Revelation.............Solution................Intention

Back to last week & the revelation that the storage unit won't fit when the bed is down.

Easy solution: unit will be fitted with clips that hold it in place when driving & allow it to be lifted out into the awning when all 3 of us are away or turned sideways behind the seats when it's just me & the boy. The things you think of at work when only 5% of brain is needed to deal with the Great Unwashed.

Not much else to report really - knees haven't been great so not been able to do as much as liked. I bought the stuff for the 240v hook-up & I stripped the storage unit down today to give it a proper sanding & a coat of varnish. Found a sheet of plywood in the garage that I can use for the kickboard and measured up for that & for the new flooring.

Intention: 1 hour each night this week on bus related matters. If I fail to reach this target, I will have to pay a forfeit to myself. Not sure what this will entail yet - open to suggestions

Highs & Lows, High & Lows

As it says in the title really if slightly over-dramatic........

Highs: took Arthur to Pauls to get the bed fitted and the socket cut for the table leg & he got it sorted for very little cash. Found a gem there (www.minichanics.co.uk) - mind you, this is the bloke who finished work in Stockport on Friday night & then drove to Perranporth in Cornwall because a mate was having trouble with her Mini. After arriving there at 12:30am, he slept until 9am ish & then stripped the top of the engine down & re-built it fortified with bacon butties & pasties (him, not the engine). He then drove home covering 300+ miles in 4 & a half hours. Impressive bladder control on the M5/M6 if nothing else.

Now the proper back seat is in & the seatbelts are in play, I could take the grandkids for a drive. All those months of just reading Camper & Bus fell away as they climbed in, we buckled up & away we went. Who smiled widest? The 2 year old, the 4 year old or the 46 year old? Can't say & don't care - the bus is OURS now, not just mine & I don't have the words to describe how that makes me feel.

Lows: well, low (singular), my nice new storage unit doesn't fit. £160 & 150 miles at 23 miles a gallon counts for nothing if you've mis-measured how far your rock n roll bed swings out when flat. So back to eBay you go, Mr Storage Unit, & we'll think again about what fits there. IKEA might have to be visited this week & not just for the Daim cake & meatballs....................

Minor low (& only because she's just mentioned it), Ann - my lovely wife - insists on making Clampett references whenever she's out in the bus. "Should we put a rocking chair on the roof?" & "It'll be ok if we're on proper holiday" - whatever that means. I'm thinking of getting a CD of Deliverance style banjo music to play whenever she is parked in the passenger seat. Mind you, it wasn't me who banged my head on the sliding door when closing the sliding door, was it, My Sweet? Love and decorum prevents me from pointing out who Ma Clampett really is in this scenario so long as I'm the young one holding the steering wheel

Run out today- over to Doncaster to pick up a cupboard unit. Saw it on eBay. Dead simple, 1 big cupboard on the left for water carrier (or whatever), 2 smaller cupboards on the right for whatever & a lift up top that a stove could sit on or under which a flat-screen could hide (practical v bling - we all know which will win - I'm a boring old fart). Hinges are a little flamboyant & might yet get replaced but basically it will do. Bloke who made it had an old yellow Bay parked on the drive that might just have had 50% of the worlds supply of filler in its wheel-arches but enough of that........

Drive over was great - Arthur coped well with the Woodhead Pass & there was no queue of frustrated car drivers behind us. Ate my first McDonalds in about 6 years on way over - called in for a McPiss & felt obliged to have a coffee to avoid making it a McPiss with lies. Paid with a £20 & the minimum wager serving gave me a tenner, a fiver & about £3 in 10p pieces so bought Sausage & Egg McMuffin with all the change. Counter-Boy then tried to give me £7 in change from the £3 I'd handed over for the £2ish grease-fest. My protestations met with "but the till says we owe you £7 change". Bless him. Told him to put it all in the charity box - cost me less than a quid to do this but he looked at me like I was a major high-roller. McShité tasted great but the immediate feeling of shame & the later feeling of greasy crap in the gut doesn't change.

Wasn't able to fit the bed myself. The 2 bolts through the floor would have been easy enough to do but the other 4 need to go through the bulkhead quite close to the mountings for the rear suspension arms & I'm not keen to drill those out so we're back to Paul for him to get his welding kit out. He can fit the table socket in the back too as this needs a hole cutting in the floor & I'm just not equipped or inclined to do this. Looking forward to meeting fellow T25 drivers so I can pretend I did all the work myself.................

Got back to find out that we'd lost to the Bin-Dippers 3-1. Who gives a fcuk? Tragedy? Put some flowers on it

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.