Our first ever caravan trip
This bank holiday weekend we collected our new caravan (almost new), having never had one before and went straight off for a weekend with the kids. So, what was that first trip like?
We collected the caravan, had a lesson on how to use it and all went well. The drive was great with no problems at all. When we arrived at the site, this is where my problems started.
Firstly I took a wrong turn onto the site and needed to turn the caravan around. Easy enough to do one would think, but when you're trying to turn 13 meters of vehicle, that was a challenge.
Having turned around and found our pitch, a member of staff watched whilst I reversed onto the pitch. Now being a little nervous he suggested I unhook the car. Feeling under pressure, I unhooked the caravan and drove forward, however I had forgotten to unplug the electrics. So, now I think I’ve broken the tow bar!
As the member of staff then made a quick exit, I needed to get the caravan level. I decided to hook the caravan back up to the car to move it as the pitch was not level. Ok, did that, then I made a fatal error. The jockey wheel pulled up too much and came out of the socket. Now I had a real problem. No jockey wheel and car still attached to the caravan. Couldn’t get the jockey wheel back in. Was due to pick the wife and kids up from the train station shortly (they travelled up after school). I called the site office for help, they passed me the details of a guy who could help. Thanks to the help of ‘David the Caravan Medic’ he arrived on site quickly, jacked up the caravan, detached it from the car and reattached the jockey wheel to the caravan. Saved. He then helped me get the caravan level.
The remainder of the bank holiday went well, apart from forgetting to pack the television remote control so couldn’t tune in the TV. But then we got the board games out instead.
Packing up went well until I made the same mistake as before and forgot to tighten the jockey wheel when getting ready to attach to the car so the caravan almost hit the floor. Thanks to some friendly fellow caravan owners, we manually lifted the caravan back onto the car. Drove home. When at home, I managed to replicate the repair by David the caravan medic and all was well. First caravan experience done! Looking forward to the second...
Lessons to pass on.
- Don’t get flustered by others offering help. Take your time
- Walk through a check list when pitching up at the site and the same when you leave
- Make a list of things you forgot to take and keep it in the caravan for next time!
- Have a good look around before you leave. Don’t leave any tools behind (as I did!)
- Have fun
Comments
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We have been camping/caravanning for over 44 years and still get things wrong if we don't refer to our laminated list of priorities on arrival, leaving is read in reverse.
Our remote control for our mover is now on a long lace attached to our caravan handle when in use. I had a habit of leaving it on the 'A' frame and lost one in France. We have also driven off with the mover still engaged, not good practice.
One caravanner left with the electrics still connected which nearly collapsed our awning.
Mcfamily, don't worry about getting things wrong, we all do it and it's good entertainment for others!
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Wow Mcfamily, that would have been enough to put a lot of people off. We only started 18 months ago, and my mild OCD helps to make sure everything is as it should be, but we too have made mistakes. Like the time I got the caravan on the pitch, levelled
it, and told the wife it was ready to jump on board. I had forgotten to lower the rear steadys, and her weight was just enough (actually it was more than enough, but don't tell her I said that ;o)) to tip the balance and the caravan ended up with the hitch
about 4 feet in the air, and the rear of the caravan resting on the ground... We gingerly eased it back down, and no harm done... we laughed for hours....0
