Starting our road trip - the beach! Day 11- 14

Day 11 :

We'd booked four camping spots in advance with the first one on the beach, Camping de Lakens at Bloemendaal aan Zee. En-route, about half way there, we stopped off to say hello to my 96 year old grandmother. She gamely climbed up the stairs of the bus so we could show her what we had created. She loved it! The bus puts a smile on everyones faces, at any age!

After saying our goodbye's we were off to Bloemendaal aan Zee. The first "long" drive went very smooth, considering we only got honked at once to move into the slow lane. After two hours of cruising at 50-55 MPH, and don't ask how many gallons of diesel, we arrived and checked-in via the QR code at our digitally savvy camping. Within no-time we found our "lounge

spot" #380, a slightly larger spot at the end of a little area with another 5 or 6 luxury caravans & campers. We were welcomed by rabbits who jumped out of the way when our bus rocked up. The sandy lounge spot came with a large picnic table and we were looking forward to a bit of 'glamping' and finally chilling.

We quickly bonded with our German neighbours when we hooked up to the 16amp electricity pole and blacked-out, not only their camper electricity but the entire area. We were very popular! NOT

Frank was disappointed. The electricity had worked perfectly the last 10 days..... what was wrong?

We didn't want this little set-back to ruin our very first day - and after we managed to get the electricity back on again for our neighbours, we had a fantastic day with friends who had planned to visit our tiny home on wheels. We enjoyed a great meal at de Lakens restaurant and after dinner went for a walk on the white powdery beach to watch a beautiful sun-set. Despite it not all going exactly as planned... lyfe was good!

Day 12 :

The next morning, mulling over a cup of take-away coffee, we were considering what we were going to do about the electrical problem. I'd by lying if I said this set back was little, it was a big deal. The fridge wasn't running, we couldn't make a good cup of coffee and our teenagers were hanging out in the laundry room to charge their phones. After some deliberation, including a possible plan to head home to get it fixed, we fortunately found a solution in the camping supermarket. There was a diverse collection of caravan/camper cables that we managed to get everything working with. The solution wasn't pretty but we had power!

Frank still disappointed about the electricity had contacted 'het caravanmannetje' - translated the 'caravan-man' - who could visit earliest Friday, so we decided to extend our stay by 1 night. In hindsight this was perfect. The long walks on the beach, flying kites, and just hanging out was exactly what we needed.

In the end we cancelled 'het caravanmannetje' because our improvised electricity solution was working well. We'd decided to sort it out another time... after the trip! When in doubt... procrastinate!