Thursday 30th May - Escape to Victory

We managed to flee Germany without international incident! Mum didn't pick a fight with anyone, which will surprise Amy and Sarah, and dad managed to avoid the authorities for skipping his parking fine, so all in all a good day :-). Also, the sun actually made an appearance, which made the leisurely drive along the Moselle rather pleasant. We are now at an aire, come campsite, come marina by The Moselle on the Luxembourg/France border. We will cross over to France tomorrow morning and continue following the river south. 

Wednesday 29th May

As expected the rain returned in the night but it didn't spoil our day. We failed to leave in time to beat the €8 charge but that's fair enough as we had leccy :-)

You will see from the selection of photos that we are now in the (rather wet) Mosel valley. Despite the weather it's great to be somewhere where the scenery definitely can't be home! We are on a bit of a flash aire tonight, The Mosel is 20 feet from the front of our van, we of course have leccy again, the pitches are great and all the necessaties are on hand

Tuesday 28th May

A glorious day to head south at the start of life without work. High on the list was to get LPG and a supermarket. As we crossed the border into Belgium it wasn't  long before we came across the largest American cemetery in the country, the photo shows some of the 8,000 war graves there!

After lunch at the aire by this dam (2nd photo) we continued south and found a garage where Bri would attempt the 1st refuelling of his home installed LPG system using the 'Belgium' adapter (sounds like a contraceptive I know). I stayed in the cab with my paws over my ears, not that it would make much difference if things went wrong. Thankfully he didn't make The Ardennes region as flat as the rest of Belgium so we ended up with 2 full tanks of gas without the hint of an explosion :-)

Then off to the supermarket at the aptly named Spa to get dog food, woohoo, and some other stuff. As we were so close to Francorchamps I took our appropriately named kennel for a blast around the track ;-) its not called a Swift for nothing you know.

Here comes the big disappointment of the day, Germany. Now come on, we expect to cross the Dutch/Belgian borders without knowing it, but Germany? Not so much as a willkommen to Deutschland, rubbish! The only reason we realised we had left Belgium was that the roads were no longer concrete slabs! Anyway, as Bri was busy fending off over aggressive artic drivers and concentrating on slowing down over the many speed humps, it was down to Rachel to find the signs to the stellplatzs. The next photo shows us at our 1st one :-)

What a lovely start to our hols!

As Rache and Bri were busy doing the things humans have to do in a morning, the extendable lead hadn't been locked, so I thought it only right that I should clean last nights barbie in preparation for this mornings bacon butties, yum yum. Even though I say it myself I think I made a very good job of it ;-) 

Last Working Day

I think we were all getting a bit of cabin fever being stuck inside together with all the rain we've been having so it was great to have a gloriously sunny day to do the last campsite assessment. It couldn't have worked out better, a great site which was done in no time, lovely host, free night, barbecue, what more cold we ask for on our last working day? Here are a few photos to sum it up, like I said yesterday, a picture paints a thousand words :-)

A picture paints a thousand words

Most of the ones I would use would be unprintable. Welcome to the Dutch 'peak' district :-(

All in a day's work

We WOULD have been off bright and early this morning if Bri hadn't bumped into a fellow 'United' supporter! Half an hour later we hit the road and appeared to be driving in the opposite direction to the world's biggest cyclo sportive! There were so many bikes on the road that we just had to stop as they jostled for position on what must be Holland's only hill! After the usual stop for essentials like beer, wine and dog food we arrived at a very pleasant site. The picture shows Bald Eagle, I mean Big Bird, testing one of the amenities.

