Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Hi Everyone, I had to share my weekend camping in The Trossachs, Loch Lomond.
My boss forced me to take a couple of days off, actually she said I was suppose to take a week off but we agreed that if I took Friday off and because I only work Tuesday through Friday that would be okay, she paid me a whole week of wages as holiday pay.
So on Friday I decided to pack the car, with , air mattress, sleeping bag, packed lunch and a few other supplies and take off to Loch Lomond. Well when after we had spent most of the day exploring I decided I had better find a campground, this is where disaster struck, well sort of. There is a law in Scotland (according to campground owners) that does not allow for people to camp in a campground if they are planning to sleep in their car (mine is and estate, so very comfortable with the air mattress in the back with seats folded down), I explained that I would pay the full amount of camp fees but they would not relent and allow me to stay. So, it is now almost 8:30pm getting dark and no where to stay. Decided to backtrack down a used but not busy road and find a place to pull off and sleep for the night. Luckily found an area off the road in a horse shoe design with mountains and bracken field in the back, so very secluded and away from traffic. I had already blown up the air mattress at home, so just had to unroll the sleeping bag, change into some loose warm clothing, wash my face, take Mac for a walk and get into bed. Easier said than done, because I now had the back seat down and an air mattress on top of that, this meant that the entrance to the back through the back passenger door was smaller and I kept smacking my head on the top of the door, finally did get in looking like a pretzel. I then decided after ten minutes of getting myself into the sleeping bag that I had better lock the doors, well again that idea was easier in my mind than in reality as I could not reach the front electric lock to lock all the doors from where I was. So out the door I get again, (you couldn;t seen your hand in front of your face, it was so dark) push the front drivers seat forward, move the back of the seat downward and again hitting my head on the top of the door got into bed, this way I was able to lock all the doors and on my car I can unlock/lock the back door without unlocking all the doors.
As I was laying there, I thought how stupid this idea was, I am a woman alone, in an isolated area, with a small (although heart of lion) Yorkshire Terrier, no one knew where I was and my mobile was in the front floor of the passengers side of the car. I then decided to put everything out of my mind as it was now after 10pm and there was no way I was getting back out of the car and either getting the phone or driving back to Ayr at that time of night. All night long, every time I would wake up, my little guard dog was doing just that, sitting up on guard. It was about 4am in the morning I had been awoken with Mac giving a low growl, I could not see anything but found my mind racing with all sorts of stupid thoughts. The night was quite misty with rain and as I was laying there, got to thinking about the history of the area and that took me down the mind lane if a 16th century Highland warrior came out of the bracken and faded into the night mist what the heck would I do. Eventually I did fall asleep as I was actually very cozy in my sleeping bag and the air mattress was very comforable. Woke up at around 8am, changed my clothes behind the car, washed my face, brushed my teeth and took Mac for a walk. Had a great breakfast at a little restuarant called Rob Roys (person who Macgregor is named after) and headed home the scenic way along the sea. Poor Mac, came home, grabbed his favourite teddy bear and slept for 6 hours lol.
On Sunday my friend picked me up and we walked for 4 miles from a little town called The Maidens to Culzean Castle with our dogs. I was amazed that I could actually do this, as this time last year I would not have been able to, so I am very proud of myself for a couple of things, went camping by myself and lived to tell the tale and went for a 4 mile walk and again lived to tell the tale.
The total cost of my overnight camping trip was less than £20.00, which included two meals in a restuarant. I could of made my own meals but decided to treat myself. The boost to my self esteem was priceless, and I learned some do's and don'ts of camping in a car. I do plan to this more, but perhaps next year invest in a tent called a Carnex, it is made by a company in Oban and for my car will cost me £350. It allows you to sleep in the back of the estate, 4x4, or even a hatchback and still have a good sized area for changing clothes etc. It attaches to the back of your car but it can also be self standing so that you can leave it at your campsite.

