Early Risers.

[AndyB]

Morning all, and it's a drizzly one.

 

Plane delays: I was due to come home from Cyprus one time. Is that our VC10? Erm, yes, but not yet. It broke down and after it's been repaired it has to go back to Brize and come back before it is your flight. If you'd like to wait in the departure lounge (there's one water fountain between all 200 of you)....About turn, back to the mess. We'll come back tomorrow, thanks.

 

Sat navs. I find it helpful to have a third person in the car to diffuse potential strife. Swmbo gets travel sick if she starts to read anything, so asking for directions using a map can, erm, take some time. "Take Jnct 13 on the M......". Yes, we passed that 5 minutes ago. I find sat navs most helpful when driving around towns that I don't know, rather than on long journeys. I need one to get across Bristol, for example, but could drive to Aberdeenshire without either a map or a sat nav.

We only really turn it on to answer the perennial question "Are we nearly there yet?"

 

Have a nice day everyone. Andy

[Coombe Barton]

After many years of tent camping a few years ago she 'persuaded' me that we 'needed' to buy a caravan.

 

This is our sixth year in a van. Wouldn't go back.

 

But we couldn't, for what we do, contemplate a motorhome as it would have difficulty getting to some of the places we get to.

[Coombe Barton]

I use a SatNav to get to work - not that I need to know the route but so that I can divert round traffic jams if necessary.

[andyram]

Morning all from a cloudy village.    The cats have been fed and the house is quiet as the boss left early to help run a weightwatchers class.   The lovely carol is telling me about the  weather and I've time to read ER's.  Life is pretty good.   Shortly I'm off to the Dr's then will wander into Morley to do some banking and get my hair cut.  

 

I will use a satnav and the boss swears by them.  What she can't understand however is why I always like to check a route on a map before we set off anywhere.  This allows me to take diversions in case of traffic problems.  Satnav's fall down in those circumstances as they usually try to take you back to the already blocked motorway etc.   I love maps and have to decide which parts of my collection to take to France. 

 

Belated happy anniversary to Andy and regards to all others.

 

Some modelling awaits this afternoon but first I better get the paperwork cleared from the dining room table.

 

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Thanks for the good wishes.

I must admit the Sat Nav loaded to my IPhone was very good at pinpointing the severe delays on Saturday and helped us to plot the route around it. Unfortunately it drains the battery and it expired well before we reached our destination. Fortunately we were able to turn to the old Sat Nav to finish the job. Learning notes - remember the road map and / or by an in car charger for the phone!

[Killybegs]

I bought a satnav for the motorhome this year as Steph was going to be spending more time driving on her own. In motorhome mode, you have to enter the size of the vehicle. One day it didn't like me setting a route using the A382 between Moretonhampstead and Bovey Tracey in Devon. I thought I had managed to trick it into going the way I wanted but turned it off when I got fed up with being asked to turn round. I should have listened to it. Does that section of the A382 qualify as the narrowest enclosed A road in the country (enclosed = high banks or walls both sides and not many passing places). I was not popular with other motorists. I do find the ability to plot a route useful, then it's more akin to using a map as you feel more in control of your route.

[Gwiwer]

Morning one and all.

 

I have no use for a SatNav.  I can read maps and my eidetic memory then remembers the intended route and the active part of the brain reads the road and the signs to amend if necessary.  I was one taken for a short drive by a friend largely so he could demonstrate how accurate TomTom was.  The first error arose three minutes into the trip with the instruction to "Turn right onto the Freeway".  One may not turn right onto a freeway (because we drive on the left) anywhere and in this location said freeway was around ten metres above our heads on a flyover.  With no slip lanes.  We then rejoiced in the admonishment of John Cleese suggesting we had "Gone the wrong bl**dy way, idiot, and now you'll have to ...... "  At which point friend terminated the demonstration, covered his blushes and drove me home.

 

It's been a nightmare trying to get to and from the Palace today.  This is Week Five of the five-week blockade on our line while three level crossings are grade-separated.  Buses replace trains 24/7 for a distance of about 4 miles.  Today was wet.  Really wet.  The sort of moderately heavy, cold, wind-driven rain which goes right through you.  The sort if rain which ensures every c0ckwomble within cooee will be on the road.  Your road.  We encountered many.  Darwin Awards go to the van driver trying to make a U-turn by mounting the median strip and forcing his way into four lanes of oncoming traffic travelling a around 50mph.  And the Government vehicle (identified by its V-prefix registration) which sat astride two lanes and blocked both while we queued for over 20 minutes at one set of traffic lights.  And which then decided it would be smart to reverse in the blocked lanes to try and be rid of the queue.  Not just a straight line reverse either but attempting to weave between the stationary vehicles and making use of the footpath as well.  

 

Extremely heavy traffic for no obvious reason other than c0ckwomblage resulted in the scheduled 20 minutes on the bus taking 75.  Not fun when you're standing and being jerked this way and that by indifferent driving in stop-start conditions.  Turns out the driver wasn't a bus driver either - he was the depot fitter!!!