A hard day at the office (Friday 24th)

We left the 'Maastricht' campsite this morning and travelled 7 miles to one of the best so far, it was the dogs danglies really, complete with swimming pool, the unfortunate thing was we didn't get the chance to stay :-(. Oh well onto the next site about 10 miles away. En route we got stopped by the bizzies and told to "pullover", "no, cardigan" Bri replied (the old ones are the best, and they don't come much older than him). Anyway, loads of cop bikes meant only one thing in cycle land, there must be a bike race on. True enough, within a couple of minutes the full entourage arrived, more cop bikes, camera bikes, cars with bikes, bikes, and bikes with girls! Must have been the girl cycling world cup or something coz different countries were racing. Anyhow, we found somewhere to stop for lunch whereupon we were descended on by a load of motorcyclists having their pee break! Well, the gadgies did, honestly, they behave like animals! So when we finally arrived at the campsite they weren't interested so no assessment done, off to the next, about 6 miles further. Very good site, free night so that will do nicely. We now only have 3 to do and all are fairly close so we expect to finish this weekend. Our days off will therefore be 27th May until........well forever :-)

Picture is us about to depart Maastricht site.

There's a bubble wrap party in my ears

Well that's what it sounded like for hour after hour last night as the rain bounced, and bounced, and bounced off the roof of the kennel! I don't think any of us got much sleep :-( Still, at least it didn't leak in and as we're on a hard standing no danger of being stuck! 

We leave our last Belgium site now and head for Holland for the last 7. These are all in an area about the size of the 'North Cumbria Triangle', Carlisle, Penrith, Keswick, so not much driving for the old geezer to do. He's done remarkably well so far not to clean up a cyclist in this land of the bike, mind you he has got an extra 2 pairs of eyes to help. I hope this doesn't jinx him :-/

Raining Cats and Dogs :-(

Just checked the 10 day forecast for where we are going to be, 1 day of cloud, 9 days of rain :-( :-(

I am NOT a happy bunny, I'm not even a happy dog!

Better get to Aldi!

Vin De France

At €1.89 per bottle Aldi are almost paying us to drink it! C'est tres bon :-p

I just LOVE sticks!!

Whilst walking in the woods today I rustled up a few sticks :-)

Aire Heads

A few photos of our last two aires, back on the campsites now.

SUNday

A gloriously sunny morning B-), we had an early morning stroll (coz that's what old folk do), coffee for the oldies before we leave Holland (and the Internet) behind. Don't despair though, we'll be back in a couple of days :-) Belgium here we come....

Every cloud has a silver lining

It seems that the big cloud we were under has finally arrived at Carlisle! We headed south only a few miles, or should I say kilometres, and I find it hard to believe that we now have blue sky's and lovely warm sunshine B-) I've managed to quickly train the Dutch kids into throwing the ball, they soon got the hang of it. I'm a bit knackered now so just liggin about in the shade to cool down.

The old geezer and his missus keep promising to have an alcohol free day but they are failing miserably I'm afraid, it'll happen eventually! Even if they had abstained tonight the Dutch family in the next caravan wouldn't have allowed it, sat outside drinking beer with them until the midges arrived.

I think we are off to an aire in Belgium tomorrow night to have a rest from all the luxury of the campsites, then I think the plan is just to knock them all off in the next 2 weeks, but you know what plans are like.

I have a lot of friends doing Keswick triathlon tomorrow so good luck to them all, you will run as fast as me coming off Walla Crag, well almost :-)

We are under a big cloud!

Climatologically speaking, in 'other' words its absolutely ........ing down with little sign of change :-(  It's a good job we're not on a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.........week holiday! Hopefully the weather will pick up in the next month or so. 

We left home 4 weeks ago today and tonight is Bri & Rache's first meal out! Woohoo! Dog food for me though :-/

5 hours later they return home! Apparently the best meal out they've had since 'I don't know when'! They had a very good evening with the campsite manager who was kind enough to supply the drink 'on the house'.

Plans? What Plans?

The plan was to leave here after Bri and Rache's meeting with the young manageress at 12 noon today, but as it is yet another excellent site and 'Judith' offered another free night it seemed rude to refuse. So, here we are for another day, taking advantage of any freebies thrown our way, that's freebies not frisbees (unfortunately).  Which reminds me, I get a tug on the lead each time we walk past a tent which has a tennis ball outside, I'M not to know its only there to cover a tent peg :-/

How about this for campsite accommodation?!!

