Day One - SNOW??

Sun 6th April 2008

Waking up on Sunday morning with a nasty hangover was bad enough, thanks to the copious amount of Frulli pints and tequila shots consumed on our last night in London. But staring out the window at London’s heaviest snowfall of the year on the very same day that my life moved into the great outdoors was downright panic inducing. Did the purple beast have a heater? Did I pack my Boston University hoody, or is that in a box on its way back to Colorado? How exactly do you camp in the snow??

Over the past day I’ve learned the answers:

• Yes – the purple beast does have an excellent little portable heater that will literally cook you if left on overnight. Yay! We are saved!


• No—I did not pack my Boston University hoody and it IS on its way back to Colorado. Damnit.


• And finally, camping in the snow is not an option – keep driving south as fast as you can.

We made it as far as Folkestone and set-up at a small campsite not far from the Eurotunnel. With the snow coming down so heavily, the owners advised us to stay in the car park instead of driving out on to a grass pitch. Our first night and we were already starting to feel more like vagrants rather than tourists. Could be worse I suppose. Some poor bloke with two kids is planning to spend the night in a tiny tent and keeps shaking the snow off every hour. After a can of chili con carne and watching movies on the laptop, our van is feeling pretty cozy and flash actually.