We decided to use this weekend to practice what will happen when we have to set up and take down our whole collection of camping stuff so we packed everything up & found our way to Holland for the weekend. We had selected a camping site online a few days before which looked decent enough in the area of Valkenburg. When we arrived, it looked almost identical to another place we’d stayed at about 2 years before and we not too pleased with…but since it was already after 9 pm, we didn’t really care as long as we had a place to pitch the tent.
For whatever reason, most of the larger campsites we have been to insist on putting all the campers right on top of each other even when most of the place is empty. We cannot figure out why this is but the same happened this time also…but we didn’t ask either & it was only for one night so life goes on.
We got everything set up in about 30 minutes & we’re warming up our tacos in no time. Talk about a tasty meal. We got to finally try out our new stove for that and it works super well so we’re very happy with that purchase and looking forward to using it often.
Ayla of course played watch dog during the night. Before we fell asleep at about midnight, she heard some people walking by and was giving them her best big girl bark and growling a little. I can assure you I wouldn’t want to mess with a tent when they have something sounding like that inside. I am always rather concerned that her sleeping outside the tent could result in someone trying to take her but I would hope that if a stranger approaches in the dark that she wouldn’t start wiggling all over but instead trust her insticts and bite ’em. lol
The next morning we were up bright and early with doggo. We made ourselves some instant cappaccino which was fantastic & then while we were playing a bit with Ayla, she lost her first baby tooth…at least that we have noticed. We actually managed to grab it before she started sniffing at it and I guess she probably would have eaten it like she does everything else. I guess they will all start falling out quickly now so we’ll see if we can manage to find them all and keep them like our neighbors have told us they were able to do with Fly’s.
After a walk and so on, we broke everything down and started our mission for our next campsite. We had originally considered going in Belgium or back into Germany for the night but decided that since the area was so nice around there, we could just stay in Holland another night and then deal with driving back the full distance on Sunday. Thankfully we were able to buy a map at the campsite which gave us the location of most of the campgrounds around us. So we drove around for over an hour, just looking at campsites and trying to find one that wasn’t totally full and allowed dogs…which turned out to be more difficult than we had imagined.
Just as we were starting to give up hope & ready to take just about anything, we came across a place that calls itself “mini-camping.” Essentially the owner just allows people to camp in her backyard but she has pretty much all the essentials still. There are about 10 spaces but they all have power hook ups & there is a building with toilets & showers & washing stations for dishes which was really all we needed to be happy. The place was completely empty and when we arrived there was no one home either…but there was a note saying she would be back later & we called her just to make sure everything was cool.
Of course, we were able to select a prime location and were able to let Ayla run around a little bit since we were alone on the grounds. The only unfortunate part about this campsite was that there are no walking paths around there to take Ayla out and there are not even sidewalks or a shoulder on the road which would be suitable. But I imagine we may still end up going back there since she doesn’t seem to get many guests…and perhaps next time we go to a bigger campsite we will just request a more private pitch that doesn’t have people already on all sides of us & they will actually comply with our wishes…the latter part will obviously be the more difficult part lol.
All in all, Ayla was great during the trip. She is totally happy riding in the car & it wasn’t too hot thankfully. We have started opening the sliding windows in the rear of the Defender which seem to help with airflow to Ayla so we’re pleased about that and I guess she is too. We also worked up a water bowl for her which is actually a small bucket which we attach by the handle to the dog gate with a carbiner. Have to be careful not to stop or start too quickly if she is drinking & we did end up with some water in the car but that’s to be expected and certainly not the first or the last time it will get wet in there. We’re still going to look into getting a cool bed for her and hopefully that will make a big difference for her & keep her more comfortable.
