The last 5 days have been pretty hectic. Thursday we drove from Bookham to Rhuallt to pick up our 5th wheel – 2 years in the planning. The pickup still had to have the hitch fitted so we hooked it up to a 5th Wheel Co truck and drove to a petrol station where we learned the art of connecting an LPG nozzle and filing up with 50 litres at 60p a litre – that much gas will keep us cooking for a few months.
First night on the campsite and a fish and chip supper – we we’re tired.
Friday – the truck is in the factory for the whole day to get the hitch fitted and suspension upgraded. We get to know the trailer better and find a few snags that get sorted.
Saturday – we collect Clare’s auntie Pam and bring her back to see the trailer, as an old time caravaner she is a bit blown away by the whole concept, We take Pam back later that afternoon and stock up on food. We have decided to plan meals and buy food accordingly rather than buy food randomly and then decide what to cook up.
Sunday. George comes over and gives us some lessons in manoeuvring. We ‘kind of’ get it. In the afternoon we spend some time with Mark a fellow 5th wheeler parked near us and just happens to have an HGV 1 licence – what a great instructor – very calm and relaxed – we start to get it a bit more – it’s almost making sense.
Monday. Alan tries to teach Clare the mirror skills that Mark had taught him the previous day. We get there – eventually. Clare then practices on reversing into pitches with success. The 5th Wheel electricians then resolve an issue with one of the reversing cameras – after quite a few hours they discover it’s a fuse in the connection from the pickup to the trailer. Alan then gets to reverse around a corner or two and into some pitches. Reversing into a pitch on the blind (near) side is quite a bit more tricky. But we’re getting there. All the snagging has been sorted and we decide to head up the road tomorrow – first real destination – Coniston – we have rung ahead and asked for the largest easiest pitch to park.up in.
Pickup and rig