There are probably going to be bigger adventures in Rocky than this one.
Longer journeys, spectacular places, walks from the back doors and, almost certainly, occasions when things don’t quite go according to plan.
But you’ve got to start somewhere.
And for Rocky, that somewhere was Howgill Lodge in the Yorkshire Dales.
We picked a hot one
For our first proper trip we weren’t going far and we weren’t going for long. Just one night away, somewhere reasonably close to home, to see how everything worked when we were actually using Rocky rather than just playing with things on the drive.
As it happened, we’d chosen the hottest day of the year.
The drive across into the Dales was beautiful, although by the time we arrived at Howgill we were considerably more interested in finding some shade than doing very much exploring.
Howgill Lodge is set into the hillside in Wharfedale, with the pitches terraced to give you some pretty spectacular views across the surrounding countryside.
It was immediately obvious that it was a really well looked-after site. Everything felt clean, organised and well maintained, but without losing that feeling of actually being out in the countryside.
We got Rocky onto his pitch, rolled out the awning and settled in.
And that was pretty much the agenda for the afternoon.
Chewy and Ted investigate
There was, however, exploring to be done if you happened to be a Border Terrier.
The site has its own enclosed dog agility area, so Chewy and Ted went to investigate.
They also discovered something rather unexpected.
Alpacas.
This was clearly quite confusing because, as far as Chewy and Ted are concerned, we’re the people who have alpacas. Finding another group of them living on a campsite in the Yorkshire Dales required some investigation.
We’re not entirely sure what conclusion they reached.
An excellent discovery next door
There was another particularly useful feature of Howgill Lodge.
The Brownie Barn is next door.
And despite what the name might suggest, brownies aren’t the only thing they do.
That evening we ordered a takeaway pizza from there, which turned out to be a very good decision. It was a good pizza and, given the temperature, it also meant we didn’t have to contemplate cooking anything inside Rocky.
Pizza was accompanied by Prosecco.
It seemed an entirely appropriate way to celebrate our first proper night away.
As the sun set
Eventually the temperature began to drop, the fairy lights went on around the awning and we settled down for the evening.
This was probably the moment when it actually felt like we’d gone away in him for the first time. No great adventure. No itinerary. Nothing in particular that we needed to be doing.
Just the four of us sitting outside Rocky in the Yorkshire Dales, with pizza eaten and Prosecco being drunk. Well, three of us were relaxing.
Ted had discovered the rabbits.
As dusk arrived they started appearing around the campsite and Ted sat watching them very carefully. He was fairly certain that, given enough time and opportunity, he could probably get himself one.
Chewy, as usual, slept.
The first of many
And really, that was our first trip. One night. Not very far from home. We didn’t climb a mountain, embark on an epic walk or discover some hidden corner of the Dales.
But none of that mattered. We’d bought Rocky because we wanted the freedom to pack a few things, put Chewy and Ted in the van and go somewhere.
And now we’d done it. Rocky wasn’t just the new campervan sitting at home anymore.
He’d had his first proper night away. And we’d had our first little taste of what we hope there’ll be a lot more of.