Blog with a three legged dog

The time has arrived, the one week countdown is on ... WE ARE GOING TO ITALY!
Last year we visited France & Spain & we enjoyed sharing our story with you all along the way. I have to say I read over it again a few weeks ago & it reminded me of lots of wee funny things I had forgotten! It showed me how important it is to keep a log of all the antics!

Since then we have met lots of you & can now put a face to your name. In our case most of you will know that the Hunters come as a package - Bryan (the boss), Jill (the one who does all this typing lark), Ella (6, the real boss) & our 3 legged Bischon, Polly. Polly travels everywhere with us in the van. On a Thursday night if she sees me packing the MH up to go away for the weekend she is often found sitting on the front passenger seat. It's the only time she can 'jump' any height! You see a 3 legged dog lives a life of luxury ... being lifted down off the sofa & carried up & down steps etc. however she can miraculously jump into our MH via the side door, not even needing the step to be out!!

Last year, our first year with a MH & our first big European adventure, we didn't even consider the possibility of bringing Polly with us. She stayed with my parents & because Polly missed us so much they had to bring her home to our house in the evenings. So this year it wasn't hard deciding to bring her with us!

At this stage with just under a week to go what would you have done or be planning to do in the next day or 2!?! I have to say we are feeling much more chilled this year about the whole adventure! which might not be a good thing!!!

Jill

Ally, you can tell Julie I went to the doctor and got tablets for going on the boat! I seriously HATE boats! I am going to take the tablets & something to wash it down with & go to the cabin & SLEEP. 18 hours on a boat ... I am chanting 'it will be worth it, it will be worth it'

Is that bad? It sounds bad!!
I might double the dose of tablets!!!

Take plenty of notes as I maybe asking you questions about Italy in the future. LOL
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Have a notebook of important points started already!!
That's the olde teacher in me!!

Thanks Ally! I suspect this will be the one & only time he gets me to go via Rosslare but we'll see how things go.
I appreciate your support!!

Yes that was how we crossed last year but he hood winked me into believing this will be fine ... only time will tell!

Camper is packed.
House is cleaned (you don't want to return to a dirty house!!).
The dog got washed & all her fur shaved off on Friday (she is freezing!).
All our other pets have been farmed out to be looked after (budgie, hens, hamster, guinea pig & Giant African snails).
We leave the house at 9 (it'll probably end up more like 10) in the morning ...

So we are in Italy!
What has happened so far I hear you shout...
THE DREADED BOAT IS OVER & it was fine (thank goodness!!)
We arrived in Rosslare on Tuesday well ahead of time, it took us about 4 hours with a break for lunch in Jack's Tavern.
We found a playpark to amuse Ella for an hour & boiled the kettle for a cuppa.
Have to say Rosslare was a bit sad looking (lots of places closed down etc) but it has a lovely beach. You can park down at the harbour & go for a walk.
I took my travel pills while waiting in the queue to board the boat, packed an overnight bag for us & Polly got her last walk on dry land for 18 hours!
Had absolutely no problems with our pet passport which we were relieved about as it's our first time bringing Polly with us to Europe.
That leads us on to the boat journey ...
We were parked at the front of the boat (so we were practically first off) & we went up & got our cabin key.
Polly stayed in the MH & we were allowed down to walk her at 10pm & again at 10am.
The cabin was basic but clean with a sheet, blanket, pillow & towel for each person.
We got our tea (€30 for a family) & went to bed. We all slept until 9am the next morning! In reality we only had another 6 hrs to go!! & the crossing was calm enough, there were a few rocky bits during the night but nothing that would annoy you lying down.
Bryan & Ella went to the on-board cinema to view Malificent (at a cost of €10) & I went to see the dog.
I had packed rolls etc for breakfast in a picnic hamper so that would see us ok till lunch.
Polly was sound asleep, I took her for a quick walk to stretch her three legs & then headed back up to our cabin.
I have to say the boat is much smaller than I expected but in the end the experience of going over to France has been fine. The jury is out until I get home again!
We had lunch (€30 family deal again) before heading back to the MH to disembark. We arrived at 3.30pm exactly
The boat is over us - hip hip hooray!!

