Motorhome Blogging - Sunday 30th September, 2012.

When I first visited a doctor about my lung complaint, I was told to sell my house and leave Thames Valley because it is notorious for a harmful damp atmosphere that makes lung recuperation difficult.  That’s when I thought, “gotta get out of Oxford and soon”.  I’d been practically housebound for five years.  Prior to that I had been a world traveller and longed to break free of the proverbial four walls.

Buying my first motorhome was made a bit easier by the friendly folk at Elite Motorhomes near Banbury. http://www.elitemotorhomes.co.uk/ Here, I was taken through the process without being rushed. The cup of tea helped.  The offer of a warranty and ‘handover’ eased the money out of my hand and into a cute little number called a VW Autosleeper Clubman. Its looks owe something to the Art Deco Movement, which I love. The green and stainless steel with parallel markings are pure Deco!  A test drive over the rolling, winding, narrow roads and I was hooked. 

Elite were helpful:

Handover:
“This usually takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on a customers knowledge and past motorhome experiences.However, we take as much time as a customers needs - (I was offered 4) many customers often opt to stay over-night at Drayton Leisure Campsite and return the following day to continue the handover after gaining an insight into their new motorhome.”

Accommodation:
Drayton Leisure Campsite is 1 1/2 miles from Elite Motorhomes. This local campsite enables new motorhome owners to get used to their motorhome overnight - with the opportunity of returning to us, the next day, to cover any further questions.

The campsite is an extremely accommodating campsite, (there’s a map at the bottom of the page), with walks, fishing, local pubs and local bus routes near by to go into town.”

Armed with that, and some friends, I embarked on what I hope will be a life-changing activity.  One of my first ‘research’ activities was to surf the net.  (I’ve just corrected that; my typo said “surge the net” which is probably more appropriate.) I found Club Motorhome http://www.clubmotorhome.co.uk/  and loved the site and the FB site; the welcome to newcomers; hints and tips; parking; pub parking! And much more.  Some of it is out of my league but, who knows, in due course I may find that I can do much more.

Then one of life’s strange coincidences happened.  My car was parked outside my house.  Next to it was a white van.  I wondered about the length of the van (and about parking my Clubman).  I didn’t notice the two occupants  eating their sandwiches at first until they enquired whether I needed them to move so that I could get out. “No - no, not at all.  I’m trying to gauge the length of the van cos I’ve bought a VW motorhome” and described it a bit, “That wouldn’t be the Autosleeper Clubman, would it?” “Yes, it is!” “Well, you’ve made a good purchase!”  Then he went on at length about its virtues.

Nice one.  I like the motorhome brigade already!