Merry Vincemas!

Oh it’s good to be back on the road again!

Poor old Vince has been away for three or four weeks and we’ve missed him so much. In early December we reached the first anniversary of becoming proud motorhome owners so that meant an engine service and a habitation service for the big fella.

The engine service went without a hitch, other than a small warranty job which turned into a large warranty job. Vince’s outside temperature gauge wasn’t reading accurately – not a big deal, in fact we had a running gag going all through our summer trip; if either of us said we were chilly, the other one would say b..b..but it’s 56 degress out there! I thought it just needed a new sensor, which was technically correct, but Peugeot in their wisdom don’t supply the sensor on its own – it comes as a complete mirror assembly for many many £££’s eek! Just as well we got it done before the warranty expires.

Our main reason for being Vince-less this last while was because of the habitation service. This involves checking the gas connections, the electrics, the appliances and greasing anything which needs lubrication matron. One of the interior lights had failed so we asked our dealer to sort that at the same time. When it came to collecting him, that light was working perfectly – but there were six more which didn’t grrrrr. How on earth could they give it back to us without checking? To add insult to injury, several other jobs which had been ticked off hadn’t been done at all. Cutting a long story short, after a very terse email to the Operations Director (in which I expressed concern that the gas system might have been checked by the tea lady) they got themselves organised, and sorted all the issues. As a good-will gesture they also repaired some unsightly (but harmless) spider-cracks on the roof. We’d had a quote for this work before but couldn’t afford it so that was a bonus.

Having dealt with all that nonsense it was a relief to get Vince home, get him filled up, charged up and packed up for our winter tour! We left the Midlands this morning to head for Fife, Dumfries & Galloway and North Yorkshire (for Christmas Day & Boxing Day) before getting home on the 27th December for a quietish New Year. Our newly-married older daughter has asked us to stay for Christmas so we’ll swing by our parents’ homes & sister-in-law’s on the way. As there will be quite a few guests for Christmas we volunteered to bring the big fella and stay at a site close by on the Yorkshire Moors. It’s going to be so strange waking up in the van on Christmas morning, all cosy and in the middle of nowhere!

This evening finds us at the southern end of the Lake District. We found a pub we liked the look of on the internet so we gave them a cheeky ring and asked if we could stay overnight in their car park. Naturally we said we’d eat and drink there too – it’s only polite after all. So maximum points to the Strickland Arms, a cosy country pub & hotel right by the entrance to Sizergh Castle. As I type, we are enjoying pre-dinner drinks in the van before strolling over for our date night – a table for two at 7pm please mâitre-d’!

Chin-chin – we’ll catch up in a day or two 🙂