But not happy when wet and scratched

A mixed day today. TomTom did well, as did mini moby. I (and possibly the iPhone) was useless. I had to go to Castle Donnington to see Maria for discipling, and so (being obsessed now) I thought I would get a couple of caches while I was there. Faffed too long before leaving so didn't get to go looking before. Therefore had to stop at Co-Op for a pee and food at 1ish when I left Marias. Left the car there and followed the iPhone map on foot through an industrial estate. Got to within 10m of the cache.. but alas was separated by a massive fence. Still at least I didn't get arrested for wandering around some business's car park. Back to the car and guessed at a different road to follow (now that I had seen the empty space on the map was football pitches). Got lucky and found an entrance. Gave myself big turnups for wandering across the muddy field. Fortunately no-one around as I am no good at the 'stealth' thing. Found the cache by crawling under a tree. Camo bags are hard to spot. I guess that's the idea.

I should have left it there, but foolishly I thought I would go for another, mainly because I was one day late to collect the travel bug in the first cache, that I wanted to take to Norfolk. Set the TomTom for the nearest road to the cache near the airport. Got there fine, parked fine. Found the location fine. Could I find the bloody cache?!?! Grrrr. Was rooting around in the thorns for over half an hour. What an idiot. Had to leave without it in the end as was terribly late to meet Rach. So annoyed. Especially as others logged it as an easy find, good one to do in the dark etc. Boy Vision Strikes!!

Happy when Muddy

Have definitely made a start on being adventurous, don't want to let the lack of van stop me. Today I went orienteering near Markfield. The new GPS served me well getting there, as did my ability to guess which un-named road the car park was on. A van may have helped, but Mini Moby got me there. I'm looking forward to my car not grounding on bumpy tracks, and having the room inside to change out of mud soaked Ron Hills!

Did ok in the orienteering, thanks to a lovely couple of lads at registration (one spotted I was actually a girl - his mum called me a man many times lol - and his brother explained all the symbols for the control descriptions). Took me about 56 mins, so I was probably last, but I didn't get badly lost. Made one interesting route choice, through a nice spiky bit of the woods, and I need to learn to run and look at a map... but then we established last week that I can't do that!

Am totally hooked to Geocaching already. Looked if there was one nearby when getting the O race details online this morning. A short detour on the way home, and I got GC number two. Parking safely was harder than finding the spot! I should have worked out exactly where it would be hidden from the cache title... Every which way. Oh and if I look like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards its actually because I ran through a thicket forwards!!

Hooked

Thats it. Totally got the bug. Just back from the Outwoods where I found my first Geocache: Out of the Woods 4: A New Hope.

Its days are numbered, so Mini Moby can get a mention as part of this leg of the world tour...

Tried to be intelligent about it, and not just follow the arrow, so I looked at the map (not terribly brilliant on the iPhone app, but better than nothing) and worked out the paths I wanted to follow. Got all excited as I got closer. Found a likely looking spot that matched the clues in the description..

Moved a bit of wood and there it was!!

Ever so slightly pleased with myself (and my iPhone)

One of the traditions of Geocaching is swapping. You take something that someone has left in the cache and replace it with something of similar value. I left a tube of blue glitter (random, I know, but I haven't yet been thing shopping, and couldn't bear to part with any Lego) and took a butterfly eraser for my collection..

Was disappointed to find that the Travel Bug (Mrs Lionel Ritchie) that the website said was there, was, in fact, not. Oh well, Ms Ritchie won't be going to Norfolk then. Hopefully I can collect one there to bring back. Time for hot chocolate and a nap now.

Pimp my Ride

Saw this in Cash Con the other day when I was out with Jamie. Thought it would be cool to have something like it in the van...

Difficult to see from that, but its a Sega Megdrive II. I never had one originally... but I did have this game on the Amiga and it was awesome..

Decided to try to be good, and wait till I actually have a van, with electrics installed, before I buy something like that. I know I may regret it, cause I'll probably never find one again, but I MUST save now.

