A Boondock Stop-Off

We just spent two nights boondocked at the beautiful and welcoming home of Airstreamers Pete and Glynis. They have been coming to the Gatherings in their 1964 Bambi 2 since the early and improvised ones, and extended an invitation to stop over with them if we were passing. It just so happens that we were passing on our way from Worcestershire to Kent. Why such a schlepp? Because we are on our way to the Netherlands for a Gathering of many Airstreams (49 at the last count)! Lots of grown up people are getting very giddy with excitement, and a couple of us are a little nervous about driving on the continent for the first time.

So what is boondocking? I'm not sure but we believe it's where you stay in a mate's driveway or something like that. That's what we did anyway and I don't think you'll ever find a more elegant 'dock' than Pete and Glynis' immensely cool 1929 Deco house and garden. I can also now claim to know a Domestic Goddess. That would be Glynis, not Pete. We were entertained and fed in style and we stayed up ridiculously late and drank far too much wine, or was it just enough?

Honorary Airstreamers Simon and Emma live nearby so we had an evening at their lovely house too. It was one of those typical English barbecues that has to be hurriedly moved indoors because the weather misbehaves. It was a very jolly evening in spite of that. Honorary Airstreamers? Well they used to have an Airstream and they were at our first two Gatherings and have followed and supported us and UK Airstreamers all along. Now they have a very cute vintage Sprite, whatever that is. Only kidding!

Part of our journey to Hythe in Kent was on the horribly busy M25. When you spend lots of time tucked away in a field with the occasional tractor and school bus passing by you forget that there are all those people out there, driving around in cars and trucks. It's not so much the volume that worries me, as the delayed manoeuvring and lane changing that goes on. This is our home following us along the road and the nutters rushing to cut in front of us don't have a clue that we aren't as nippy as them.

But we made it, of course, and here we are, the fourth unit to congregate so far. And an Airstream welcome is about as warm as a welcome can be. I think five more will arrive over the next few days before we depart in convoy for the ferry from Dover.