Our Travels With ‘Mac’

By Carol L. Allen

In the U.K. RVs are usually called "caravans," so let me introduce you to our caravan Mac, the Scottish ambulance.

My husband (and AZBW publisher) Jim and I traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, for the wedding of his sister Lynn in the summer of 1995.

After the festivities were over and Frank McWilliams’ family (our new in-laws) had royally entertained us, Jim and I were ready to hit the road. We had three weeks to kill in the beautiful UK and Ireland.

But, in what?

We checked out rental prices for caravans and were somewhat hesitant to commit, until we found an ad for "Used Ambulances." Mmm. Would that work?

Yesiree. It certainly did.

Mac is a 1987 Ford Transit, previously outfitted for ambulance duty. (We still have Mac, stored indoors in a caravan park near Glasgow.)

We bought Mac for a reasonable number of pounds, outfitted him with the amenities needed to go camping, and away we went. We toured the back roads of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales, and England, and quite honestly, never wanted to come home.

Mac is shown, by the way, at one of our favorite "laybys" — a grassy meadow at the foot of Mt. Snowdon in Wales.

In fact, I was so impressed with our three-week adventure that I penned a novella Icy Cold Was The Summer — a trilogy for my three daughters, including a murder mystery that moves through the UK, comes back to Arizona, and ends in San Diego.

But, we can talk more about that later. For now, we invite AZBW readers to send their stories of unusual RVs (or caravans) or of RV adventures to the editor's email on our handy contact list on the left side of this page.

We’re waiting to hear from you.