Also saw these books in Wilkos, and thought they'd be good for ideas..

Spent some time during the week browsing the App Store and managed to get some useful free apps. Got the GPS navigation app that Jono recommended. Also got 3 AA guides - Days Out, Pubs and Campsites, so that saves having to buy two of those books! Also got the National Trust app and one about British film locations.

I pray I never lose or break my iPhone!

Groupon

I signed up for mails from Groupon before Christmas at the recommendation of Jane from Beacon, and since then its pretty much all been vouchers for restaurants, hotels and beauty treatments. All of which are not much use to me. Then, like the buses, 3 good ones come along at once. So its been an expensive couple of weeks, which hasn't really helped the plan to not spend money and pay myself back for buying too many presents at christmas, well, and buying nice new trackie Bs in the sales afterwards too,

Anyway.. its kinda part of the World Tour plan, because it means I get out of the flat and go out and do stuff. The first offer was for Karting near Wymeswold... so I'm doing that with Chalkie sometime. The offer yesterday was for cheap Snowboard lessons at Swadlincote.. so I have to be brave and go do that by myself. There is no way I can afford to go away to get real snow, so at least this way I get to maybe get slightly less bad at boarding, hoping one day that I'll be able to see real mountains again. Today's offer is for a round of golf for two, so I've asked Ems and G+G if they'd like to play.

Getting out and doing things is really expensive, so I'm glad I've got these offers, but secretly I'm hoping it goes back to the usual restaurants offers for a couple of weeks so I can save up.

Its started again

Am fast becoming obsessed with Geocaching. Downloaded the app last night and researched the first cache I want to look for, and where I intend to move the trackable item to. Also researched making my own 'travel bug' .. a Lego sheep that hopefully will travel around the country (and possibly beyond). This morning I emailed Charnwood Borough Council asking permission to place my own cache at Charwood Water... Still, after conversations with a couple of people recently I think it is really good for me to have stuff that I get obsessed with.. or projects to work on.. it gives me something to live for while God sorts stuff. This week I have seen what can happen when people don't have anything like that.

Geocacheing

I think I was working on a Lego project with the TV on in the background (or it might have been the One show) and they mentioned something called Geocacheing.. where you use a GPS device to find a hidden cache. The caches are normally tubs with a log book and maybe an item to trade inside. I think most are out in countryside, making for a nice walk. Its a worldwide thing (probably US dominated) but there are loads in the UK apparently.

I've been trying to research it since I heard about it. I've signed up on the website, and found out that there is an app for the iPhone, so I can give it a go without spending 300 quid on a proper outdoor GPS. A bit more research required, but it sounds like something that might be really cool to incorporate into the world tour... can see if there is one nearby places I visit, or on the way, and I'll get a decent walk or a nightmare treasure hunt included in the trip!

Just done some more research... there are loads near here!!! Have chosen my first one and may attempt it tomorrow afternoon. Its called "Out of the Woods 4: A New Hope", and yes, I chose it for the Star Wars reference :-) well, that and its in the Outwoods, and I at least know where that is!

Have also found out about Travel Bugs and Trackables. These are items with coded tags that are picked up by people who find the cache, then moved on and placed in the next cache they find. They have their own travel log online... who knows where they may end up! So.. I'm gonna buy a tag and make an Indestructible Lego Sheep (by glueing him together) and maybe even make my own cache to start him off in. The adventure begins...

Depressing

Have sat here so long looking on Autotrader and PistonHeads that my bum hurts. The only potential is a nice red one, but its expensive and 42 miles away. I guess I need to find one in Norwich so I can get it checked.

More trip ideas

Bit of an oops afternoon yesterday.. not as planned but probably more useful. Was supposed to be not spending any money and cleaning the flat and completing To Do lists. Instead I spent twenty quid I was meant to be saving and had to finish cleaning at 8pm. I would try to blame Tim, as we were going round town looking for his curtains and 3rd DVD player in as many weeks. However, its entirely my fault as I am an incurable sucker for car boot sales and charity shops. I ended up with this little lot. Oh, and I watched Ghost Rider with Tim, which was an awesome film.

