Catavanning

A few days ago we went to give the caravan the once over, just checking it’s ok and hasn’t blown off in the recent storms we’ve had. It was still exactly where we had left it but very green, one of the joys of storing on a farm near trees. In order to return it back to it’s rightful colour involved some jiggery pokery. With a full scrub prohibited on the storage site we decided to take the caravan home and take advantage of the hosepipe.

Having access to the caravan whilst at home gave us itchy feet. We longed to be back out in it. Our only problem now that the jellybeans have fled the nest, is our elderly cat. we bit the bullet and decided to take him with us, what can go wrong? We chose Morn Hill near Winchester, not too far from home, if he’s a pain we can take him home and hopefully take advantage of a neighbour.

We pack the car, lots of extra baggage this time, cat food, litter tray, cat treats, scratching post, and so the list goes on, oh yeah, a couple of changes of underwear and T shirts for us. Oscar certainly doesn’t travel light. Bungled into his cat box and nestled on the back seat of the car I decided to sit in the back with him, just in case.

Caravan hitched up, fridge filled, let’s hit the road. I’m not even sure that we had even left the farm and a little whiff of something drifted past my nose, had he farted? Not something we are ever aware of him doing, the smell got stronger, the little toe rag had deposited a steaming pile in his cat carrier. We had to drive past our house to get to Winchester, slight detour onto our estate to sort out the cat and cat carrier. A couple of minutes later I emerged from home with a clean cat and box, hopefully the rest of the journey is uneventful.

He’s not really used to travelling in the car, the furthest he’s done in the past is about ten minutes down the road to the vet or our daughters. One hour from leaving home we arrive at site and he’s travelled remarkably well and been pretty calm for the duration of the drive.

We empty the contents of the car and Oscar into the caravan, all the outside equipment that we store in the caravan, waste master, aqua roll etc are taken out, it’s just started spitting, hopefully The Boss will work at break neck speed and not get too wet. Door safely closed, I free Oscar from his confines and start to set up the inside of the caravan. Out he comes, cautiously sniffing and taking in his new surroundings. He seems quite happy watching the dogs being walked past. He checks what’s going on through every window, so many windows to check, I’m not quite sure how he’s going to keep track of them all. He finds his food, water and scratching post and treats himself to a couple of biscuits. Tired of watching the world go by through the windows he settles himself on a seat at the front then onto Steve’s knee, it’s all looking very positive, fingers crossed for bedtime.

Darkness falls across site and caravans start to turn their lights on and close their blinds. I think Oscar has decided there’s nothing to see anymore and the world is looking very wet. He finds his cat litter, he’s in there so long he must be weeing for England. his ablutions dealt with, he retires to the bed, exhausting work this catavanning, he hasn’t had a nap at all this afternoon. Paddling the bed, he looks like he’s making biscuits, he settles himself on Steve’s side, purring, his eyes slowly close and he’s settles into a deep sleep. Not too deep I hope, I need him to sleep tonight.