Tuesday(?) 25th May

No idea what day it is, I’ve been under a bit of stress recently.

A couple of years ago whilst in the top of Spain, we had a bit of a bed disaster. The front bed is held up by four arms which swing up and hold the bed above the cab. After three or four hundred sleeping policeman type pedestrian crossings in Spain one of the arms snapped and we had it repaired. Now the arm the other side has gone and we can’t use the main bed, currently it is tied up in place with a rachet strap and we have to use the downstairs bed in the lounge which was not very comfortable.

We’re not really sure what to do. If we were at home we could get it repaired easily, I have the tools and materials and a lifetime of bodging experiences passed down to me by my Father. Our return ferry isn’t for another two and a half weeks so do we reschedule the ferry, make do on a very uncomfortable bed or drink a bit more and forget about the problems?

On the way to yesterdays stop over we had to fill up with diesel and LPG. As you know, my German isn’t great but that doesn’t really matter, just read it in English.

Going back to yesterday (before the fecking bed was fecked) we were discussing our options, we’re over half way through our six week mini adventure and think we should start making our way back towards Dunkirk. We also have five camping cheques left which we bought three years ago and which will expire in the next four months.There looks like a decent site on the German Luxembourg border, lets give the a try. (Supermarket within walking distance). Along the route is a place on the map which has been circled, Ladenbach. It must have been circled for a reason which is as good a reason for going there.

About a mile for the site Stella says “Take the next right and board the ferry” at which we both said “What the ….”, luckily there was a car park to pull into and we went to explore. Just over the bank was the car ferry across the Rhine, unfortunately not a motorhome ferry so we had to make a five mile detour. As we got close we started recognising places, it was a stellplatz that Nick and Elaine had recommended to us because of the Mercedes Benz museum (only open Wednesdays, which is why we spent four days here last year).

Luckily the sun was out and everything was great. (Except the sleep9ing arrangements).

Lucy could tell that I was worried about the bed, and the brakes, did I forget to mention the brake pads that I changed a year ago and which have since seen every hill in Europe (including the Grossglockner pass) and are now making strange noises when they get hot? She/we decided to make our way home and today has been a marathon run, 120 miles in all of mostly autobahns with no speed limits, you look behind, no one within a thousand miles so you pull out to overtake a lorry and all of a sudden there is a long tail of BMW’s, Porsches, Audis and Trabants trying to push you along.

We eventually got to Echternacherbrucke, that’s Luxembourg on the other side of the river. We have electric, toilets and what can only be described as member of the travelling community. Girls with big ear rings, Huge brand new caravans, (Hobby, Fendt and Tabbert) with even huger awnings and totally inappropriate towing cars (AMG Mercedes, Porsche Chayenne, Audi with matt paint finish, Corvettes… One of these Tabbert caravans is 72” long, it’s enormous.

Hopefully Frankie won’t be up on blocks in the morning and we can try and relax for a few days.

PS – I only went and published this post before saving it and letting Lucy spell check it for me (Any past spelling mistakes have all been down to Lucy’s ineptitude at spelling (don’t tell her I said that)).

I forgot to mention that when I arrived I marched into reception, asked for a pitch, no dogs, no kids, with electric, all the usual questions, vot ist your name,  and she marked me down as German. I am so pleased with my self.

Here is a picture of the pfand machine. Every time you buy a can of beer or a plastic bottle of lemonade you get charged 25c deposit. Once the bottle or tin is empty you take it into the supermarket and feed your tins into the machine. it’s far nicer than the old Tesco recycling machines, once you’ve finished you get a receipt and get money off your next purchase.