Who knew that the biggest mistake would not be out on the road but simply putting the motorhome back in storage? We learned a hard (well literally soft if we are being honest) lesson very quick!
The storage centre we use is located in the countryside – housing over 500 caravans and motorhomes in a secure compound on what was once farmland. There is easy and firm access in and out, but at the time the owners had not made all the pitches hardstanding. We had a double pathway of pavers in alignment with the wheels which we used with both our previous caravans and the Bailey Autograph 75-2 we had at the time. Pitches are back to back in most cases.
This was back in January 2022. A cheeky winter weekender at the CAMC Cherry Hinton had proved just the tonic over a relatively mild weekend. Perfect for access to Cambridge and long walks with the dogs. An unwind and a relax. That was soon to be undone.
Cambridge is not too far from home and a short 45 minute trip back to the storage. On this occasion Jamie had been driving back and we had a steady saunter. There had been some rain in previous weeks but the weekend had been dry.
In all the years of using the pitch, even with the caravans we had never ‘driven through’ from the pitch behind us – often it was not vacant and even when it was I was happy reversing in ours – you get used to it! However, in a random moment of wanting to get stored and home (we had other plans that evening) the vacant pitch was there and we decided to drive through. Big mistake. Huge. Calamitous.
As the motorhome dropped off the end of the pavers from the pitch behind and with only a metre or so to get to our pavers, the front tyres entered the grass. In an almost slow motion comedy movie style, the types did not easily move forwards over the grass, but slowly started sinking, forward a touch, and sinking more, where before long we were half a metre short of our slabs – the tyres were going down in the very wet grass. There was no going forwards, there was no going backwards. The only way was to find try and get some traction at the front which we eventually did with the aide of some gravel and timbers.
You learn a hard lesson sometimes, as at this stage we should have engaged brains and done this to go back onto the pitch behind us but in the sheer panic we tried to get onto our pitch. You know what is coming…. The rear tyres then hit the grass and with the underslung tyre carrier and sinking feeling – we were truly wedged! There was nowhere to go and nothing could be done – the front tyres were wheel-spinning. How on earth were we going to fix this?
We needed a knight in shining armour and Pete, the site owner, was around and had a small tractor. Some begging and pleading (although he admitted later this not the first time this had happened) meant he would come and help, but a small tractor against a 3.5 tonne motorhome became a bit of a David and Goliath situation. An hour of digging slopes, un-blocking the spare tyre and filling the tracks with gravel and tugging with a mini-tractor eventually freed us from the mire. One long mistake and a very muddy motorhome (and its owners).
Lesson learned. Reverse in – you do it all the time and have no excuse not to. The site is now all hardstanding and this will never be repeated again! Don’t ever trust a strip of grass as being strong enough for the motorhome. We now always do hardstanding on most campsites and are very nervous of anything other! This shall not be repeated. Ever. We learned some other things from this too like where the Peugeot tool kit was stored and how to attach the towing hook to the front bumper.
Two Guys, Two Dogs, Four Wheels 