Now in theory its all going to help with the Camper Van/Surfer dude lifestyle. I will need to dress appropriately of course! The book holder and mini lamp will enable me to get through my massive backlog of car boot sale books whilst chilling in the back of the van.. even if it starts out with no electrics/lighting. The animal pencil case is animal, and so that's reason enough, but I thought I could use it to keep useful things tidy in the van, and be slick about packing for trips. No doubt it will be filled with crap before very long. Or I can keep all my souvenir pencils in there lol!

The three guide books are all roundabout where Em lives now, and I can see that being alongside Norfolk as the primary world tour trip destination. May even get to use the Cornwall one soon as I think Mum is planning another family trip, this time to see Daphne.

Wasted time this morning (Sunday in bed with the Macbook hehe) looking through car boot sale pics. There's loads of stuff that has been really useful, some clothes lived in, some fave films/cds/books etc. Some stuff that other people have loved. There's not a lot that I regret buying, but there is too much that is sat in a box, not read yet most often. So I seriously do hope to spend more time in the van reading. Would be nice, if I can't afford to go away of a weekend, to just go somewhere like Beacon, have a wander and chill with a book and a cuppa. With no Xbox or To Do lists to distract me.

Ok, not technically the dub van but

The tour hasn't officially started yet.. but I thought I'd blog the last few trips in Mini Moby. Am sad, and I love him still, but I fear his days/miles are numbered. He is still awesome fun to drive, it's such a shame that he is slowly turning into a pile of rust. Poor thing. So wish I knew how to weld!

Anyway. This weekend's trip. As there was no need to go to Leicester to view the eBay van (sob) me and Em decided to go somewhere Saturday. 50 million mile an hour winds ruled out an outdoors day. So... Cadbury World then!

Hilda and Hilda had a lovely picnic in the services car park.. the cheese cobs were lovely, but we could have murdered a cuppa. I had prepared a flask but it leaked. Em was somewhat amused at my method for testing the watertightness of the suspect lid. Admittedly, with hindsight, tipping it gently over the sink may have been less messy than sloshing it over the worktop, but never mind.

Who needs an animal surfboard table...

We're terribly posh don't you know... little fingers out and everything..

And the view was lovely...

We did debate turning home after lunch and just having a trip to the Tamworth Services, but decided to soldier on. To be honest I didn't really trust the TomTom, he took us through Birmingham city centre and student-ville, and it seemed like he had taken us to some random waste company's service entrance.. but we were brave and found ourselves in the Cadbury's car park. From the moment I opened the car door it was like a flashback to childhood visits to the city with that wonderful smell. I spent most of the afternoon sniffing!

Signs you are obsessed number 42: you stop twice to take pictures of a rusty T25...

The actual Cadbury factory.. where so many yummy things are born...

Being an Aspie I had to take a picture of the train..

And had to follow the signs literally..

Having got nice Mr Tescos to pay for our tickets we started with the 'essence' part of the tour/museum, where we learnt about the experiments that resulted in CDM, and got out first 'hit'... a yummy shot of melted chocolate over popcorn. There was an Alton Towers moment when we came out of the tour straight into our first gift shop. There we decided upon our souvenir strategy for the world tour. We both collected rubbers as kids so they were a prime candidate. However, I had started collecting pencils last year at Jorvik and Banham Zoo, as there were no rubbers at Jorvik.. so I decided to continue the pencil collection. In the end I couldn't resist and ended up with both. No suprise there then.

