This weekend saw us on our third mini adventure into Lulu Van Life- and boy were we feeling the love!
With the way things are, and as we’re still newbies, we have been trying to stay within a two hour drive of home, and this time we landed in Llanidloes, Powys, on Dol Llys Farm http://dolllyscaravancampsite.co.uk .
I’ll be honest! When we arrived I wasn’t sure whether we’d made the right choice. From reception the site looked quite small, and quite busy!
The owners were manning reception, there was some discussion and we were shown to our pitch. The site was busy, but it certainly isn’t small! I will go into more detail about the site when I do a review later on, but I will say this- site is lovely, as are the owners Andrew & Janet Evans!
Our pitch was at the furthest point away from reception possible. Gravel and grass, nice and flat. We were getting ready to set up, still chatting to Andrew, when Kev realised that there was no way we were going to reach the hook up with our lead! The pitch next to it was vacant, but Andrew wasn’t sure what the situation was so whizzed off on his quad bike to double check.
We mooched around, and tried to see if there was a way we could make it work. There wasn’t (if it’s too short it’s too short!). Within minutes Andrew was back, with Janet perched on the front of the quad, and a thirty metre cable perched on the back!
Disaster averted! And miraculously (for us anyway!) that set the tone for the weekend!
With everything set up, we opened up the van, staked Marley out the front (not literally!), and cracked a couple of beers in the sun!
Marley was a complete star! He loves to be outside, and if we (or Kev to be exact!) are there as well, he almost reverts back to a puppy! He now jumps in and out of the van a lot more easily and, when we return from his many wee walks, stands patiently at the door waiting to be let in.
A couple of hours just relaxing, in for dinner, and an early night. Marley only got me up once at about 2:00am and then slept through ’til 8:00am!! BONUS!
Day two- and the love continues!
Saturday morning started sunny but cool. After a leisurely breakfast of bacon rolls and strong coffee, which is fast becoming a bit of a ritual, we head off on foot into Llanidloes. A pleasant walk, about a mile from the site, along busyish roads, takes you into the centre of town.
As you come into town you cross an arched stone bridge over the River Severn, turn right as you come off the bridge, onto a lovely short walk along the river.
She has fish around her skirt hem and holds a bowl of copper coins, symbolising offerings from the locals
A little bit about Llanidloes
Llanidloes is the first town on the River Severn after its source. It once held a reputation for the production of flannel and there is still an old flannel factory on the outskirts, which has now been converted to flats. I have been trying to find a word to describe the town, and the best I can come up with is odd! I went through unusual, quirky, individual, different, but settled on odd! Parts of it are absolutely stunning. The 17th century, black and white timbered market hall used to be a bustling flannel market. It has now had seating installed, for the use of customers from the nearby cafes, and houses a museum to timber framed buildings in the area.
As you walk around the little town, it’s as if it doesn’t quite know what to do next. There is a marked abscence of chains, which is a nice change, but not a lot to replace them. There are a couple of interesting cafes and artisan shops but, on the Saturday we were there, the streets were lined with what appeared to be locals selling bric a brac from their attics, alongside some quite lovely little craft stalls. It is a little bit of a shame as it’s a town which could be so much more.
We finished our walkabout, and settled in the beer garden at the Red Lion www.redlionllanidloes.com fror the cheapest pint we’ve had for a long time before wandering back to the site for a couple of Lidl mojitos, and some dinner, vegan bolognese with nooch (shout out for Sarah & Nick of https://theexpawers.com without whom we would never have even heard of nooch, let alone bought it!)
Sunday was much cooler. Marley slept through ’til 5:00am, after his exertions the day before, and we were able to take our time having breakfast and sorting everything ready to leave, secure in the knowledge that we would be back home by lunchtime.
The Great Escape- Old dog, New legs!
Marleys new found puppy legs nearly caused a bit of a do! The previously vacant pitch next to us had been occupied on Saturday afternoon by a family with a lovely big motorhome, a small tent, and a gazebo with zip in panels. The hairy wonder, on seeing our open van door, decided to make a break for it! It was one of those things which happens at breakneck speed, in slow motion!
Kev lunged for the dog lead, I lunged for the door….Marley managed to lunge between the two of us and headed straight for the gap at the bottom of the gazebo. Just the other side of the gap, clearly visible to us, and also to Marley, was the edge of a double airbed. Upon said airbed, lay the peacefully sleeping heads of the older son and his girlfriend, who remain blissfully unaware that they were about to get an earful of dog drool! Thankfully, Marley didn’t need to pee and Kev’s running legs have not seized up after four months of inactivity!
WAVING!!
So what about this waving thing, then!? There appears to be some debate about the van waving habit. Do you or don’t you? Should you or shouldn’t you?
Well, after being fans of The Overnighters TV YouTube channel twitter@overnightersuk , we decided that we should, and we would. And we have. But not very successfully! This weekend on the way to our site we waved at maybe ten or eleven vans (and one horsebox)….NOTHING! NADA! DIM BYD O GWBL! It was a little better on the way back, with 8 out of 15 waving back, so a success over all. I have decided that from now on, all posts will include a tally of waves given, and waves returned! So if you see a mad woman, with short grey hair, in an oldish silver Trigano Tribute waving at you frantically, just indulge me a little, it will cheer up my day, and make me smile! Lets see how that pans out!
We had decided that, as we are having our first long trip with Lulu in September, we would stay home on our next weekend off, in two weeks, and maybe catch up on some chores. By 6:00pm Saturday we were looking for sites, so I can’t see that happening; got to live the life, and feel the love, while you can!
All in all our most succesful trip yet! Can’t wait for more Lulu van life, and more feeling the love!
Happy travels!
Love Mags, Kev & Marley