We have been rather remiss in maintaining our blog, so let me bring it up to date. We managed our first night away near Bala, very close to the National Whitewater Centre (Canolfan Tryweryn). The interesting thing about the river is they turn it off at night! Well not quite, but the flow is very much controlled by a sluice at Llyn Celyn, so that the flow is much greater in the day than at night. Celyn is an artificial reservoir, created in the 60's amidst much controversy, as it drowned the village of Capel Celyn, purely to provide water to maintain the flow of the River Dee without detriment to Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). On a personal level, Celyn provided the inspiration for naming a wonderful Border Terrier we got whilst staying in a caravan near Bala some years ago. Celyn remains very much in our memory, certainly the most faithful and gentle male Border we have owned.
Our one night away was shared with our 5 year old grandson, despite the Motorhome being just a two berth. We managed it by me sleeping on cushions on the floor. All that money, and I sleep on the floor! However, we all slept well, and went exploring up the river on Sunday morning. The midges certainly made a feast of me, but we enjoyed watching the canoeists demonstrating their skills on the fast flowing river.
The only major error I made was not checking that the drain valve was closed, and the "grey" water we created drained immediately into the hard standing area. That said, no one noticed, and the ground was very well drained. We didn't produce that much, anyway, as we showered on the site, and only cooked one meal, washing our dishes using the site facilities, so really, it was a small amount of teeth-cleaning etc.
The 90 minute drive each way was uneventful and enjoyable. I must have appeared quite stuck up on the way out, not realising the Motorhome community rule of waving to each other on the road. I tried to make up for it on the way back, but ended up waving at not only Motorhomes, but Ice Cream vans, ambulances and white van drivers.
