Born to be mild

For many years now I've cherished a dream of heading into the sunset, perched behind the wheel of a battered VW split-screen camper-van with speakers blaring full volume.  A little Steppenwolf or Hendrix, perhaps, to soundtrack the trip.

The reality of the situation is I have as much chance of doing that as Aston Villa winning the Premiership.  I possess no mechanical skills whatsoever. Accordingly, the prospect of setting out in a charabanc older than my good self on any journey longer than a visit to the local off-licence fills me with trepidation.  And then there's the garage bills, the endless battle against demon rust, the acceleration potential of a traumatised sloth .. it just doesn't make sense.

Step forward Camper King. A brief but illuminating telephone conversation a few weeks ago with Managing Director, Spencer Grey finds us on the road later that night to his factory premises deep in the heart of Warwickshire.  We're bowled over - two hours of tea, talk and Transporters and hands have been shaken to conclude the deal.

We return at the weekend to take collection of our sparkly new camper-van.  Dear mrs electrofried has already named her 'Veronica', much to the disgust of our youngest who much prefers the subtle variant, 'Verruca'.  There's just no accounting for taste.

Our all important first journey and mrs electrofried stomps on the gas-pedal to take us unsurprisingly toward that fine emporium of Scandinavian good taste nestled just off the M6. No-one does funky quite like Ikea and my better half has us kitted out in next to no time with throws, duvets, covers, cutlery, cushions, boxes and baubles.  What is it with ladies and the nesting instinct?

Veronica's first outing proper is to Norfolk for a few days break at the legendary Shed of Electrofried.  The journey down is fantastic - my wife drives, I wave regally from my commanding position in the passenger seat to a succession of bemused and gesticulating drivers below.  This is the way to travel!

We enjoy a splendid few days showing Veronica the sights.  She visits the seaside, the pub, Waitrose (I catch mrs electrofried furtively sneaking a copy of VW Camper & Bus magazine into our shopping trolley) and best of all a lovely little nature reserve just a few miles from the Shed that we chance upon quite by accident.  There's something quite delicious about settling down in the car-park with a whistling kettle, some fresh-baked bread, a selection of fine cheeses and this month's edition of Mojo.

All in all a super start to our camper-vanning adventures. Born to be mild, indeed!