VAN LIFE Curveball! From France dreams to UK Reality! (With Our Dog)

VAN LIFE Curveball! From France dreams to UK Reality! (With Our Dog)

[Applause] Good boy. Hello. Hello. There he is. Welcome back to the channel. I’m Tash. This is Tracy. Oh yeah. And this is Sam Mario. We are currently in the northern Lake District uh Btonweight Lake. Uh, we should have been in France. Um, but we’ll put a link into the video to why we’re not in France as we had an issue with Mario’s microchip. Um, we’re going to be staying at a campsite just across the bridge of the Northern Lake. But before we check in, we thought we’d come to this little park up as we want to go for a swim. And we’re trying to get Mario used to water as well. So, we’re kind of hoping he will go in. So, what we’re going to do now is we’re going to take him down so we can paddle his feet to get used to it before we make the decision whether to take him in with us. So, we just parked in a little layby. I’ll put the what three words in. Um, no overnight parking, I believe, but I haven’t seen any signs. Look like at the minute we’re still okay to swim. Um, but if you’re going to come on your paddle board, you have to have a permit. So, Mario is loving all these new smells. [Music] So, there’s quite a few inlets, isn’t there, where we can you can safely go for a swim. Um, the more beachy bit is at the end, which we’re going to have a look at now, but there was a a family down there. Um, so I don’t know whether that will distract Mario too much if we’re trying to get him into the water. Swim ready. Mario’s ready. [Music] [Music] Oh, that was really nice. Actually, uh, we got Well, you’ll have seen Mario got his paws wet, which is great. That’s a good start. Yes, he’s not happy about being wet, but I feel great. Dash feels great. So, success all around. Yeah. I think what we’re going to try and do tomorrow is we’ll both go in for a swim and put Mario on his long lead and then let him choose what he wants to do cuz we don’t want to force him into the water cuz we want him to enjoy it, don’t we? Um yeah. So we we’ll see how that gets on. So maybe we’ll give it another whirl tomorrow. But you did well, Mario. You did. You’re a very good boy. Yeah, you were very good. Yeah, you got your bottom of your belly wet and then that was enough for you for today. Yes, that’s the start. Heading to the campsite now, which is literally a minute’s drive from where we were just parked. Um, it’s called Herdwick campsite. So, it’s just over this little bridge and it’s straight ahead there. Uh, pitch number seven. There’s no reception, strangely enough, so you just drive straight onto your pitch and check in. It’s from 1300. [Music] [Applause] You can see in our picture, we’re at the end over there. So, these are 1 to 7. There’s a little bit, but we can live with that. Yeah. What do you reckon, Mario? This is your home for tonight. So, we are going slightly down, aren’t we? So, we’re just going to put these at the front. Yeah. You going to help? Yeah. You’re going to help me put this one in. And I just I open my passenger door and just Mario just flew straight out and he’s just got massive zooies around here. Um cuz dogs are meant to be kept on the lead. So, my mistake for not keeping an eye on him there. That is one happy little doggy. He’s got the sun on his face on his throne. Never uses that. We’re just getting ready to head off. Just waiting on Trace. Me and Mario are ready. So, I think we’re going to have a little walk around the campsite and then head to a distillery so Tracy can have whiskey. That would actually make a really nice car photograph. Yeah, been I was just saying to Trace, Bino looks like it’s about to fall off the slope. I mean, this campsite is really clean, but only problem is when you don’t have a reception. Um, so we we haven’t been given a map and there’s no site map that we can see. So, we don’t know where anything is. So, I think these are the lues. That was a long way trace. Oh, thank goodness for that. Yeah. What’s Oh, they got books. Oh, men’s men’s. Oh, the corner. Down the corner. Don’t know where the bins are though yet. Here we go. Oh, I’ll let you take that interest. Thank you. Toilets. Oh, there we go. Perfectly reasonable sh. Yeah. Been here. Right. That’s good. Being here. Oh, and a toilet emptying is there. My chemical. Oh, no. Trace be in. There you go. We’ll have a look from afar. What do you think, boy? Here’s a restaurant. Um, closed today. It’s closed. Yeah, I had read on Trip Advisor that it’s not open seven days a week. So, I looked on to their website and it doesn’t say about the opening times. Um but typically the day we we have chosen which is Tuesday it’s closed. [Music] Do you want to go in a shop and I’ll wait inside down to 25%. Okay. So, um, really got just chilled over. Right. This is the business end of the distillery. And if we go up this way, they have a shop and a cafe. Shop’s open. Cafe isn’t. Um, which look to be purpose-built new buildings here. Although these are converted barns and rather lovely too. We have some nice gates which are handmade by the looks and then we have the car park up there. So this was published in 2011 and actually they won the global best whiskey in 2022 which is remarkable cuz it does take a long time to get whiskey mature. Um we have just tried and really enjoyed the London gin. It’s a very clean gin um which means you can always add your own flavors to it rather than pre- buying the flavors. And I’d love to have bought a whiskey, but can’t justify £80,900 for a whiskey. So, um, yeah, we might come back one day. We can follow a foot path that should take us back down to the lake, which will be rather lovely. [Music] Slip down there, Tracy. I have always got the correct footwear on. [Music] So, we were saying um apart from the static mobile homes, um the site is quite quiet. It’s full of caravans, but