Dutch Courage

After 2 nights at our favourite campsite so far, we are heading 40 miles further north into The Netherlands.

You can tell Rache and Bri are turning into real campers now they wax lyrically about how clean the shower blocks are! Saddos.

You will be sorry to hear that I have been having a bit of a problem with 2 ticks, one very close to my eye. Anyway last night, after Bri completed his course on tick removal, a 1 minute video on YouTube, armed with a kitchen fork and sufficient alcohol to give him Dutch courage, he set about the task. I don't know who was quivering most, me or him, but 2 little critters successfully removed with their teeth still waggling. I get a treat for being brave and Bri gets the satisfaction of another success.

Back To Work!

After a lovely day off yesterday at Belgium's best aire we were back to work today at the best campsite we've stayed on since we started. We all had a nice wander around the big wooded site, me on a lead of course :-/, after which Rache and Bri went to meet the campsite boss (who Rache thought was like a film star!) After that we had lunch and then they both went back to work, Rache doing all the paperwork and Bri testing the swimming pool, he gets all the hard jobs.

It's so good here I think we will stay another night, but NO WORK!  

Chillin'

My bessy mate Twigs and me just chillin'

Aire of the Dog

After 14 campsite assessments in 14 days we are all 'campsited out'. Enough of free sites, free leccy, proper showers and toilets, it's time to rough it.

Glad to leave the site this morning we all had a sense of freedom, no more having to be on a lead in lovely wooded areas, no more being stuck in the kennel whilst they were out working. We were off to do what the original plan was, to live on aires with just the occasional campsite.

It was just 10 miles to the first aire, it looked good, I was off the lead and we just had a great time walking along the river and through woods. When we got back to the van it appeared there may be a charge of 10 euros to stay overnight, so ever the skinflints we tootled along the road 5 miles to a free one. Not only is it free, it's the only aire in Belgium which falls into the 'very nice aire' category. As if that ain't enough it's bang on the river/canal, 5 mins walk to town and the leccy hookup is free! :-) After yet another walk we are now back in the van and are all well chilled :-)

A Walk Through The Woods

When you walk through the woods at home you see wood.

We are at a campsite between Antwerp and Eindhoven and when we went for a walk through the woods we came across this. A memorial for 7 members of the RAF shot down during WW2, 6 of them were between the ages of 19 and 21!

Friday 10th May

Had to get the day and date down as a marker, it's pathetic listening to Rache and Bri in deep discussion about what day it is and sometimes which week!!

This morning was hard work, Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, but supplies have to be got sometime. It doesn't really help that when it comes to shopping Bri has the attention span of a goldfish! Anyway, shopping done we made it to the next campsite and I was finally allowed out to stretch my paws :-)

The pic sums this morning up :-/

Tuesday (probably, oops no, Wednesday)

Bri put the kettle on at 6.50am for an early morning brew, see, we're on shift work! We set off early doors (footie speak), one of the photos shows us driving across a 4 mile bridge, sea everywhere! Did a site assessment then off 'dyke-ing it' to the next. Oh, the 2nd photo is doggie heaven, you can't beat a few trees. Arrived at the 1st site with a swimming pool, unheated but 25 metres long and laned. Well, you know what's coming next, the old man couldn't resist a few lengths even though the shallow end was only 2 feet deep.

I had a word with the receptionist when Rache and Bri weren't looking and told her to tell them it wasn't far to walk to town. Anyway she duly obliged and said it was a 20 minute walk. 45 minutes later we had only reached the outskirts so turned back. A great walk out ;-), and Bri and Rache were so knackered when they got back we all had treats, I even got some salami, yum yum!!

Holland

We are now in the Zeeland part of Holland, so named coz its sea and land. Lots of dykes (insert your own innuendo). It's been particularly toasty today, but I managed to get in the sea to cool my paws down. Life at the moment consists of walks, a bit of swimming, liggin' about on the grass in the sun and a bit of sitting dangerously close to the van's clutch pedal. One of these days I fear I will yelp as Bri stamps my tail onto it :-/

Rache and Bri are having another day off, I think they're getting too old to work. Apparently we are going to do 2 sites tomoz before they take a few more days off!