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Hi Everyone, I had to share my weekend camping in The Trossachs, Loch Lomond.
My boss forced me to take a couple of days off, actually she said I was suppose to take a week off but we agreed that if I took Friday off and because I only work Tuesday through Friday that would be okay, she paid me a whole week of wages as holiday pay.
So on Friday I decided to pack the car with, air mattress, sleeping bag, packed lunch and a few other supplies and take off to Loch Lomond. Well when after we had spent most of the day exploring I decided I had better find a campground, this is where disaster struck, well sort of. There is a law in Scotland (according to campground owners) that does not allow for people to camp in a campground if they are planning to sleep in their car (mine is an estate, so very comfortable with the air mattress in the back with seats folded down), I explained that I would pay the full amount of camp fees but they would not relent and allow me to stay. So, it is now almost 8:30pm getting dark and no where to stay. Decided to backtrack down a used but not busy road and find a place to pull off and sleep for the night. Luckily found an area off the road in a horse shoe design with mountains and bracken field in the back, gravel under my tires (as I was afraid that if I was in a muddy area and it continued to rain I might get bogged down) so very secluded and away from traffic. I had already blown up the air mattress at home, so just had to unroll the sleeping bag, change into some loose warm clothing, wash my face, take Mac for a walk and get into bed. Easier said than done, because I now had the back seat down and an air mattress on top of that, this meant that the entrance to the back through the back passenger door was smaller and I kept smacking my head on the top of the door, finally did get in looking like a pretzel. I then decided after ten minutes of getting myself into the sleeping bag that I had better lock the doors, well again that idea was easier in my mind than in reality as I could not reach the front electric lock to lock all the doors from where I was. So out the door I get again, (you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, it was so dark) push the front drivers seat forward, move the back of the seat downward and again hitting my head on the top of the door got into bed, this way I was able to lock all the doors and on my car I can unlock/lock the back door without unlocking all the doors.
As I was laying there, I thought how stupid this idea was, I am a woman alone, in an isolated area, with a small (although heart of lion) Yorkshire Terrier, no one knew where I was and my mobile was in the front floor of the passengers side of the car. I then decided to put everything out of my mind as it was now after 10pm and there was no way I was getting back out of the car and either getting the phone or driving back to Ayr at that time of night. All night long, every time I would wake up, my little guard dog was doing just that, sitting up on guard. It was about 4am in the morning I had been awoken with Mac giving a low growl, I could not see anything but found my mind racing with all sorts of stupid thoughts. The night was quite misty with rain and as I was laying there, got to thinking about the history of the area and that took me down the mind lane if a 16th century Highland warrior came out of the bracken and faded into the night mist what the heck would I do. Eventually I did fall asleep as I was actually very cozy in my sleeping bag and the air mattress was very comforable. Woke up at around 8am, changed my clothes behind the car, washed my face, brushed my teeth and took Mac for a walk. Had a great breakfast at a little restuarant called Rob Roys (person who Macgregor is named after) and headed home the scenic way along the sea. Poor Mac, came home, grabbed his favourite teddy bear and slept for 6 hours lol.
On Sunday my friend picked me up and we walked for 4 miles from a little town called The Maidens to Culzean Castle with our dogs. I was amazed that I could actually do this, as this time last year I would not have been able to, so I am very proud of myself for a couple of things, went camping by myself and lived to tell the tale and went for a 4 mile walk and again lived to tell the tale.
The total cost of my overnight camping trip was less than £20.00, which included two meals in a restuarant. I could of made my own meals but decided to treat myself. The boost to my self esteem was priceless, and I learned some do's and don'ts of camping in a car. I do plan to this more, but perhaps next year invest in a tent called a Carnex, it is made by a company in Oban and for my car will cost me £350. It allows you to sleep in the back of the estate, 4x4, or even a hatchback and still have a good sized area for changing clothes etc. It attaches to the back of your car but it can also be self standing so that you can leave it at your campsite.

