First camping trip of 2017 – Would Ro like it?

Getting out for our first camping trip of 2017 made for a happy J. The question was, how would Ro like her first camping experience? The verdict is in.

J has been itching to go camping since we packed up on our final camping trip in 2015. I decided on a campsite that wasn’t too far away, just in case Ro didn’t share our love of camping just yet. Reading reviews and speaking to a few people who had stayed there, we decided on one. I booked a 2 night stay at Holme Valley Camping and Caravan Park.

Setting up didn’t go exactly to plan.

After getting the trailer in position, we started the 5 min job of winding the corner stabilizer legs down ready to open up the camper. Only this didn’t take 5 mins. We got all 4 corners down and while leveling, we came up with a slight issue. The big bolt for winding up and down the leg snapped in half! On the plus side the leg was down and stable. The rest of the main tent went up without any issues.

We put Ro in one of the beds while we unpacked the car and finished the set up. She kept playing peebo at the window.

Making new friends.

While I was getting things organised and getting Meg’s bed sorted, J went out to play. Not long after going outside the tent, I could see him playing with a couple of kids. They were soon like long lost friends and having a great time. Sadly for J they were leaving the next day, but we let them play in our tent while their parents packed up in the morning.

The nighttime – How would Ro cope?

The short answer is very well! She did get put down a little later than normal, but she was wrapped up warm and fell asleep quite quickly. (both that night. the next and naps.) She only woke once in the night and I was awake in the morning before her. She slept in the bed with me and J and Dave on the other side. So the whole sleeping affair I was a little stressed about, went really well.

She didn’t even wake up to kids having fun outside or music being played.

Fun on the site.

The field we were camping in had a playground, which was J’s favorite area. Down behind us was the river,  which added a lovely view while I was cooking, looking out over the foliage on the banks. Although we didn’t get a chance to go take a look at the river. During the day a load of ducks came from the big old mill pond on another part of the site, I think they knew where the food was at.

The site also was on the edge of woodland, which we took a little stroll in. J only brought his hoopla set, swing ball, ludo, and some colouring books and not once did we hear the common phrase used at home – I’m bored.

In the afternoon we had a surprise as a friend and her kids pulled up for a nights camping.

Time to leave.

Packing up was a little more difficult with Ro, as we had to pack up at her normal nap time. So packing up with a grumpy toddler isn’t too much fun. We gave her loads of snacks to keep her happy. J was in such a sombre mood as he didn’t want to go home.

It took Dave a bit of fiddling to get that broken corner stabilizer back up, but once we did, we had to keep it up. Duct tape and cable ties from my camping toolbox were all we needed to sort that out.

The site definitely got J’s seal of approval, he wanted to go back. He asked if we can go camping some more times this summer break. I had to explain to him that I don’t have all of August off work and would be back at work soon.

I am happy to say Ro really enjoyed her first camping experience. Which J was very glad about because if he had his way we would spend all summer camping.

What did we do as soon as we got home? We booked another couple of nights at that campsite in a few days time.

I will give you my opinion on site, facilities and camping experience after our next stay – but the fact we are going back should give you a preview of what we thought 😉