Caravan Part 1 - End of an era

Well, we've done it. The caravan has gone to its new home and we've officially 'gone brick'!

Due to Jeni's usual overkill on the management side, although this time as it turns out warranted, (Dave is having to live with 'I told you so!' for the next 2.5 years!) a crowd of seven Tijoleans met up at the lower camping to discuss tactics. And everyone knows that you can't discuss tactics without at least two coffees and a glance at the breakfast menu!

The photos is of Chris with his new 4x4 off-roader getting ready for the long haul (Bless!).

After some discussion it was decided that Nigel (seen here in the photo doing manly things with the wheel!) should go and kick the caravan tires to check that they were OK for the short journey ahead (he's experienced in this department!) and after a couple of pumps with his foot pump declared them well within the guidelines laid down by the ... people who lay down these guidelines. Chris did worry that because Nigel had in fact used his hand and not his foot on the pump, that the wrong sort of air had been put in the tyres. However, as the tires would be revolving during the journey, it was decided that this small amount of 'wrong' air would mix with the existing air and that it would be OK. Nigel wasn't sure what guidelines this went under but agreed, in principle that the theory was sound.

Having told Zóe off for trying to distract the group by talking about chocolate cake, Lyn, Nigel, Zóe, Dave and Guy watched (sorry 'supervised') Paul as he did the rest of the preparation work on his own. This involved winding up the steadies, uncovering the tow bar, sorting out the hook-up cables, etc. This was done to much grunting and heavy breathing, but after Paul had told them all to stop making those noises as it was distracting him, he eventually declared the caravan ready for the road. He'd obviously been rehearsing this statement whilst doing the preparation work, which was a shame as there was no one to hear him, the others all having gone for another coffee!

The only near fatality during this preparation stage was when Chris thought that he could stop the forward momentum of the caravan on his own whilst it was being pushed off the pitch onto the roadway. It was unfortunate for him that the wall of the bar was immediately behind him when he decided to do his King Canute act. Although as it meant that the caravan didn't get scratched due to him acting as a buffer, the rest of the group felt that it was worth the pain and to stop being a wimp!

But where was Jeni during all this you ask? Well, due to previous convictions for extreme hysteria, she'd been told that she was banned from all stages of the exercise. She was promised regular text updates though, which went some way towards calming her overactive imagination!

A quick call to Ralph, who was standing by with his ex-Guardia Civil 3L off-road jeep, and the convoy started off for the heights of Bayacas and all points North.