Anon
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Our First 'Real' Camp out
Hi folks
Well we are now officially using Betsy as our camp out vehicle. We were out a couple of months back for a weekend, but this time it was a week over Easter.
It was a mixed trip really, on the plus side:
- she managed a steady 65 - 70 all the way from Warrington to Silverdale, even surprised a few newer motorhomes by overtaking them at 75 (and this was uphill!!)
- the new swivel seats we fitted make the inside a lot more serviceable, they were a doddle to fit and now we can sit six or sprawl out on 'day-beds' when the kids are off exploring.
- the storage is good, although I have a small cupboard planned for over the sink for tea/coffee/ mugs etc
- even after a week of rain she pulled off the field without an effort at all and I must say, much to the surprise of all the campers who were stood around waiting to either tow or push us off. This is worth a mention because 4x4's were slipping and a lighter 'vw caravell' had been towed off a couple of minutes earlier. We only do 'Rally' camping at present (i.e. a tap and somewhere to empty the loo) so this was a relief to find out!
The minuses:
- the loo is tiny and a real squeeze when you want to (ahem) sit down.. I might steal a few inches here and there when I rebuild it
- on some nights it gets mighty cold, although we have improved on this by making our own silver screens using foam backed silver insulation, we intend also to carpet the cab roof and the walls at the back of the seats,
- at the moment we have a few leaks from around where the extended roof was added, we believe that the gutter is to blame as it has been painted to death and appears not to have many drain points, again this is on the list to be sorted.
- for four on a wet week away, she was sometimes a squeeze although the new awning should help (Suncamp Travel Cabin) once we sort out the way it joins onto the van...and now they've sent us the right poles  first time it lasted less than a night because I'd had to bodge the poles and the wind was hard!
So all in all we are impressed, though realistically we think she would be better suited to two people and if the lads carry on growing we may have to think bigger, but for the mo, she is behaving well and besides, theres quite a leap in price to a larger van, which we simply could not afford.. as mentioned, she will do seventy plus uphill if the need arises and will cruise hapilly all day at sixty, fuel consumption is as with all beddies, and she does like her oil 
so there you go, I hope this helps a few folk starting out on the camping/day out thing, I will try get some pictures the next time we're out and post them somewhere...
Laters
Tal
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