by Phyllis McCrossin
So, King and I did a thing last week.
After having the trailer repaired in Arizona, we made it as far as St. Louis when we had another blowout. We realize it had nothing to do with the repairs made in Arizona and probably everything to do with needing new tires, but we also felt it was time to bite the bullet and get a new trailer.
We have been told, repeatedly, that they simply don’t make trailers as sturdy as our 1983 Wilderness any more, and I would have to agree. It is a well-built trailer. It’s as solid as they come.
But it DOES look 42 years old and we have come up against the “your trailer is too old to be allowed in this campground” rule several times this past winter. (We won’t mention that Petra is considered a “dangerous breed” and also keeps us from staying some places).
So, last Saturday (March 29) while traveling through Oklahoma I answered an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a used travel trailer and asked if we could send our son over to look at it. (Our son happens to live about 10 miles from where the listing was).
Now, it should be said that our son knows NOTHING about travel trailers. But we felt we needed to show the seller we were serious about purchasing the trailer. So after his family’s morning sporting events were completed he went out to check out the trailer.
I sent a deposit through Venmo and when we finally made it to Michigan we went to pick up the new(er) trailer. It’s the second time we purchased a trailer sight-unseen.
We picked up the new trailer on Wednesday and the fun since has begun. While this trailer is a foot shorter than our Wilderness travel trailer, it has a small slide-out so there is some additional space.
One would think that moving “stuff” from 208 square feet of living space to another 208 square foot space would be easy. It’s not. Things are configured differently. Storage is different.
If we took everything out of one trailer and moved it into the other all at once there would be no place to physically move around, so we clean out one cupboard at a time. It’s very slow going.
To add to the confusion, for the next few days I’m taking a break to dog sit for one of our kids while they travel over spring break. King has explicit directions not to put anything – other than his own stuff – away while I’m gone, so it will be next week sometime before we are finished.
Today the dog and cat I’m babysitting are sleeping soundly. The cat has quit giving me the stink-eye, I’m thinking perhaps by next week one day I will be able to pet her. But I’m not counting on it.
The dog sleeps with one eye open and every time I move he checks to make sure I’m not trying to sneak away without him. So in order to be the least disruptive for the critters, I’ve been sitting at the dining room table shopping online for “must have” items for the new trailer.
I have several full shopping carts on a variety of apps, but so far have been able to resist the temptation to hit the “checkout” button. I really don’t NEED any of the items I found, but who doesn’t like to redecorate? I need to save my money for new tires. (Tires are so boring).
In the meantime, play nice. Don’t make nasty comments on Facebook and save your pennies for a rainy day. One never knows when those spring showers will start.