they look like they might be permanent as there’s no cars with them, especially the ones down there. But we have spotted the second Elton point, which is closer to the campa. There we go. That is all good. Dog waste bin. Still no gray waste disposal point. So, we still haven’t found the gray waste disposal point, but we can probably do it on pitch. Yeah. [Music] That’s a good boy. Ah, okay. So, the oven’s on. I’ve had to clear a lot of dust, but it’s definitely warming up and so we will be putting the garlic bread in. That should take around about 15 minutes. I suspect it’s closer to 3540 with this oven, but that’s okay. We haven’t used the oven in a while, have we? No, we haven’t. No, you can smell it actually, can’t you? Yeah. Smell the dust. Yeah, but we just changed the gas as well, so we’ll be cooking on gas. Yep. So, boil up the pasta and it’ll all be good. Good morning from a very wet Lake District. Uh, not an unusual phenomenon in the Lake District, I have to say. Hello, Mario. It’s wet. He doesn’t particularly like wet. Yes. So, today we were going to try another lake swim, but we’re going to give that a pass. Um, just because Mario’s not going to like all the all the rain. Oh, nor are we. Um, and then we were going to drive down to maybe Dermit Water, but I think because of the weather and Mar’s not a fan of the rain, uh, we’re going to take him to the pet store and possibly grab some lunch in Carlile whilst we’re there. Yes. So, so that’s today’s plan. Yep. So, we did an overnight at the Herdwick uh campsite. It’s got a longer name than that. Tash can put it in the comment. Um, and yeah, it it was fine. It’s got all the facilities you need. We haven’t found the drive over grey waist dump, but you can at least drop gray waste in your pitch, which we will do later. It’s um I think probably much more focused on the static caravans and lodges that they have here. Yeah. Um and I think we we at least got a really good quality pitch with hard standing and grass next to it. So, whilst the sun shone, yesterday it was perfect and today doesn’t really matter cuz we’re stuck in the van cuz it’s so wet. Yes. So the price for one night was £42. I think our pitch is a super pitch. So it’s a bit more pricey as it’s got water power and gray waste on the pitch. Um I think the two pound might have been from Mario. I can’t remember. But one thing I do like about this pitch is um so you can see next door. So you park on your gravel and then if you’ve got awning, you’ve got the grass bit to put it on. Um, so they’ve kind of fought off base aspects, I suppose. Eh, yes. Um, yeah. So, that’s a good thumbs up. As you can see, we’re the only camper van here. And I suppose this also helps us understand that we do need to make one more addition to the van. Uh, we do need an awning. Would just make life so much more simple to get the dog out, get him dry. Yes. Sorry, Sir Mario, as he’s sometimes known. Um, and I think an awning would just help with that. uh in these conditions cuz it’s not windy, it’s just very rainy. Yes. So, we’ve now got to put um a departure plan together cuz we’ve got the Starlink outside that’s going to be soaking. Um basically, I think I’m going to get very wet. Basically, I agree. And Mario agrees. [Music] [Music] back at Pets at Home. But this time we got you cutie with us. It’s going to go to it. Choose a toy. [Music] [Music] Exit home was a success. Mario’s got um he’s got a new fleece. He’s got a new little raincoat. Um quite a few treats, a new teddy, and he’s got a new um what they call the seat belt tether. Tether. Um cuz this one seems a lot better than the previous one. As Mario has now decided um that he doesn’t travel in his crate in a camper van. He’s on his special double seats. Um, so now we are heading to Talking Tan as Mario hasn’t had a big walk yet today. So we’re going to have a look around there. Yep. I’ve been there for years and I’ve never been. [Music] So I’m just going to check out if we need to pay. Oh, yes. So, I’ll need my phone. I can see it. So, enter. Oh, he’s going to have a dig. What do you think of S Mar’s new coat? It’s very nice. Good boy. So, this is nice. It looks like we can walk all the way around this way. I’ll explain. Oh, we got the boot in love with the location. I got to go, dude. So, as I was saying, um, we had a plaver with the parking cuz it wouldn’t accept the contactless. So, we had to text and then they ring you back. Uh, was it 260, did we say? Yeah. Uh, little cafe there. Have a little look around. Yeah. So, there are times you can swim here. So on a Monday all day, Tuesday most of the day, Wednesday and Thursday in the morning and then at the weekends in the afternoon and then the rest of the time is for other water sports such as rowing etc. So we are outside the swimming time. So I can’t swim this afternoon. So we could do 8:00 tomorrow morning. What do you reckon? This is a tarn. It’s not a lake. Well, it’s a it is a small lake, but it’s called a tarn. And tarns are generally circular features that um were created during the glaciation uh movements. So, Bmpton is one of the best places to see drumlins, which are the small hillocks that were left as glaciers retreated and uh they would gouge out the glacia would gouge out these sort of features. So if you go to the lake district itself, you’ll come across a lot of these little tarns up in the mountains, but this one’s quite nicely located at lowland level. [Music] Before we did the walk, we spoke to the lady before we went round. Uh the tea room is open till 4:00 and dogs are welcome on leaves. on leads. It’s a good looking van. Oh, we got a drop. There we are. Nice big car park. Yeah, it is, isn’t it? But they they need a big car park cuz they run a number of events here. