Progress, sweet progress.

Seatbelts are all in & working. Panels re-fitted, lining carpet re-fitted & trimmed. New bed built. Old bed sold (cheers Rob, good to meet you). Bus washed (cheers Stu but you missed a bit). Cupboard unit bought, just need to collect from Doncaster on Sat - nice little run out to look forward to.

Will fit the bed frame tomorrow & sort the cushions out. If I can fit the new cupboard at weekend then I can go back to Paul for the leisure battery set up. Kickboard for the bed, speakers in that & the front doors, a bloody good clean, carpets in cab with some soundproofing underneath then we're done.......................................for the meantime :-)

First overnight is pencilled in for 15th/16th April - Hope Valley hopefully. Far enough away to feel like we're away, close enough to home to be back within an hour.

This is my story - tell me yours

Day late again but yesterday was a very long one. Went to DubFreeze near Stafford for our first "event" as owners. Didn't camp out Sat night as new bed only arrived on Thursday and just didn't get chance to put it in. More of that later.......

Good drive down the M6 yesterday even if we were the slowest thing on the road - overtook 1 Pets at Home lorry & nothing else - but got to Stafford in good time. Parked up in a field full of other interesting buses & then (with hindsight) paid £10 to walk round an overcrowded market of various VW stuff. Stu enjoyed it & we did pick up a few useful bits, cab mats, pole/clamp kit for the awning, an assortment of cars for Stu. Got the hubcaps for Cal's Bay as well - only £3 each too.

Show & Shine was underwhelming but we spent as much time in there as anywhere else if only because it was the least crowded! Best thing was wandering around the carpark & For Sale area outside - spent thousands mentally & caught myself saying "oh, I'll get one of those next time" on numerous occasions.

As I said earlier, bed arrived Thursday. Seems straightforward enough to put together & that is the plan for tomorrow. I've got 2 full days before we go to Wales on Thursday so hopefully (he said crossing fingers & touching wood) all will be done by then. Might even go in the bus & leave the quiet smooth warm car at home :-)

Er, so what happened this week bus-wise? Not an awful lot to be honest as bus was away at Pauls garage . Chased up delivery of the bed, should be Wed/Thurs this week so probably going to be too late to stop over at DubFreeze. Rob is intending to call on Saturday en-route from Newcastle to pick up the old bed & possibly buy the seats too so will arrange a meet somewhere convenient. Knutsford Services on the M6 are probably favourite.

Got Arthur back from Pauls on Sat am - welding done for seatbelt mounts, new top ball-joints on front suspension, new thermostat, new cooling fan switch & lowered 50mm. A little higher in back as no weight in there at the moment so a nosedown stance until bed/enginebay unit/coolbox full of Miller get loaded up. Not the best pic in the world but gives you an idea of whats what. Next trip back to Pauls should be for leisure battery, split charge etc but I've got a lot to do before then. Fit the bed & belts, re-fit the lining, door speakers, bed kickboard with speakers/sockets, table as bought last week & finally some kind of storage/kitchen type unit. Have seen one on eBay for £160 that looks ideal so will get in touch to see if it can be held until weekend after next

Monthly meeting of family VW Camper Club convened this afternoon at Ann's Dads house. Cal was round so we bored on for a bit about stuff. She's got a LHD Bay but I'm not prejudiced against air-cooled oldies. Found myself agreeing to check out the AutoJumble at DubFreeze to look for 2 x VW Chrome hubcaps & "some flappy airvent thingies" for the dashboard. Sure I'll find something that fits the bill.

That's it for now - countdown on for warmer/dryer weather but even if it's pissing down & cold, me & Stu will be out overnight as soon as possible at Shell (suit) Island

Couple of days late with the weekly update - apologies to my many non-existent followers.

Nipped up to Bury last Wed night to pick up the table - very nice. Added it to the pile of bits in Stus room. Took the other interior panel out & marked up all the belt mounting points. Dropped off at Pauls on Sat am for the lowering/welding and for him to check that the cooling fan is working - anticipating long queues on our various summer jaunts in very hot weather. Yeah right............

Advertised the oven/hob & seats for sale on Club 80-90 & offered the fridge as a giveaway. Don't think it works but if someone wants it, at least it saves me a trip to the tip. Got an offer of £40 for the seats if I take them to DubFreeze which seems fair enough to me. This + £100 for the old bed certainly helps.

That's it for now - will have to chase up the new bed as I want to fit it this weekend & get my first overnight sorted for DubFreeze.