I made an appointment with a man (I’ll call him Pete) at the VW commercial centre (that’s the van place) and went to see what he had.  He had the big, expensive vans, the top of the range, everything you could possibly need, vans.  But as luck or providence would have it, he had, on the forecourt, a blue Caddy California.  This is a long wheel base van (see, I get the jargon now) but its not one you can stand up in.  The back seats fold down and the bed folds on top of them – the full length of the van.  Lift the tail gate and pull out the gas ring, cutlery draw and kitchen equipment storage.

The blinds on the back windows are detachable bags and the table and chairs are stored in a special pouch in the boot.  Of course, this is the only one they had in stock (said Pete) and several people were interested in it.  Can you fall in love with a van?  Or maybe I just fell in love with the freedom it represented.

By the time I said goodbye to a very exhausted looking Pete, I had paid a deposit, got a settlement figure on my car, agreed finance options and penciled in a collection date and time.  More three a.m. meanderings followed.  I docu signed (dodgy on line signatures) countless reams of VW paperwork and cancelled other payments – all on my own.

Several times I thought of men that I would ask to come with me to collect the van.  It was an automatic with a switch hand brake and I had always driven manuals.  Pete patiently explained that automatics could not roll backwards and therefore there was no need to worry about hill starts.  Surely a man would manage this better than me?  Then, once again, I got a grip.  I emailed Pete and asked for another test drive and a run through how things worked.

The handover was actually fun.  Pete showed me all the storage areas, how the other blinds went on and where the gas bottle went.  Every bit of the van was explained.  And when we went out he even showed me how to put it in sport mode!  I’m sure I’ll use that function one day.

I got in and I drove home.  I parallel parked outside my house.  I felt like I had swum the channel.  I brought the manual indoors but put it back mostly unread.

Next step – kitting it out.

 

This blog is written by Marion, hosted by Carrie