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Where are we, Trace? We’re at uh the Gretner Green Outlet Village, now called Caledonian Park. Who knew? Tracy’s just doing her miles in a little book. I’m going to have to to work it backwards cuz uh take a Mario shopping. You excited, my love? Your first shopping center. You look sounds really excited. Yeah. [Music] Well, what did you think of that, Mr. Mario? Well, I I quite liked it, girls, because I got lots of attention and everybody was stopping me for a pet. So, oh, look, I’m exhausted. And you met a nice greyhound. Yeah. She was called Annie. And you had a little chat with her, didn’t you? Yeah. You did, didn’t you? Beautiful. Yeah. Yes. There’s our hall. Now, I must say for a shopping center, that is really dog friendly. Yes, it is really dog friendly. I think there’s probably only the food outlets and maybe two other of the uh shops other shops that won’t let dogs in, which is pretty impressive. Um and the place was full of dogs as well. Um so that’s really nice. So if you got a dog and you want to go shopping, this is the place to come. I got myself a really cheeky naughty treat cuz we don’t have this in Jersey. Oh behind it. What do you reckon, sir? You want some of that, don’t you? We also got a cheeky one of these. Oh, yeah. That’s my cup of tea. We’re on our way to a little park up that I’ve just seen from on park for tonight. Um it’s next to the sea. I’m not sure whether it’s going to be beachy or straight on trace or muddy, but um the plan is to give Mario a bit of a run, especially as he was such a good boy in that shopping center. So, we will show you it when we get there. [Music] So, we are down on um there there is a bit of like beachy bites. So, we’ll see if Mario will have a run. Where is it? You got it. There’s a public footpath that goes along there. So, we’ll take Mario for a walk along there on his long lead. Good boy. Good boy. I found this. We are lucky enough to find ourselves at the Soway F, which is a tidal estie. And uh even on a day like today, the bird life is amazing. We have just seen a swan literally fly down the water making that incredible sort of honking sound. Um and it was yeah Mario was very very interested. Um so you can start to see that the uh the water tide is beginning to come in and uh appropriate tight all of that sand and mud will be covered indeed. There’s a swan. So as I said we did find this on park for night. Um, and on the photos there’s pictures of um, motor homes here. I would probably advise maybe not to park here as somebody’s house is just next door and they probably wouldn’t appreciate loads of camper vans here, but it’s just nice for a little park up in the day. Yeah. So, I probably won’t pick the uh, what free words in. Um, but yeah, it’s nice for a cup of tea spot and bird hunting. Today we are heading to take Mario to the Lamry Vioaduct to do a nice patrol. Um it’s on and off showers. Oh, big cloud over there, Trace. Um fingers crossed the weather will stay good. Uh we’re going to park in the car park on the south side, I think. I’m not sure. Um, but you can find the the car park on park for night and we’ll put the description in as well. Oh, yes. So, car parks the South Pine Trail and here it is. We’re all parked up. I’m eating. Oh, so Mario. Uh we’re going to have our lunch first. Um cuz we’re quite cuz we’re hungry and we’ve been super organized. We preacked our lunch so we’re all ready so we don’t need to fuff around with that. Mario’s waiting patiently for his walk. You’re a good boy. Oh, the vioaduct is closed until further notice. which is a bit of a shame because we were planning a a walk the other way, but we can get from here down to the river and back up again. So, we’re we’re all right for today. Oh, nearly caught him. [Music] There’s a a road traffic order which means that all of the foot paths across and around are closed. So you can cross the foot bridge, but it looks like they don’t want you to go over or under the vioduct arches. So I think there’s been a a lump of stone that’s fallen out. So as a security and uh public health and safety measure, they’ve just closed it all down, which is a real shame cuz we wanted to wanted to see this again with the pup. Yeah. You can see it’s all roped off. Yeah. [Music] So, we just got back into the van um to get some drinks and we’re going to continue that way. So, we come from this way. Mario’s gone straight to sleep. But you’re going to go back out again, son. He doesn’t mind. [Music] [Music] Here we are. We made 11,000. Yeah. Another 1,000 miles in the bag. That’s 1,000 in a week and a half cuz we were in Wales two weekends ago. Yeah. at some big mileage for a Jersey base fan. Yep. We’re on our way to Portsmouth. Um we’re just past Oxford now. Our ferry back home tomorrow is at 0900. Um this video, as you’ll see, has been a bit um mixy match as we didn’t plan to be in England. We plan to be in France, but you’ll know about that with Mario’s microchip issue. Um, also it’s going to be exciting at the ferry port tomorrow cuz um, there’s a lovely couple from home who have just brought an expedition 68. So we’re going to have two on the island now. So if you watch us and you’re an expedition owner, you’ll know that’s exciting. And then the following week there’s going to be three 68s in Jersey as David, Carol, and Florence from While on Tour are going to be in Jersey. So hopefully we’ll catch up with them. Um, so thank you for watching as always. We are probably going to pause our videos now for a couple of months while we’re back in Jersey. Um, because we seem to be filming the same type of stuff all the time. Um, so there might be a a bonus video if we do something exciting. Um, but we will be back in France in December. We’re heading back to the chatau. So we’ll film that and take you with us. Um, but please stick with us and thank you to all the regular people that uh leave lovely comments on our videos. So, signing off from me, from Trace and Mario. [Music] [Music]

