Ridgeway
LIFE MEMBER
After 10yrs in tents and 6 yrs in tin tents we were looking forwards to our "mobile luxury" So after collecting the MH a couple of weeks back we planned a weekend away at Easter. The challenge was going to be the weather, 2 wks back it was all nice and spring like but the forecasts looked grim. As last week was pretty hectic there was little planning and preparation , nearly everything was done on Thursday evening, not ideal for a first outing but we just wanted to buckle up and head off some where.
We set off at 6am on the Friday morning and I'd decided to head for Ticino, this is the part of Switzerland that borders Itlay, it's or usual Easter destination and the weather is normally 5 degrees warmer at least and the forecast suggest 15-18 degrees so that was good enough. Not 1km down the road and we were struggling to get the satnav to work, pulled over, changed the position did everything that we could but no joy. OK Lets see how we get on and then we'll use the map, later on I realized that we hadn't put a map in the MH yet...
Getting over or through the Alps to Locarno is always a question of route, there are several options and all with their benefits. Usually we go for the Gottard tunnel but the traffic can be bad and Easter it was likely to be. Simplon pass is also pretty good but last year the Simplon rail tunnel opened up to Motorhomes, OK lets try that. We arrived to be greeted by the height width gauge to see if you fit on, we were too wide and too tall
oh: But the nice man said don't worry you can go on it will be fine
Now I don't know about you but width/height gauges are there for a reason... Paid our money and waited 20mins for the train then got we got on, O say got on what I should say is then we tentatively drove down the train with 3cm gap each side, it was a bit tight to say the least. 20mins train ride later and we were in Italy with 15 degrees and sign posts for Milan
We then had the rest of the 90mins to get to Cannobio on lake Majorie which was our destination.
What a nice feeling when you arrive that 15mins later you'll all done, no awning to put up: great ! Managed to squeeze in to a tight spot next to a tree but it was fine for our short stay,
2 nice days but with some rain although overall weather good enough for eating pizza and feeding ducks by the lake.
It really gave us chance to start to suss out the MH and start making some plans as to what mods we need to add for storage, bikes etc
Decided to return on Sunday so that we still had Monday to get some jobs done at home. Set off at a lazy 11:00am and took the brave move to go over the Simplon pass rather than take the train as on Sunday there were only 2 trains so it would have meant a big wait. The pass was clear if a little windy so we decided to stop at the top and have lunch, as you can see below there is still 2m of snow up there...
Overall we really felt that the short 2 days seemed longer as the vacation started as soon as we had go in to the MH. The children loved sitting at the table and the bed arrangements although our 13yr dog wasn't too sure about the steps getting in and out, some astro turf needed to help her grip (one for the list). We arrived back and no faffing about with moving caravans about, it was straight on the driven empty clean and away she goes, what a pleasure.
More planning to be made for the trips out for this year. We should go to Austria at the Ascension long weekend and then plan the France trip plus the UK with Stone Henge and Padstow thrown in, that'll keep us busy for now.
We set off at 6am on the Friday morning and I'd decided to head for Ticino, this is the part of Switzerland that borders Itlay, it's or usual Easter destination and the weather is normally 5 degrees warmer at least and the forecast suggest 15-18 degrees so that was good enough. Not 1km down the road and we were struggling to get the satnav to work, pulled over, changed the position did everything that we could but no joy. OK Lets see how we get on and then we'll use the map, later on I realized that we hadn't put a map in the MH yet...
Getting over or through the Alps to Locarno is always a question of route, there are several options and all with their benefits. Usually we go for the Gottard tunnel but the traffic can be bad and Easter it was likely to be. Simplon pass is also pretty good but last year the Simplon rail tunnel opened up to Motorhomes, OK lets try that. We arrived to be greeted by the height width gauge to see if you fit on, we were too wide and too tall
oh: But the nice man said don't worry you can go on it will be fine Now I don't know about you but width/height gauges are there for a reason... Paid our money and waited 20mins for the train then got we got on, O say got on what I should say is then we tentatively drove down the train with 3cm gap each side, it was a bit tight to say the least. 20mins train ride later and we were in Italy with 15 degrees and sign posts for Milan We then had the rest of the 90mins to get to Cannobio on lake Majorie which was our destination. What a nice feeling when you arrive that 15mins later you'll all done, no awning to put up: great ! Managed to squeeze in to a tight spot next to a tree but it was fine for our short stay,
2 nice days but with some rain although overall weather good enough for eating pizza and feeding ducks by the lake.
It really gave us chance to start to suss out the MH and start making some plans as to what mods we need to add for storage, bikes etc
Decided to return on Sunday so that we still had Monday to get some jobs done at home. Set off at a lazy 11:00am and took the brave move to go over the Simplon pass rather than take the train as on Sunday there were only 2 trains so it would have meant a big wait. The pass was clear if a little windy so we decided to stop at the top and have lunch, as you can see below there is still 2m of snow up there...
Overall we really felt that the short 2 days seemed longer as the vacation started as soon as we had go in to the MH. The children loved sitting at the table and the bed arrangements although our 13yr dog wasn't too sure about the steps getting in and out, some astro turf needed to help her grip (one for the list). We arrived back and no faffing about with moving caravans about, it was straight on the driven empty clean and away she goes, what a pleasure.
More planning to be made for the trips out for this year. We should go to Austria at the Ascension long weekend and then plan the France trip plus the UK with Stone Henge and Padstow thrown in, that'll keep us busy for now.
