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Sudden gust blown right down off the Pennines, bounced off the valley floor right under the awning, bang clatter, "what the h***"...Pulled up the blind and the awning was still in place. Said a little prayer to see us through the night. Then spent the next six hours listening to the howl, the rain, the sails

glad you are back safe phil.been there got the T shirt so they say.over the last 12 years of caravanning we have had three nights where i could say we were very worried of the awning taking off.i fully storm strap now whatever the weather.at moffat one time we had the peg box and pushchair and anything else heavy tied to the inside of the awning.many lost there's.

Quote: Originally posted by cwdc56768 on 05/4/2011

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the dog needed to be emptied.

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Lets hope Carol is right!

Excellent   You should be a writer.

Look forward to hearing about the rest of yout trip with improved weather conditions.  Enjoy!

Part Two

Still no peace. Been very very windy this afternoon and so spent the afternoon in the van....rocking..... The dog needed to go out again. You need to know that she is a miniature schnauser and was born just before they stopped docking tails. I use an extended lead.

Well I was the only chap in the Dale this afternoon with a doggy kite!!. Legs pointing to each corner of the compass and, with such a short tail, this kite just had no stability at all! Round and round and eventually dropped to the floor. Poor thing.

I arrived back at the van, still walking at an angle of 45 degrees into the wind, the awning bending and swaying and threatening my investment....quick where is the insurance policy?

I was so fed up I told the wife I was walking into Hawes to get some anti depressants. Managed to find a shop that sold the right powerful ones. Two bottles of Old Peculiar from the Theakson Pharmacy. They really work,.Cheered me up no end. The bottle mentioned that the Pharmacy sponsored the Harrogate Crime Writers Festival and each bottle includes a ten word crime novel. So, if you fancy falling to sleep quickly on a night and want to read a short story this anti depressant bottle is for you. Sadly both bottles had the same story "The coke hit. Lonnie smiled. Then came the pain. lonnie Died!

Had to laugh so the anti depressant had a double wammy. Now a treble wammy. Next time I go to the chemist tomorrow I will probably have to say to the lady at the counter, "Sorry I have read that bottle can I have another one". Ha Ha

Suddenly back at the camp site the eye of the storm came over. Two Long Tailed Tits came out and that lifted the spirits. .....and then they were gone.... and the awning started playing up again. 

BBC say that storm gusts will be up to 50mph. MetCheck say 20mph. We are hoping we can rely on metcheck.

Still a worry. Can an awning pull the awning rail off?

Most everyone on the site is staying indoors. Some brave folk have ventured out, heavily wrapped up. Plenty of room on the site at the moment if you fancy a few days away and the weather man on the news says it will be fine tomorrow. Here's hoping. Need to get the walking boots on and the rucksacks out. Ah well I feel a need for another anti depressant

Phil

Love it Phil - specially the bits about the dog. We have a Bichon Frise so I am only too aware of the absorbant quality of his coat - works much better than any mop.

Have you noticed that its always at the worst part of the storm that the dog gets that "daddy I REALLY need to go" fidget