotless and laid back and the people from all walks of life including the well to do if the Range Rovers and Jaguars parked outside were anything to go by and yet "all" of us were in affect living in identical 12' x 35' boxes.
  The kids loved it and by chance our friends who also had their camping cancelled, booked the same place without our knowing. So it was a bonus to meet up with them in the pools and the pub at night. We got chance to tour the Devon coastline through some idyllic villages and sample some scrumptious  ice creams and Devon cream Teas.