Long journey home from North Yorkshire to Whilton - 21st Nov ‘19

It really is true that you only miss something when you haven’t got it!!

We knew the lack of gas would mean no tea but no omelette and nighttime hot water bottle too!
We had the electric heating on low overnight so the gas fire wasn’t missed too much but no tea and omelette was hard to handle!!? Coffee made from hot tap water is just about drinkable but a far from pleasurable experience.

We were aiming for a noon leave time so leaving at 11.45 was a wee bonus. Kim gave Brunnehilda a good clean inside and I went through the usual pack up process - probably slower than normal as a luke warm cup of coffee and toast was far from rocket fuel!

We arrived back at Whilton at 4.30 - just in time for the 5pm closure, although judging by the gateman’s very deliberate look at his watch, a little too near the wire for him?!

I decided to go a different way home - mainly because I didn’t want to have to go through Bradford and the M1 from the M18 to home is incredibly boring. So we picked up the A1(M) south of Wetherby by cutting the corner through Ilkely and Otley. We then kept on the A1 all the way down to Newark and joined the A46 to Leicester. A bit longer in time but a much more pleasant journey.

We had a short stop at Blythe services to take onboard a veggie Greggs and a rather nice cup of coffee. We were overcharged by a couple of quid and the fact we didn’t get a receipt makes me suspicious it wasn’t a complete accident?! As always, the caravan lane was full (of non caravans!) so Brunnehilda moseyed up to the HGVs.

Brunnehilda was filthy by the time we got back to Whilton but I’m afraid she’ll have to stay that way until the next trip - next week to Cornwall ... can’t wait!

Wharfedale Caravan Club Site:

Pros:
1) Great position with lots of nice places to visit
2) Good facilities with super clean toilets and so many of them!
3) A rare non sizeist washroom mirror - equipped for all sizes
4) Super friendly book-in lady
5) Nice walks from the site
6) Very quiet and no light pollution
7) Considering in the middle of nowhere, easy to get to
Cons:
1) Not much vegetation between pitches - not good if busy
2) I suspect in the summer they may have been more officious with where we put our “foreign” awning?
3) No great view from the van

As you can see by the one sided list, I think this was one of our favourite UK sites so far?