Another Weekend Away

Ryan got us free weekend tickets to see the Phoenix Derby Championships at Cadwell Park courtesy of Comma Oils' promotion, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip away!

We stopped at the same camp site as my parents near Skegness again on Friday night, I managed to forget to pack some towels (oops!) so we stopped at a Tesco on route and I bought us a pair of black bath towels. We needed some nicer towels anyway so it just prompted the purchase!

We spent a nice Saturday morning wandering the discount stores and markets in nearby Ingoldmells where we bought a lovely new stainless steel stove top whistling kettle (we'd so far still been using the small aluminium one from my camping set!) and also an excellent shagpile rug for the living area. No more cold feet in the mornings from stepping on the bare floor! :)



We also come across a stall selling some funny signs and my Mum bought this one for us, with the state that Waki is still unfortunately in it was too suitable to pass by! 



Cadwell park is fairly close to Skegness so we only had a little way to go to reach Cadwell Park, though we didn't quite expect the amount of really steep hills we'd have to struggle up to get there! Poor old Waki really got pushed on that journey, and there was only one hill where we got down to a rather embarrassing 25 mph! Sorry to the drivers behind us, luckily it wasn't too busy! :S

We had a minor issue on the journey in the form of a leak from our water tank where the pipe had come off, which was actually a relief as in the side mirror Ryan said it looked like smoke billowing out and our hearts sank for a moment! But we were soon back on our way though low on water, but we had plenty of bottled water on board and there were taps at Cadwell for the washing up water.

We were surprised to find on arrival that you are allowed to camp anywhere you like around the track, though I can imagine that it’s a lot more restricted during bigger events like British Superbikes.

We initially checked out the facilities in the main paddock area and took a wander down to Club Corner just in time to see the start of a race and some wheelie action over The Mountain. We then took a drive around the track and found a good level spot by the tree line with a good view of the track, it’s such a bizarre feeling looking out of your home window with such a view! We spent a little while on the roof as it gave us a better view of the track, though the wind was pretty cold so we retreated before too long.

Waki parked and level. The front of the over-cab section looks much neater
now without the leaky front window but she still needs a paint job!

The view from the cab window when we arrived

A very happy Ryan and the roof view. Motorbikes, cider & bacon
sandwiches - what more could a guy want?!

The new generator got a good run and worked a dream (a post will follow on this but it means persuading Ryan to write about something!), having that running outside was actually quieter than the gas heater is currently. It can handle running a surprising amount of electrical gadgets at once, although this time we just had the batteries charging and run the laptop and TV.

We watched the film ‘Closer to the Edge’ following Guy Martin and some of the other main riders for the Isle of Mann TT road race which seemed a fitting way to spend an evening next to a race track. I'd say I also had the most peaceful nights sleep I've had in a long while as we was so far away from the roads (or any other campers! :D), though I did wake up the the commentator 'testing-testing' the speaker system around the track but it meant we didn't miss anything!

The hardest part of the trip was making ourselves go home, (especially as we knew we had enough tinned food on board to last a week and plenty of fuel!) but I had to be back at work so we had to go.

The scenery around Louth is quite spectacular farmland, and for our journey the beautiful rolling hills were set off nicely by the setting sun. I managed to get some photos on my phone but the phone can never do a scene like that real justice so I allowed myself to purely enjoy the views instead. Sometimes you just need to look around and smile at what you see :)


By being out and about we've come up with more ideas and of course found more things that need attention – like the knackered battery that was in charge of running the thermostat for our gas heater which needed swapping with the lighting one halfway through the night when we woke up cold! And we now also have the supplies to begin installing our wiring system (an early birthday present for Ryan from my Stepdad!) which will allow us to actually use mains hook-up when on site in future.

Jubilee Weekend Work

The week before the Jubilee weekend Ryan took some holiday and got a massive amount done, in the evenings my time was taken up with a last minute commission from a friend at Bedford's Swan Hotel, see Chalkboards post on my art blog, so unfortunately I couldn't help much. We've had a great weekend since though and got lots done already. Ryan's Dad done a good job decorating the house so we all felt quite patriotic, especially on hearing the National Anthem so many times on the Isle of Man TT broadcasting that Ryan has been listening to on his phone for the whole time!

The awning, cleaned and refitted, created an area of much welcomed shelter when the Bank Holiday weather came!

Ryan bought a large sheet of aluminium and more wood supplies and removed the large front window on the cab bedroom overhang and got the hole cleaned up, now I have a nice solid wall to sleep next to at last! It was one of the last things bringing down the feel of the place.

We've slept in Waki every night since Sunday night and have had the best sleep in a long time so I think it's safe to say that I'm used to it at last! :)

Ryan then sealed and riveted the sheet on the outside and filled the gap with insulation, before lining it with foil and upright pine cladding.

He also finished where I left off cladding the rest of the ceiling in the kitchen. The cladding works brilliantly as a ceiling covering, and by running it sideways on the ceiling and upright on the front bed wall it tricks the eye into seeing more space.

I continued painting the ceiling to get it sealed and finished, we wanted it a nice bright white to again maximise the feeling of space inside. We also have the roof vents back up, though we have ordered another new one as the kitchen one is broken.

Ryan also finished repairing the back corner where our wardrobe will be and around the side storage hatch. Whilst the sun was out the two back side windows were cleaned up and resealed and the lower one was painted black as it will be under the level of the kitchen cupboards. We considered replacing it with aluminium sheeting like on the front but decided that it would stand out less with the window just blanked out from inside and screwed closed. I just need to finish filling around the repairs and then we can get the last bit of wallpaper up!

We went shopping on e-bay and finally ordered a toilet, the vent, and 2 x blinds for the roof vents. They've just been delivered today so we'll now get to work fitting those...

Riding out the Storm

Ryan is so proud of his finished bed platform, I came home to find that he had made up the bed with duvet and everything - which is something I know he HATES doing so he must have been excited!

Like a kid wanting to camp in the back garden he kept suggesting sleeping out there so I finally agreed that we would on a Saturday night as neither of us needed to be up for work the next morning to mess up routine etc.

Ryan got the blinds fitted where the walls had been finished and covered up the rest for some privacy - it was just parked on our driveway still after all!

Typically on that night a relative storm rolled in and buffeted Waki with wind and rain for the entire night! 

I had the corner side of the bed as I figured I wouldn't be worried about falling out over there, but it was difficult to ignore the sound of lashing rain right next to my face. Don't get me wrong I like the sound of gentle rain on a window to relax to but this really wasn't a comforting kind of rain! We stuck with it though and (once I had gotten over my nagging fear that we was going to tip over in the wind!) I finally got a little sleep but couldn't have been more than a couple of hours in total! :( Ryan slept fine of course!

Never mind, it's just something else I need to get used to and I'm sure I'll get on fine on those sorts of nights in the future once I'm familiar with the movement and sounds. We do also still have the roof layer of wood to go on and curtains to be made yet which will help block a little more noise. We also need to try positioning Waki differently in windy weather if we have the room to, at the house we can only park on the driveway one way which means that the wind will always hit us from the side but if we can get her rear to the wind then that should mean less movement and noise!

**update**
Since beginning to write this post we have since slept in there again with better weather and I'm pleased to say I had a MUCH better nights sleep so there is hope for me yet! :)