 

Similar on the return trip with what has become the usual sight of the "connecting" train for the conclusion of the journey departing as decanted bus passengers walk down the ramp to the platform.   I make no comment about whether or not my employer could organise popular social events in a beer-making establishment

 

Tomorrow is another day.  It may be an improvement.  It is, at least, Thor's Day which means Freya won't be far behind and some of us can once again depart in advance of the scheduled hour.

 

Worse things happen at sea.

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

I often rely on a Sat Nav for the last few miles when in unknown territory but always consult a paper map for the journey. I prefer to know the bigger picture.

I looked at motor homes or camper vans or whatever you want to call them, quite liking the idea. However when I did some calculation and worked out the number of nights stay at a hotel one could have for the price of a decent, newish one the idea became less attractive.

[Oldddudders]

A friend bought a camper in the early 70s, long before there were as many about as nowadays. He found his small cul-de-sac in Tunbridge Wells a difficult place to leave it, especially on dustbin day. it proved a good way to explore North Wales, but parking could be an issue and narrow lanes a nightmare. It was not cheap to run. It bore some hedgerow scars over the years, although he was a fairly measured sort of driver. Marriage and bambini saw it gone in favour of more sensible wheels. 

 

Like cabriolets and horseboxes, they are great things on their day, but depreciation may exceed satisfaction overall. 

[Coombe Barton]

We look on the caravan as a 'base camp' from which we go out and do 'stuff'. As we both need transport to get to work it's less costly to buy a caravan for the same facilities, and the rate of depreciation seems to be less.

[lightengine]

The overcast outlook from our lounge suggests sunny Teignmouth may have rain today.

 

Have enjoyed reading the sat nav and /or map postings. Very few of them mentioned road signs.

 

Bought some paint for the hall and some uplighters for the hall and 2nd bedroom yesterday at a DIY shop that starts with home. Pleasantly surprised to find that the uplighters we wanted had drifted down from £9.99 to £4.53. So, there is a little bit of work for me to do when I feel able to commence. At present we have glass shaded wall lights in the hall and 2nd bedroom. Hopefully the new ones will be more visually stimulating.

[DDolfelin]

Very few of them mentioned road signs.

 

 

Don't get me started on road signs.

[AndrewC]

RVs, caravans, motorhomes. All the work of the devil. If I had my way the Landy would be equipped with laser guided surface to surface missiles in order to rid the world of these abominations. My extreme hatred of these "things" stems from far too many years of summer (and winter) mountain driving. What is it with flat-lander f*cknuggets that can't cope with the concept of 21' length limit? Picture a narrow mountain road, peak summer time. Gigantic signs with warnings about the road conditions and length restriction. But.... its a 20 mile short cut. What happens? Idiots who have never seen a hill higher than 20' are suddenly on a road with hair pin turns, narrow, and in several places a sheer drop of over 900'. They panic and freeze. Blocking the bloody road for hours as they try to either reverse or turn around and go back.

 

The UK isn't much better with bunglec*nts that drive their little cars once a week to get the shopping in and have no idea of how to haul a trailer or drive anything larger than a Fiat 500. Saw one such ######### on the M2 the other week. 40mph, white knuckled, hauling a trailer that was 4 times the size of the car, and in the bloody inside lane being undertaken by Polish lorry drivers doing 40.2mph.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Sat-navs, no thank you. A few years ago I was going to the Chatham show with a few fellow club members, this was when the show was in the old dockyard. The driver insisted on using his brand new sat-nav despite myself and one or two others who knew the way offering to navigate. As we came up to the entrance I told the driver to turn right at the next roundabout to enter the dockyard but he insisted on following his sat-nav which had told him to turn right at the next roundabout. This we did to be confronted with the long bricked up original entrance to the dockyard!   The reason for my looking at purchasing a camper van is that there are many places I would want to visit that are more than a days journey away from home and as I'm getting older long journeys tend to be more tiring but it will only be used for the odd night or weekend away. The vehicle I'm looking at is remarkably cheap, largely due to the petrol in the wrong tank, but I will be checking out its mechanical condition first and foremost before committing myself.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Morning all from a sunny Scottish HQ. Yesterday was a write-off for posting here. Tried to read some posts but couldn't keep up! Spent a good chunk of last night writing a response to the ex over yet another missive from her... And then the rest of the evening tweaking a spur of the moment internal job application.

 

I did once contemplate hiring a camper or mobile home for a visit to the USA and the prices looked quite reasonable if booked as part of a 'Fly-drive' holiday. I was thinking of going with my dad but his health wasn't up to it.

Was wondering about whether this would be a good thing to do next year, but the prices are pretty astronomical, so perhaps not...!

[PhilJ W]

Strange, I went to page 2 of 'New content' and every thread was locked? So back to page 1 where everything is OK. I see one of the mods has just locked a thread, I suspect he pressed a wrong button.

[lightengine]

Anybody looking for a good solid bodied VW camper, I have one for sale £150.

[AndrewC]

Strange, I went to page 2 of 'New content' and every thread was locked? So back to page 1 where everything is OK. I see one of the mods has just locked a thread, I suspect he pressed a wrong button.

Looks like they locked a bulk spamming of  buy and sell items from the rss feed.

