Post-Camp, some thoughts
May. 7th, 2012 11:05 am( Read more... )
Epic wrestling matches with minibus and weather yesterday. We Campers (mostly) headed into London, many of us to the NKOTBSB concert at the O2.
Inbound trip went very well, and O2 parking was achieved a mere 2h 40min after setting out - despite the last-minute efforts of the O2 coach park to foil us utterly by having the button+intercom at coach driver height. I had to stand and stretch to press the button, and bellow upwards, but after that we parked, our humble minibus looking very small and cute next to a gigantic scarlet coach.
There was faffing, and then sushi, and then tea, then queueing for tickets, then a bunch of us went off with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ephemera to view some of the Olympic site in Stratford. Some very impressive buildings and rather awesome planning—let's hope it really does revitalise the area as it should. The Olympic merchandising is... a bit scary. There are one-eyed monsters in union flag livery (often in bizarre colour schemes). But the British lion insignia is kinda cool. And you can't pay for it with Mastercard, because Visa are sponsoring the event!
Then back, collect more sparkly folk, eat, and Concert!
( Cut for brief concert squee )
Afterwards, truly epic battle with minibus. Despite sitting with engine running for ages, the windscreen would not clear. Eventually we got going, barely able to see out, withnopseud sitting next to me wiping the screen at every opportunity. Brief diversion into width-limited road (wtf? followed by careful but effective three-point turn and retracing of steps), further brief but inexplicable diversion into Blackwall Tunnel (and back) (my map is so old the O2 is not actually on it, so I may never know quite where we went) and we trundled south unexpectedly on the A2 towards the M25 with Pen in a state of barely suppressed panic due to BEING UNABLE TO SEE THE ROAD, and most of the Campers blissfully asleep in the back. Such trust! I would have been actively gibbering, if I hadn't been driving. At no time during the 3-hour journey did the windscreen clear completely on the inside, though it was usable once we hit the motorway. There was also quite a lot of water falling from the sky, and not inconsiderable wind, and the minibus engine kept mysteriously forgetting that it was an engine, ie clambering up mild hills at barely 30mph *even in third fucking gear*, though it generally remembered again on the way down. Gah. And we had to keep the lights at full beam because otherwise the feeble gleam barely reached the cats' eyes in the middle of the road. Luckily at that time of night the road south was mostly empty. (I figured 'full beam' was the equivalent of our car's 'dipped headlights' anyway.)
At ten to three in the morning, I was extremely happy to get back to our lovely Lodge. The Camp house is another winner, except perhaps for the pair in the bunk bedroom, though we have performed minor surgery on the dining arrangements in order to get us all into one room together. And the kitchen is very wee, perfectly functional and well-equipped but not lending itself to multiple cooks. The fridge is full of sandwich spreads, and there is an aroma of bacon in the air. It may now be time for second lunch. Heh.
Inbound trip went very well, and O2 parking was achieved a mere 2h 40min after setting out - despite the last-minute efforts of the O2 coach park to foil us utterly by having the button+intercom at coach driver height. I had to stand and stretch to press the button, and bellow upwards, but after that we parked, our humble minibus looking very small and cute next to a gigantic scarlet coach.
There was faffing, and then sushi, and then tea, then queueing for tickets, then a bunch of us went off with
ephemera to view some of the Olympic site in Stratford. Some very impressive buildings and rather awesome planning—let's hope it really does revitalise the area as it should. The Olympic merchandising is... a bit scary. There are one-eyed monsters in union flag livery (often in bizarre colour schemes). But the British lion insignia is kinda cool. And you can't pay for it with Mastercard, because Visa are sponsoring the event!Then back, collect more sparkly folk, eat, and Concert!
( Cut for brief concert squee )
Afterwards, truly epic battle with minibus. Despite sitting with engine running for ages, the windscreen would not clear. Eventually we got going, barely able to see out, with
nopseud sitting next to me wiping the screen at every opportunity. Brief diversion into width-limited road (wtf? followed by careful but effective three-point turn and retracing of steps), further brief but inexplicable diversion into Blackwall Tunnel (and back) (my map is so old the O2 is not actually on it, so I may never know quite where we went) and we trundled south unexpectedly on the A2 towards the M25 with Pen in a state of barely suppressed panic due to BEING UNABLE TO SEE THE ROAD, and most of the Campers blissfully asleep in the back. Such trust! I would have been actively gibbering, if I hadn't been driving. At no time during the 3-hour journey did the windscreen clear completely on the inside, though it was usable once we hit the motorway. There was also quite a lot of water falling from the sky, and not inconsiderable wind, and the minibus engine kept mysteriously forgetting that it was an engine, ie clambering up mild hills at barely 30mph *even in third fucking gear*, though it generally remembered again on the way down. Gah. And we had to keep the lights at full beam because otherwise the feeble gleam barely reached the cats' eyes in the middle of the road. Luckily at that time of night the road south was mostly empty. (I figured 'full beam' was the equivalent of our car's 'dipped headlights' anyway.)At ten to three in the morning, I was extremely happy to get back to our lovely Lodge. The Camp house is another winner, except perhaps for the pair in the bunk bedroom, though we have performed minor surgery on the dining arrangements in order to get us all into one room together. And the kitchen is very wee, perfectly functional and well-equipped but not lending itself to multiple cooks. The fridge is full of sandwich spreads, and there is an aroma of bacon in the air. It may now be time for second lunch. Heh.
