Tuesday the 22nd January we collected our van, our long-awaited home on wheels. We were all a mixture of excited, apprehensive, scared and hopeful.
Collection
We travelled up to Wolverhampton on Monday night and stayed at the lovely Ramada Park Hotel, which is just a 20-minute drive from the dealer. Had a lovely breakfast and then headed off to inspect the work that had been done, be shown how everything worked and finally drive it back to the in-laws.
Checking the van Over 
About to set off
We drove into Signature Motorhomes and found our van all set up and waiting for us. Nathan welcomed us, showed us all the fixes and changes that had been made, and got us some nice warm drinks. We were happy and impressed with the service and work they had completed. Nathan explained and showed us how the different systems worked, answered a few last questions and before we knew it, we were ready for the off.
Just as George was setting up his sat nav and getting his mirrors adjusted and while I set Olivia up in the Nissan Leaf to follow, it started snowing! We laughed about it being an omen and then we headed out towards home.
The journey home
Oh my word what a journey! It snowed for 150 of the 178-mile journey, the visibility was terrible with a full-on blizzard at times, and so much slush you could not make out where the lanes were. The wipers did not work well, the headlights were appalling and frustratingly, an overtaking lorry clipped the mirror, (thankfully not destroying it but it did crack the housing and annoy and scare George). We knew it would take about 5 hours with the 3 stops required to charge the Leaf, but with 150 miles of snow it was 7 hours before we finally arrived back at the in-laws at 20:30. I think that George did an amazing job driving the beast home especially under those conditions.
Snow at South Mimms services 
Fun in the snow 
Finally home with a snowy mustache
Once home we ordered a take away and started loading up for the night. We put the mattress toppers on, made the beds, put a few clothes in for the morning, some food in the fridge for breakfast, kettle, cups and the all important coffee and milk. Then we hunkered down for the night and tried to get some sleep!
Tucked up for her first night in the van