[PhilJ W]

Looks like they locked a bulk spamming of  buy and sell items from the rss feed.

I see that now, but I 'turned the page' to find a lot of threads blocked. If I'd looked a lot closer I would have realised.

[Tony_S]

The sat nav in my Land Rover is quite good. It tends to pick a sensible route and recalculates quickly if you decide to divert. It is possible to tailor route setting priorities from the menu button I usually can't be bothered. With a co-driver/navigator the current traffic information is a useful feature, I wouldn't like to try accessing it by myself though. Another useful feature is that essential information is repeated in between the speedometer and rev counter.

Aditi, being very keen on maps, didn't like the sat nav until we were going round and round at The Hague looking for some building Matthew wanted to see. Then she decided it was just like a map really!

Tony

Edited July 27, 2016 by Tony_S

[Donw]

After many years of tent camping a few years ago she 'persuaded' me that we 'needed' to buy a caravan.

This is our sixth year in a van. Wouldn't go back.

 

But we couldn't, for what we do, contemplate a motorhome as it would have difficulty getting to some of the places we get to.

 

It does depend on your style of holiday. We pick sites where there is somewhere to walk park the van on the site and do all the walks from the site then move on.  Any shopping etc. is done on the days when we move to another site. This means I can avoid driving for days. Our motorhome is basically the size of a delivery van so there are few places it cannot get to. It also makes it easy to stop somewhere on the way to have lunch. This was taken in a layby just south of Lancaster. Kettle on lunch prepared and eaten with a lovely view and in comfort. 

 

 

This was much more difficult with a caravan. It also makes a difference that Marion is not an avid shopper so we rarely need to park in town centres. We also have the two dogs so on a hot day eating in a restaurant is not easy.  We do walk from sites out to a Pub with a suitable garden for lunch taking the dogs with us.

 

Obviously this style of holiday is not for everyone. If you prefer to stay on a site and drive off to the beach, various attractions etc. the caravan is a better choice as you have the car free.

Don

[Judge Dread]

Sat Nav useful sometimes but not always. The device I bought has European info on it and so when I went to Bremen for the first time, I programmed the trip in from home. The AA gave me a route from Europoort to Bremen taking 700 miles or thereabouts total. The Sat Nav came up with 700 miles one way!

I live in Hull and use P & O ferries from here to Europoort, total mileage so far 4 miles. Sat Nav would have me go to Dover and across to Calais thus the extra mileage! I switched the device on as I waited in the queue to go through Dutch customs and it brought fourth a lot of swearing from it. I was on the A15 heading for Rotterdam when it finally gave up and calculated a much shorter route to Bremen. Having seen the error of my ways I now program in from Europoort to wherever, there is far less muttering this way!      

Edited July 27, 2016 by Judge Dread

[Killybegs]

I looked at motor homes or camper vans or whatever you want to call them, quite liking the idea. However when I did some calculation and worked out the number of nights stay at a hotel one could have for the price of a decent, newish one the idea became less attractive.

 

Buying a new motor home is choosing a life style. There is no way we could have justified it on a financial basis.

 

Second hand motor homes hold their price if well looked after. Our first one was second hand and when we traded it in two years later against a new one, the dealer gave us exactly what we paid for it.

[Gwiwer]

Another sat-nav story has been kindly provided by the Dragon-in-Law.  She previously lived on a rural property off what would be called a country lane in the UK but near to the main road.  She encountered more than one motorist trying to follow her fence line across country as it appeared some systems interpreted this line on the map as a line of road!

 

Motorhomes - known as campervans here - are great when you can find somewhere to park up at night.  In most of Australia that's easy.  In most of the UK it seems unnecessarily hard as every public car park, lay-by and other potentially suitable nocturnal spot has a "No Overnight Camping" sign / rule / officiously-enforcing busybody and every campervan site is owned by the Caravan and Camping Club which you need to join first and often pre-book your spaces with some time in advance.  

[Killybegs]

RVs, caravans, motorhomes. All the work of the devil. If I had my way the Landy would be equipped with laser guided surface to surface missiles in order to rid the world of these abominations. My extreme hatred of these "things" stems from far too many years of summer (and winter) mountain driving. What is it with flat-lander f*cknuggets that can't cope with the concept of 21' length limit? Picture a narrow mountain road, peak summer time. Gigantic signs with warnings about the road conditions and length restriction. But.... its a 20 mile short cut. What happens? Idiots who have never seen a hill higher than 20' are suddenly on a road with hair pin turns, narrow, and in several places a sheer drop of over 900'. They panic and freeze. Blocking the bloody road for hours as they try to either reverse or turn around and go back.

 

The UK isn't much better with bunglec*nts that drive their little cars once a week to get the shopping in and have no idea of how to haul a trailer or drive anything larger than a Fiat 500. Saw one such ######### on the M2 the other week. 40mph, white knuckled, hauling a trailer that was 4 times the size of the car, and in the bloody inside lane being undertaken by Polish lorry drivers doing 40.2mph.

 

Oh dear!

[BoD]

RVs, caravans, motorhomes. All the work of the devil.

I often wonder why caravans are given names such as; Sprite, Tornado, Whirlwind, Buccaneer.