Meet Griswold

Mark and I aren't known for our spontaneity. We like to think things through, then think again and think some more. I also don't relish change and even if things are clearly past their sell by date, I don't like getting rid of them. For example our first car was falling to pieces, literally.  It had a plant growing in the passenger door, it leaked, it hated going in reverse, the wing mirror fell off and flapped in the wind as we drove along and it made strange noises.  Still I refused to get rid of it.  The day it left us was the day it failed its M.O.T and Mark had to ring me to tell me it had gone to the scrapyard in the sky and wasn't coming home. I cried.  Then we got a new car and I soon forgot about the old one and think its the best thing ever. It was the same with the tv.  We had one of those TV's with the huge great bulky back and in the end we were having to kick it for it to even turn on.  Still I wouldn't even contemplate a new one. I finally relented when it broke completely and I admit I took a while to warm to the new one but yes you've guessed it, I now think it's the best thing ever. After 13 years we have finally got a new fridge freezer. The old fridge had no light and after feeling the temp in the new one, it clearly wasn't doing its fridging job correctly. The table top freezer we had wouldn't freeze properly probably because the door wouldn't shut properly.  We had to chisel away at the edges every couple of days to remove the excess ice it was producing round the door. We've now got a new fridge freezer (bought it only last week in fact) and I love it.

So you see we don't make rash big purchases which is why our new purchase has come as somewhat of a shock.  Meet Griswold, our 1977 Type 2, late bay VW campervan and the newest addition to our family.

Before coming to the UK, Griswold resided in Hollywood.  Very fitting really as he bears an uncanny resemblance to Clark Griswold's station wagon in the 1980s film, National Lampoon's Vacation.

Now the reason we bought Grizzy is simple. We wanted to start living our life, enjoy it and embrace the freedom a house on wheels will give us. It has been one of Mark's dreams to own a camper and if truth be told I've been very sad for a very long time. Not just a bit down in the dumps or feeling sorry for myself but properly clinically sad and I realised that I'd had enough of feeling like this and had to make a change to start me on the road to recovery and Grizzy is going to be the thing to help. 

Already he's part of the family and we love going out in him. It literally feels like a holiday everytime we sit in him! It's so much fun driving along and seeing other camper vans as we all wave or flash our lights to say hello.  The other good thing about Grizzy is that we can buy him things.  For example he recently got a new radio as he doesn't have a stereo system

A new awning to give us extra space when we go camping.

I have to admit to not being that excited about this purchase as its very practical but the point is, if I say it's for Grizzy then I can buy it!  Lots of people have said to me that I must be excited about decorating it etc but truth be told I've been banned from having anything to do with the interior. I did suggest that we could deck him out with a gypsy caravan style interior but was sharply told NO that was not going to happen. For now we will be sticking to the original westfalia interior that was retro fitted by the previous owner. 

Grizzy even comes complete with a hob

And fridge

He has everything we need and we love him, definitely the best spur of the moment decision we've ever made and I know without doubt that he will make us very happy :)