They are keeping well hydrated in this warm weather, they always seem to be drinking.

That's life at the mo, c'est la vie

Aaaaaw

The Odd Couple, I mean The Old Couple (this damn auto correct ;-))

Ypres

2nd photo - now THAT'S what you call a room in the attic!

A Moment For Reflection

As you know last night we went to The Menin Gate in Ypres to see the Last Post ceremony, there were over 500 people there with many laying wreaths, particularly school children.

For those of you who don't know The Menin Gate contains the names of 54,896 soldiers reported missing in the Ypres Salient, because the gate was too small to hold the names a further 34,000 are commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial in Passendale. We visited there this morning.

We hadn't intended this to be a a visit of war memorials, but how could we pass through this area without showing our respect, quite emotional really.

Spare a thought for the 400,000 soldiers who lost their lives in just 100 days in The Valley of the Suffering, they advanced just 5 miles. It really makes you stop and think, your family's name is there.

From Ypres to Ypres

Not one of Bri's better ideas, driving to the coast on a sunny Friday evening! We got about 500 metres before he decided to turn out of the traffic jam and though a road closure, what the heck, j'ne comprom pas or summat like that. Anyway, within a minute we stumbled across half a dozen like minded campers in an aire we didn't know about. So we are here for the night, Bri and me basking in the sun whilst poor Rachel slaves over a chopping board.

We are off to The Menin Gate tonight, which is only about half a mile walk. At 8pm every night since WW1 they play The Last Post, it's supposed to be quite emotional.

It was.

Belgium Motorways - Steer Clear or Lose Your Teeth!

Belgium must truly have the worst roads in western Europe! My ears are still ringing from the 60 mile journey from Geraardsbergen to Ypres. The weather is absolutely brilliant, the only disappointing thing is that this campsite is fully booked, even for us! :-( We are thinking of heading back to the coast but just using the free wifi here before setting off.

Day 14 (I think :-/)

Had a brilliant time at the campsite just outside Gent, my favourite so far :-).

Today we drove the short distance to the next site at Gent, it was on the edge of a huge sports complex with a big lake which you can swim in but neither Bri nor I had the time. They had every type of sports there, even a velodrome, Belgium really IS the home of cycling. Oh, I HAD to be photographed next o this sign, you can see I'm completely disinterested but little things amuse humans.

We then took a reasonably short journey south to Geraardsbergen, even MORE cyclists! We are staying the night here, free gratis of course. All part and parcel of the campsite assessors perks.

Timing is Everything :-)

I know my spatial awareness ain't what it was but we had a bit of an incident last night.

After R & B returned from a Belgian beer sampling session, Rachel would use the van's bathroom whilst Bri took me for my nightly sniff around. I don't know what I was thinking of but I got it in my head that the van door was open as I charged up the step to get back in. As if nutting the van door wouldn't be bad enough, just before impact Dick Dastardly (Bri) opened it! The impact was so great that I ended up doing a back flip off the top step that Tom Daley would've been proud of. Anyway, I recovered as only us dogs can and as we entered the van, successfully this time, we were standing just outside the van's bathroom door. Bri bent over to release me from the extendable lead, Rachel heard the commotion and opened the door into Bri's head, cue my Mutley impersonation, hee hee hee.

Hot Dogs and Bacon Butties

Greetings From A Warm And Sunny Gent (that's the place NOT Bri)

Well after 3 campsite visits its only right we should have a day off! All this work/wine is taking its toll on R & B, we must remember that this is a marathon not a sprint. We also want to make the most of this glorious weather whilst we have it. B-)

I'm getting a bit toasted today coz it's a tad warm, Rachel has nipped into the kennel to rustle up a bacon buttie and mug of tea for the overworked Bri :-p.

The plan is to do a few sites around here before heading back to the Belgian coast around the weekend, then it will be North into Holland early next week probs, but hey, just woteva.