Our van life adventure doesn’t always go to plan… 🚐🐾 This time, a last minute change of plans sent us on a UK road trip instead of France!

We were all set to head across the Channel South, but when Mario’s microchip caused unexpected issues (explained in our previous video), we had to turn north and make the best of a bad situation. What followed was an unplanned but memorable camper van journey through the UK.

We stay at Herdwick Croft Caravan Park in the Northern Lake District, right by Lake Bassenthwaite, where we also go for a refreshing wild swim. We’re still encouraging Mario to enjoy the water, and he bravely paddled up to his belly such a good boy! 🐕💦

Along the way, we:
• Visit a local pet shop in Carlisle for Mario
• Stop off at Caledonian Shopping Park, Gretna Green (Scotland)
• Explore the historic Lambley Viaduct
• And finally, head south to catch the ferry 🚢

This video is a bit of a mix since it wasn’t our original plan, but sometimes the best adventures happen when things don’t go as expected.

👉 Don’t forget to check out the previous video for the full story about Mario’s microchip!

✨ If you enjoy van life, travel vlogs, and adventures with dogs, make sure to subscribe and join us on our journey.

#VanLifeUK #LakeDistrict #TravelWithDogs #CampervanLife #unplannedadventures

Thank you for coming along on our journey, Tash, Tracey & Mario 🐶