Aug
2013

We’re Trailer Trash!

imageWe got a camping trailer and I got my very own bunk beds in it! I can pick which bunk I want every night (even though Mummy wants me to pick one and stay in it).

IMG_0257He said

What a difference a week makes! Last week we mentioned a trailer that was up for sale over by Mom & Dad’s place, and here in the course of a week (and a holiday Monday), a lot has changed. So much so, that I am typing this post from our trailer in our campsite at Selkirk Provincial Park!

Now, the trailer we’re sitting in doesn’t happen to be the same one talked about last week, in fact, this one is a whole bunch better. Danielle went and looked at it again on Monday and it turned out to be not in the greatest of state, and the seller seemed a little sketchy on some of the details and that proved worrisome.

IMG_3822So a search on Kijiji for some comparable trailers turned up a beautifully kept 1980, Trillium 1300 for a pretty reasonable price considering how collectible these trailers are. Danielle contacted the seller and found out it was still available so we set up a time to see it Wednesday night. By Thursday morning I was picking up a trailer hitch for our car, and getting the ownership transferred and the plates we needed. And here I am typing away, in our second day in it.

Danielle and I have been looking for one just like this for quite some time. In fact we saw one last summer on our way home from Wolfe Island and while we took down the name and number of the person selling it, they turned out wanting significantly more than we could afford then (and coincidentally more than this one).

Its the perfect size for the three of us, and will work great for years to come. It can sleep four, but three seems to be the perfect number as the bunk that Emelia has claimed is not really for anyone adult sized. And the best part is all this happened fast enough that we were able to take advantage of it in time for the reason we always wanted one: Wolfe Island Music Festival! We’re so excited to arrive to the island and in less than an hour’s time have camp setup in a dry, and more importantly quiet shelter.

IMG_3820And luckily leading up to all of that was a week off for Danielle, Emelia and I. So, once we knew we were hitched with the trailer, we set to making some camping plans. First order was a test run from Sunday to Tuesday at the first park near London that we could find a spot at which turned out to be Selkirk where we are now. Then Tuesday we touch base back at home for a day and head out back Kingston way on our way to the Festival with the festival programs hot of the press from the printer. We’re starting with two nights at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, before finally landing on Wolfe Island.

The trailer has the perfect mix of being able to be on and off the grid which means in places like provincial parks we can

IMG_3840

take advantage of sites with water and electric service. But, we are also able to camp completely self contained too. We still have some kinks to iron out, and Danielle and I already have a ton of plans and ideas for it already – the most immediate I think, being an awning.

Of all the money we’ve spent that we don’t really have, this is the one thing I think that will pay off in huge dividends for years to come. When you consider that Danielle spends pretty much all of her week in our house with the daycare, I love that we have something that offers us the ability, on relatively short notice, and lower cost than a hotel or cottage, the ability to get away and enjoy each other’s company in a setting outside her place of work, life, and pretty much all else. And that, right there, makes the cost of this little egg camper worth ten times the asking price!

 

IMG_3819She said

I am writing this post in a kind of haze, a week ago we were looking at a trailer and this week I am sitting at the picnic table outside our very own cottage on wheels as John has started putting Emelia down for the night.

For years John and I have dreamed of having a cottage of our very own, I loved the idea of it but not the upkeep, costs and limitations that they held. You are tied to one location and honestly it is a pipe dream that we are likely never going to reach.

So if not a cottage then what, well the next best thing. A trailer. John came to me about 5 years ago with a picture of a Boler trailer and a wish we could one day own one. We talked at length but again finding the right trailer, in the right condition at the right time was a hard thing to nail down.

IMG_3829Last weekend at Helen’s birthday celebration Doug and Helen had asked us if we had seen a trailer for sale at place close to their house. We had never noticed so on the way home from the celebrations we took a peak, seemed good, great price. But at further inspection there was so much that needed to be done that the unknowns were more scary than the knowns. So we passed.

So the bug was back in us and the search had begun. With Helen and Doug as an extra set of eyes to see what we might not see because we loved the idea of a trailer we went on a mission to see what we could find.

And we found it! Our perfect little egg. There are some minor cosmetic things that need to be done but that can come with time. Right now we are just trying to enjoy our week of travelling from site to site spending as much time just being us, the three of us making family memories. But the list of ‘wants‘ for the trailer is growing.

IMG_3834The first park we are staying at does not have a lot of extras but with such a last minute mad dash to find a campsite and one for the long weekend we are happy with our quiet little park.

Today most of the long weekend traffic moved out and we have most of the park to ourselves, I can hear the crickets chirping, the campfire cracking and the faint sound of the water in the distance.

All in all I have to say this is just about as close to perfection as I can think of.

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