Anyway.. rambling on about souvenirs.. after Essence we went into the Bournville Experience. The new Head had given an assembly about the Cadbury brothers when he first arrived at the school, so I was keen to learn more about the history of the company, and how they set up Bournville, and how they set about changing the lives of employees, from the back to backs of Birmingham to the specially built village with nice houses and gardens and green space. They also set up churches (they were from the Quaker tradition, so no pubs) and schools and sports clubs etc for the workers. They even built a pool and taught the women to swim during working hours! Now we have schools closing down pools because they cost too much to run. From the Bournville museum it was on to the main building. Somewhat unbelievably we actually had tea and apples for lunch in the cafe!!! Also unbelievably, I ate more than Ems!

 

We were relieved to see that the sugar was in fact made from sugar, but somewhat intrigued as to how a packet of sugar may, or may not, contain milk. 

On then to the main tour, which was cool, and covered the history of chocolate itself and the history of cadburys. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the factory part, but we made up for it by sniffing a lot, and eating two bars of CDM. I did just slightly break the no photography rule, but it was not to get a picture of the machines...

Other highlights of the tour (aside from that delightful Rabbit/Carrot motif) were the Cadabra ride and the green screen. The Cadabra ride was a bit like the old Around the World in Eighty Day ride at Alton Towers, but in a creme egg car, and through a landscape filled with singing cocao beans. We met Mr Cadbury's parrot, and some lovely cows...

We did get somewhat busted at the end of the ride. We were rather enthusiastically waving goodbye to some Cocoa people that were bidding us adieu, when suddenly the doors opened and a member of staff caught us. She asked us if we were enjoying ourselves. And failed to keep a straight face.

I think we should do our own tour, as we clearly did a fantastic job of keeping the staff amused. Those at the green screen said we were the best they'd had all day... we do get points for effort... but I really do need to learn how to run properly (tip.. try running with same arm and leg forward.. impossible)

I think we have a new career waiting as Choclatiers.. we are masters with the medium...

We were among the last to leave.. having spent an age and a fortune in the World's Biggest Cadbury Shop or whatever it was. I maintain that half my fortune was a present for mum.. but a purple tea towel, rainbow pencil and bag of mis-shapes did accidentally make it into the basket with the souvenir pencil and rubber.

Mini Moby and Tom then did a grand job of getting us back home, just about in time for curry with George, Gill and Vicky. Top day :-)

New plan?

Spent the hours waiting for Ems to arrive last night on eBay and Pistonheads.com looking at T4s. Nothing even remotely close to the animal van I had fallen in love with. Further depressment. Then a long (1.30am and lots of tea) chat with Em about lots of stuff... including campers and being gutted.

Maybe a better way to do it is to start with a blank canvas.. then do the van how I want. As I do the research I'm getting more defined ideas of what I want, what's cool and what would be most practical. Also, and I need to check this out first... it would be way more special if its something I have created and worked on, rather than just bought. Ideal would be getting a decent (mechanically and body work) T4 and then 'pimping' it using hard work and Uncle Chalkie's genius and skills. He is amazing at that kind of thing, and it would be brilliant to go spend weekends with him working on a project together and learning from him. I think it would be fun to build up from an empty van to a camper, enjoying it at each stage. First though I need to find out if Chalkie would find that fun, as I don't want to be yet another person that exploits his time and skills.

So much for dreams

Absolutely smegging gutted. Phoned the seller today to arrange a viewing... sold already. Its my own fault for caring about it. Should have known it would all fail. When will I learn to not have hopes and dreams?

Fine China... nah!

Oh dear.. am supposed to not be spending any money... but couldn't resist getting the crockery for the van already!!!

And I have my eye on these utterly cool baby frying pans in Cargo too...

God's Plan?

Am asking God if this van is part of His plan. I know He is the boss... I'm asking Him that if this is the right one then things keep on working out...

Just had some fab news from Swanny. I emailed him the link and he actually rang the guy and found out that although it is an N reg.. it has a reconditioned engine, so the mileage is actually about 60k. :-) Tax is £205 (normal) and he has given me a company to see about insurance.. phone them tomorrow.

But what do I do with Moby??

We did stencils at Tiny Tots on Monday... look what I drawed!!