Tommy loves to play about with photos, tweaking colours and adding extra elements. As we're at home just now due to Covid-19, I thought I'd put my favourites in a blog post - there's everything here from Hymers to Tornado Twins to Boris, our VW Beetle, and landscapes too!
The Classic Hymers Group has been a big part of our Hymer-owning life over the last six years and we're always delighted to meet other members and catch up with friends we've made over the year, on and offline. The Chill is a perfect opportunity to get together and enjoy the company of some great people, as well as admiring some awesome old vans.
As usual, we deposited the children at school and set off ASAP. It's not often I get in the front seat these days! Last year in February, our planned trip to Keswick was cancelled due to the site flooding. We thought we'd try again this year. Although Storm Ciara was forecast, there were no concerns from the site so off we set. Sitting back at home now, after the event, we maybe should have thought more carefully about that...
After the fun of Atomic, we brought things down a notch and headed west into Warwickshire for a stop off at Stratford-on-Avon. We spent a quiet Monday night at the Masons Arms pub in Long Marston and on Tuesday morning headed to North Cotswold Motorhome Services to get Bodhi's fridge fixed.
We may have mentioned the HymerChill before. A weekend at Park Foot campsite near Ullswater, with up to 100 other Hymers and their owners, featuring tech talks, music, a drink or two and cake. Tommy and I have been twice before, always leaving the Tornado Twins at home with my parents so we can make the most of the weekend, and we love it. This year we've been particularly looking forward to going, keen to show off Bodhi and catch up with friends that we've not seen since the previous year.
We weren't expecting a visit from The Beast From The East though... Earlier this year we were invited to meet up with some fellow Hymer enthusiasts at a small meet in Dumfries and Galloway. Fourteen vans in total , all members of the Classic Hymers group, rolled up to The Braids caravan site in Gretna and we had a great weekend together.
Earlier this year, at the Hymerchill meet in Ullswater, Tommy and I were invited into an S670 Mercedes Hymer. We instantly fell in love with the layout and the feeling of space inside. Hans has always been amazing and has given us some fantastic trips, but he was beginning to feel a little cramped for us. The girls are getting bigger and the dinette layout wasn't suiting us so well.
Initially, we made a few half hearted attempts at looking, but were put off by the fact that Hans was such a great beast. Apart from the usual servicing, he had needed almost no work at all. Mechanically and habitation wise, he was reliable and steady and that was very hard to ignore. So we decided to stick with Hans and carried on as planned, enjoying trips away in the spring and our brilliant summer tour. Then last Friday, we received a message from Chris at Ikonic Kampers. We bought Hans from Chris, and Tommy had asked him to keep an eye out for any S670s that he came across. He had seen one for sale in Bristol on Gumtree and wondered if we were interested. We had a look but quickly dismissed it - Bristol is a long way from Loch Lomond and the chances of us getting down there before it was sold were slim. Then a friend of ours in the area - Jon from the Classic Hymers group - offered to have a look. Suddenly things were happening. A viewing was arranged for Monday and flights and bank loans were looked into. Our quiet weekend was suddenly full of excitement and nerves. Tommy and I wavered back and forwards about whether it was the right thing to do. Is it madness to walk away from a good working vehicle to a complete unknown? The second weekend in March saw us at Park Foot Holiday Park on Ullswater in the Lake District for the Classic Hymerchill. It was our second Classic Hymer meet and Tommy and I had a great time catching up with people and checking out amazing vans, while the Tornado Twins spent the weekend with their grandparents.
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