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Hi Everyone, I had to share my weekend camping in The Trossachs, Loch Lomond.
My boss forced me to take a couple of days off, actually she said I was suppose to take a week off but we agreed that if I took Friday off and because I only work Tuesday through Friday that would be okay, she paid me a whole week of wages as holiday pay.
So on Friday I decided to pack the car with, air mattress, sleeping bag, packed lunch and a few other supplies and take off to Loch Lomond. Well when after we had spent most of the day exploring I decided I had better find a campground, this is where disaster struck, well sort of. There is a law in Scotland (according to campground owners) that does not allow for people to camp in a campground if they are planning to sleep in their car (mine is an estate, so very comfortable with the air mattress in the back with seats folded down), I explained that I would pay the full amount of camp fees but they would not relent and allow me to stay. So, it is now almost 8:30pm getting dark and no where to stay. Decided to backtrack down a used but not busy road and find a place to pull off and sleep for the night. Luckily found an area off the road in a horse shoe design with mountains and bracken field in the back, gravel under my tires (as I was afraid that if I was in a muddy area and it continued to rain I might get bogged down) so very secluded and away from traffic. I had already blown up the air mattress at home, so just had to unroll the sleeping bag, change into some loose warm clothing, wash my face, take Mac for a walk and get into bed. Easier said than done, because I now had the back seat down and an air mattress on top of that, this meant that the entrance to the back through the back passenger door was smaller and I kept smacking my head on the top of the door, finally did get in looking like a pretzel. I then decided after ten minutes of getting myself into the sleeping bag that I had better lock the doors, well again that idea was easier in my mind than in reality as I could not reach the front electric lock to lock all the doors from where I was. So out the door I get again, (you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, it was so dark) push the front drivers seat forward, move the back of the seat downward and again hitting my head on the top of the door got into bed, this way I was able to lock all the doors and on my car I can unlock/lock the back door without unlocking all the doors.
As I was laying there, I thought how stupid this idea was, I am a woman alone, in an isolated area, with a small (although heart of lion) Yorkshire Terrier, no one knew where I was and my mobile was in the front floor of the passengers side of the car. I then decided to put everything out of my mind as it was now after 10pm and there was no way I was getting back out of the car and either getting the phone or driving back to Ayr at that time of night. All night long, every time I would wake up, my little guard dog was doing just that, sitting up on guard. It was about 4am in the morning I had been awoken with Mac giving a low growl, I could not see anything but found my mind racing with all sorts of stupid thoughts. The night was quite misty with rain and as I was laying there, got to thinking about the history of the area and that took me down the mind lane if a 16th century Highland warrior came out of the bracken and faded into the night mist what the heck would I do. Eventually I did fall asleep as I was actually very cozy in my sleeping bag and the air mattress was very comforable. Woke up at around 8am, changed my clothes behind the car, washed my face, brushed my teeth and took Mac for a walk. Had a great breakfast at a little restuarant called Rob Roys (person who Macgregor is named after) and headed home the scenic way along the sea. Poor Mac, came home, grabbed his favourite teddy bear and slept for 6 hours lol.
On Sunday my friend picked me up and we walked for 4 miles from a little town called The Maidens to Culzean Castle with our dogs. I was amazed that I could actually do this, as this time last year I would not have been able to, so I am very proud of myself for a couple of things, went camping by myself and lived to tell the tale and went for a 4 mile walk and again lived to tell the tale.
The total cost of my overnight camping trip was less than £20.00, which included two meals in a restuarant. I could of made my own meals but decided to treat myself. The boost to my self esteem was priceless, and I learned some do's and don'ts of camping in a car. I do plan to this more, but perhaps next year invest in a tent called a Carnex, it is made by a company in Oban and for my car will cost me £350. It allows you to sleep in the back of the estate, 4x4, or even a hatchback and still have a good sized area for changing clothes etc. It attaches to the back of your car but it can also be self standing so that you can leave it at your campsite.

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Hi Everyone, I had to share my weekend camping in The Trossachs, Loch Lomond.
My boss forced me to take a couple of days off, actually she said I was suppose to take a week off but we agreed that if I took Friday off and because I only work Tuesday through Friday that would be okay, she paid me a whole week of wages as holiday pay.
So on Friday I decided to pack the car with, air mattress, sleeping bag, packed lunch and a few other supplies and take off to Loch Lomond. Well when after we had spent most of the day exploring I decided I had better find a campground, this is where disaster struck, well sort of. There is a law in Scotland (according to campground owners) that does not allow for people to camp in a campground if they are planning to sleep in their car (mine is an estate, so very comfortable with the air mattress in the back with seats folded down), I explained that I would pay the full amount of camp fees but they would not relent and allow me to stay. So, it is now almost 8:30pm getting dark and no where to stay. Decided to backtrack down a used but not busy road and find a place to pull off and sleep for the night. Luckily found an area off the road in a horse shoe design with mountains and bracken field in the back, gravel under my tires (as I was afraid that if I was in a muddy area and it continued to rain I might get bogged down) so very secluded and away from traffic. I had already blown up the air mattress at home, so just had to unroll the sleeping bag, change into some loose warm clothing, wash my face, take Mac for a walk and get into bed. Easier said than done, because I now had the back seat down and an air mattress on top of that, this meant that the entrance to the back through the back passenger door was smaller and I kept smacking my head on the top of the door, finally did get in looking like a pretzel. I then decided after ten minutes of getting myself into the sleeping bag that I had better lock the doors, well again that idea was easier in my mind than in reality as I could not reach the front electric lock to lock all the doors from where I was. So out the door I get again, (you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, it was so dark) push the front drivers seat forward, move the back of the seat downward and again hitting my head on the top of the door got into bed, this way I was able to lock all the doors and on my car I can unlock/lock the back door without unlocking all the doors.
As I was laying there, I thought how stupid this idea was, I am a woman alone, in an isolated area, with a small (although heart of lion) Yorkshire Terrier, no one knew where I was and my mobile was in the front floor of the passengers side of the car. I then decided to put everything out of my mind as it was now after 10pm and there was no way I was getting back out of the car and either getting the phone or driving back to Ayr at that time of night. All night long, every time I would wake up, my little guard dog was doing just that, sitting up on guard. It was about 4am in the morning I had been awoken with Mac giving a low growl, I could not see anything but found my mind racing with all sorts of stupid thoughts. The night was quite misty with rain and as I was laying there, got to thinking about the history of the area and that took me down the mind lane if a 16th century Highland warrior came out of the bracken and faded into the night mist what the heck would I do. Eventually I did fall asleep as I was actually very cozy in my sleeping bag and the air mattress was very comforable. Woke up at around 8am, changed my clothes behind the car, washed my face, brushed my teeth and took Mac for a walk. Had a great breakfast at a little restuarant called Rob Roys (person who Macgregor is named after) and headed home the scenic way along the sea. Poor Mac, came home, grabbed his favourite teddy bear and slept for 6 hours lol.
On Sunday my friend picked me up and we walked for 4 miles from a little town called The Maidens to Culzean Castle with our dogs. I was amazed that I could actually do this, as this time last year I would not have been able to, so I am very proud of myself for a couple of things, went camping by myself and lived to tell the tale and went for a 4 mile walk and again lived to tell the tale.
The total cost of my overnight camping trip was less than £20.00, which included two meals in a restuarant. I could of made my own meals but decided to treat myself. The boost to my self esteem was priceless, and I learned some do's and don'ts of camping in a car. I do plan to this more, but perhaps next year invest in a tent called a Carnex, it is made by a company in Oban and for my car will cost me £350. It allows you to sleep in the back of the estate, 4x4, or even a hatchback and still have a good sized area for changing clothes etc. It attaches to the back of your car but it can also be self standing so that you can leave it at your campsite.