I agree 12 hours was a long time but thankfully we got a dog that prefers to sleep while we travel so she was fine. If you put your dog in on board kennels (free service) you can see them anytime but we decided Polly would be happier in familiar surroundings of the van. It worked out ok.
Will update you all tomorrow on staying in our first French aire, the drive to Italy, putting up our safari room (for the 1st time) & how cool my camper is working ... going to bed so next instalment tomorrow!!

Bryan is away to find the shop so I'll tell you about our first stop in La Suze Sur Sarthe, just south of Le Mans. We decided to drive about 3 hours after getting off the boat & had picked the Le Mans area before leaving home. The aire was well signposted once you entered the village so found it very easily. Absolutely beautiful location for our first stop, we parked along the river, there were 10 other MHs (all French) & the gentleman beside us was very helpful & showed us what to do (we didn't even ask!). It was €5 for the night with electric readily available (you need a long cable) & water too.
We had our tea sitting at a picnic bench & of course Ella skipped about entertaining the others as only Ella can!
We had a short walk into the village to enjoy an ice cream & as Bryan says it would be rude not to have a beer!
Bryan was always the reluctant one to try the aires & nicknamed the aires book 'the car park book' when it arrived a few months ago. However, after a positive first experience I think we're on a winner! The accompanying map of all the aires makes it easy to pick one near the location you are heading. We have about a week on the way home in France & we'll be using the aires book again.

Drive down through France took 10 hours with 2 one hour breaks. We left just before 6am & so arrived in Italy at teatime.
We used the Mont Blanc tunnel, expensive at just less than €60 but an experience we wanted to do. We used a lot of toll roads & I'm afraid to add them all up! I would estimate about €80 and we used a full tank of fuel.
The scenery is out of this world, it seems strange to be looking up at mountain tops with snow & be sitting in 30oC + temperatures.

Our campsite is in Vallee D'Aosta, just on the border into Italy.
The views are amazing, we have parked up & enjoyed a few quiet days on site.
There is no pool but you can use the pool at the hotel just down the road, we went yesterday. It's a small pool all the one depth (1.2m) & the roof can retract back.

Massive thunder storm here this avo, the lightning hit the ground on the mountain behind us & started a fire!
Quite spectacular to watch but glad we weren't in the house just in front of it!
It was put out very quickly.

As soon as we arrived at the campsite Bryan started to put up the new safari room, I have read mixed reviews on this set up but nothing would do but we would have to get one at the end of last season ...
I have to say in our case it has been a real asset to our set up, particularly with the dog with us this year.
Polly can sit in the shade in this extra room & she is definitely enjoying doing that!
It does leave us not able to up sticks too quickly but then we do tend to put down roots for a few days & explore on bikes & public transport. The actual van is much less cluttered & stays cleaner as we're not going in & out of it as often.
The actual constructing took about an hour (Bryan did a trial run before we left home) and sure it was great entertainment for all the French, Dutch & Italians to watch us! There were no arguments & I did not break anything that Bryan couldn't fix ... I will say no more on this topic.

Cool my camper is also a new purchase for our summer trip this year. Last year the heat in the van in Spain nearly had us going up in smoke! So far so good, the van cools to a very comfortable temperature & we have no problem sleeping.
We did experience a flood this morning (well the floors got an unexpected wash! Have to look on the positive side!), Bryan found a little stopper on the floor & wasn't sure where it should go... We now know the location!
The system is supposed to freeze the moisture taken out of the air & then you release the stopper and it drains away, our stopper wasn't in place to start with. Disaster averted & water dried up, lesson learnt!
I have never been in a van with air conditioning to compare the temps but so far so good our system is keeping us cool.

Rain is over, BBQ lit, steaks ready to go on ... that's you all up to date for now!

We'll take a different country every year & go for it!!
Have to say the only downside so far are the mosquitoes here, the locals say they are the worst in years & I have to say they are vicious.
I'm usually the only one to get bites but this year we all have them.
Bryan went to the chemist yesterday & the pharmacist said he'd never been so busy selling repellent ...

The other thing!! Ella is most annoyed that NOBODY will wave back in their MH!