We drove down on Friday afternoon and found the campsite without any problems. It was a lovely peaceful little site in between Llandovery and Llandeilo, on the main road just outside Langadog. It was a little disconcerting when we arrived at reception to be asked if we were really staying despite the weather and the sodden ground, but we had booked and had planned to meet my sister there so we decided to stay ‘whatever’!

The ground was indeed pretty wet and the river running through the campsite was in flood but we were soon set up and ready to go. Our little tent looked a little inferior to the palatial tents elsewhere on the site. Trudi and her family weren’t arriving until later so we headed off into Llangadog for dinner. (Well, we were saving money by camping so thought we could treat ourselves to dinner out!)

We ended up in the Goose and Cuckoo which was the right choice. The food was excellent, the service as good as it gets and the marshmallow and raspberry pie was perfect.

Back at the campsite we waited for Trudi, Matt, Kia and Shaun to arrive. They got there just before dark so I helped them set up their tent and then we used our new little stove (which was surprisingly easy to get going) to make coffees and hot chocolates for everyone. Camping never used to be this easy!

Saturday morning dawned pretty damp and misty but it had cleared by the time we finished breakfast and explored the campsite a bit with the children so we headed off in the direction of Abergorlech so that Matt and I could go Mountain Biking. This was a bit of an adventure in itself as we had a ‘Sat Nav’ moment and ended up driving down some pretty small lanes, steep hills and exciting fords. Good fun though and we weren’t in a hurry so there was no harm done.

Matt and I did a circuit of the Raven Trail whilst the others went for a walk in the woods. Then it was a quick drink in the pub in Abergorlech before the others had to head of back to Bristol and we headed back towards Llangadog. We decided to look for a shop but couldn’t find one in Llangadog so headed off on a wild goose chase looking for one and ended up driving over the top of the Brecon Beacons and down into Brynaman. We eventually found a decent shop and some fish and chips in Ammanford and headed back to the campsite. Of course on the final junction before the campsite we found another shop and takeway, if only we had gone right instead of left a couple of hours before!

By now Morgan was complaining of a sore ear and by the time we were back at the tent he was deteriorating quickly with a high temperature, bad cough, snotty nose and general lethargy… Swine Flu here we come! We’re not sure whats wrong with him yet, but it did mean that we had a restless night and didn’t do anything on Sunday as Morgan simply wasn’t up to it. The plan had been to go to Dan yr Ogof show caves, but instead I packed the tent up in the pouring rain and we headed home.

We all enjoyed our weekend though. The tent leaked a little but nothing too bad and we’ll be back for more soon.

In preparation for the Sleepless in the Saddle Mountain Bike race I’ve signed up for I ordered a new tent from Amazon the other day and it arrived this morning. Needless to say as it wasn’t raining I’ve put it up in the garden and no doubt now that Morgan has seen it we’ll be camping in the garden tonight!

I know it’s a little no the large size for me at the Sleepless in the Saddle, but hopefully we’ll be able to use it for family camping trips too and I’m sure the extra space will some in handy at SITS when I’m trying to change out of cold wet muddy cycling kit at 3 in the morning.

I’ve always been a fan of lightweight, full-on mountain tents, but a family tent is relatively cheap these days and I guess as a family man it will actually get more use than a smaller, lightweight tent. OK, they don’t pack down quite so small and won’t withstand hurricane force winds and snow, but neither will Anna or Morgan. To be honest, most of the camping we are likely to do will be next to the car anyway and having a little more room inside the tent will always be useful.

The same is true of the camping equipment. No need for minimalist lightweight and expensive stoves etc. some good, robust and practical camping gear will do I guess.

Morgan seems to like the tent and it looks to be about the right size for the three of us, and not too huge that I’ll look like a fool if I’m using it on my own.

Morgan and the tent

Camping in the Garden

I’m not sure how we’ll work it yet, we’ll probably do either one or two laps each and then hand the batton over to the next person in the team. During the night we’ll then head off and try to get a bit of rest / sleep before our next stint in the saddle.

Should be fun though and we’ll be camping for the weekend so its time to buy a tent and some camping equipment as well!