Originally Posted by vikingsail

Loved your weekend story. Congratulations. I still remember my first time camping in Snowdonia - arrived 10pm, pitch black, torrential rain, and we had to erect tents. Woke up in the morning to the most beautiful sight out of the tent flap - mountains tipped with snow. That was over 30 years now but still stays with me. Could you not just buy a very very cheap tent erect it at the campsite and change your mind and sleep in your car parked alongside the tent next time. Just a thought..

Originally Posted by curleytops

Quite the adventure Easterndawn! Crashed out the odd time in my trusty old Ford Fiesta back in my fearless 20's but certainly wouldn't be brave enough to do it today so here's to you! Don't you find you feel a sense of accomplishment when you've undertaken an adventure along those lines?

Originally Posted by Fish n Chips 56

Wow Ed, Great story, loved the details, so glad it all turned it to be a fun weekend for you... and all for 20 quid...

So I'm curious, you had a Accord before, what do you have now...

Just a thought, I know the type of tent you are talking about, that attaches to the rear hatch of the car, but wouldnt a regular tent make more sense, just in case you sold the car, that way you'd have a free standing tent you could use anywhere... just trying to be helpful...

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

Hi, Curley tops, yes you are correct about the great sense of accomplishment that you feel. I have to give my Dr. hear in Ayr a huge thank you, without him reconizing the fact that the high blood pressure medication I was on was completely wrong for me. It was actaully causing me to be ill instead of helping me. Within 4 weeks of changing the meds I started to lose weight that I just could not seem to move for the past 6 years and there were many days that I could barely up my stairs to my flat without having to stop because of shortness of breath. I had always been an active person and I was reduced to a person who went to work, came home and dragged myself into bed. I was also quite housebound, except for taking Mac out for short walks, I did not leave the house in the weekends. I have lost 2stone in the past 4 months, my blood pressure is close to normal, my arthritis is much better and I feel like I have woken up from a long sleep.

Originally Posted by Mummy in the foothills

You are brave ED. what a weekend and little Wee Mac sitting on guard all night, a great little guy.

Originally Posted by Easterndawn

The Accord developed transmission problems and although the engine and everything else was good it would have been to expensive to repair, so I sold it for scrap and in January started saving for a new car, I finally had enough in July and purchased a 2001 Mitshibishi Galant estate, which I love. It had 64,000 miles and only one owner. After having an estate I would never think of going back to a regular car, when the time comes that I cannot camp anymore I will not need a tent anyways and will sell it on e-bay or gumtree. I do currently own a cheap pop-up tent but being in the car is very comfortable, so the Carnex tent seems to be ideal for me, giving me the ability to have room to sit/stand and yet be off the ground when sleeping.