Scouting Around

At Barn Hill Beach Camp, I got chatting to a lady who parked next to us. She and her dog were camping in a regular car with the back seats down to form their bed. She had used some wet suit material to attach storage to the inside wall of the car, and her roof rack was full. She had been sitting on a camp chair at the back of the car with a folding table and dog bed next to her. When we got talking, I told her I liked her set-up. She told me she had just turned 70 and had decided to head off with her dog and spend her birthday year travelling. Her children are scattered around the country, and they had each decided on a place they had always wanted to visit and would meet her in those various places. I loved that idea! As I turn 70 in eight months, I decided I might do a similar thing. Forget parties and dinners, this is the way to go.

Now that we have the camper van, I will do lots of trips next year, visiting family and friends, or going to places I haven’t been. Hopefully John might join me on some. Maybe friends will come along with their swag or tent.  Meantime, I want to make the camper a bit more homely. Inside it has the double bed, a fridge and a slide-out camping cooker. There are some storage areas under the bed and under the fridge. It is quite dark inside as the walls are carpeted in brown and the curtains are of grey block out material.

The first thing I did was give the camper a name.  I wanted to give it some kind of literary name and came up with a shortlist of three – Holly Golightly, Gulliver Travels and Scout (the character from To Kill a Mockingbird). I decided on the latter as I plan to scout around the country. I ordered a “Scout” sticker online from Etsy for the back door of the van.

I also want to make a patchwork quilt in vivid colours to brighten up the cabin. We bought the van with bedding included but I want to put my own stamp on it. I’d also like to replace the curtains and perhaps make some bunting to hang. Other than that, a few colourful baskets to hold food and kitchen needs, and maybe something to cover the ceiling might work. Let’s see. I’m looking forward to getting creative.