I really love our new trailer! I can do cartwheels inside it!
He said
It is insane for me to think that a week ago as we were working on the post we were talking about how we had just thought about upgrading trailers and then moved to having purchased one in the timespan of a heartbeat. We literally moved from us being okay with potentially replacing Wolfie to being the owners of that upgraded trailer. And, then trying to navigate the finer parts of closing the sale on the phone to Whitby to getting down and back to Whitby to pick up Wolfie Too on Thursday in time for our camp departure Friday afternoon.
The crazy thing is it all got done. As I type this I am sitting at our wonderful slideout dinette table in beautiful Arrowhead Provincial Park, in a trailer we’ve immediately fallen in love with. Thursday morning, at the crack of stupid o’clock (as Danielle would say) I was en route to Whitby to pick up Wolfie Too. I made great time down and was there ahead of them opening their doors. It gave me enough time to grab a breakfast at McDonald’s and then be there in time to sneak a peek at Wolfie Too in their lot. Once they were open, Campkin’s got to quick work getting me through all that needed to happen as they knew I needed to be back to London in time for work. Despite hitting a significant snag in that we needed to have a brake controller installed in the truck, they had me through the final pickup process quite fast, and I was on my way back to London. Albeit a little late for work.
Friday, was really focused on getting Wolfie Too ready to head out as soon as the daycare kids left gave all the kids – to their delight – a tour of the trailer showing them how all the push button stuff worked. The day care kids haves decided that the new trailer is a robot because it has moving parts. We’re also super thankful that we have a 10 year old and not anyone under the age of 5 and 2 feet as we’ve learned there are a lot of buttons and things a little one can get into, inside those parameters. We’ve also learned that having a new trailer with easily triple the storage space really throws off the rhythm of your wife who had packing your 13 foot fibreglass vintage trailer down to a precise and absolute science. But before we knew it, we were pulling out of the driveway and getting out of dodge… even if it was a little later than we wanted.
We made pretty great time and even avoided all the cottage traffic heading down to one of the most popular places in Ontario to weekend. We were backing into Charlie & Todd’s driveway just around 11pm. I was a little leery of backing into their driveway for the first time, but with Danielle as my landing flare, we made short work of getting berthed and visited for a bit with Todd and then Charlie when she got home from work before hitting the sack for the night.
Saturday was about getting up and taking a slower pace. We had Marshall for the day and didn’t have to check into the campsite until 2pm. So, we took in breakfast at our favourite place for that in Bracebridge in Nick’s. And then we walked around downtown stopping in at the weekend Farmer’s Market before getting Wolfie Too and grabbing some gas and other necessities and heading off to Arrowhead to set up camp. We arrived just at check-in and as we did the skies opened up. One of the immediate moments I recognized how much I already love this new trailer was that from unhitching the trailer we had the awning out, the RV matt down, and the dinette slide out in 20 minutes flat. It was amazing that in that time we already had something we could get inside without having to unload things!
Last night, after dinner we snuck back to Bracebridge to watch the Canada Day fireworks with them. We met up with Charlie, Todd and Marshall at their house and made the short walk downtown to find a spot to watch the fireworks. For a town that size we were all blown away at the scale and length of the fireworks show they put on. And, different than last year when Marshall was overwhelmed by the noise and hated the fireworks, this year we soaked it all in jumping up and down with excitement at some points.
After they were wrapped we walked back to collect the truck and were on our 30 minute drive back to the camp site. I think from the point of us getting back to Wolfie Too the lot of us were all fast asleep in ten minutes or less. The first night’s sleep in our beautiful new trailer was a huge success. I was up first, then Emelia and, shortly after that, Danielle. I got the coffee underway, but the best part was not having to scurry to the campground bathroom for a morning visit. That part was a huge relief. (Quite literally).
Today was our first full day on site. We spent it mucking about first going for a bike ride and then later in the day going to Huntsville to see it was all about. We did a bit of window shopping and then real shopping too. And then, before we knew it we were back to the site. Another rain storm moved in and in times where that might have gotten our spirits down, this time it literally had zero impact. We just moved inside and watched a movie while we waited for the storm to pass through – no one feeling crammed or like they were stepping on each other. It was pure bliss.
Time for me to pass this over to Danielle to let her share her week, and for me to enjoy more of this camp life. There is talk of going to check out the falls on the river in our campground and then a campfire to close out this wonderful day. Hard to believe we still have a FULL week here before it all ends, with all that happened to get us to this point. But, I also don’t mind that too! Til next week!
She said
She said
What a whirlwind week this week has been! I would not recommend buying a trailer sight unseen like we did but it all worked out amazing. After a week of countless phone calls we are now proud owners of our big home on wheels. It is still incredible to think that only a few weeks ago we were sitting in our little vintage trailer talking about what we would want in a trailer if we ever upgraded, and then 2 weeks later we are sitting in our exact ‘wish list’. My criteria seemed simple, bigger fridge, basic bathroom and slept 6 so we could have a dinette always set up and the beds didn’t have to be taken up and down every day. And with that we have all that and then some.
The whole purchase of the trailer over the phone isn’t something I would necessarily recommend but the people at Campkin’s really made it an amazing experience. Not only did they handle all the details, they were amazing to deal with. John was blown away at everything they did for us, and the special gifts that came with our purchase, not only did we have a $100 credit to spend in their store for any small items we didn’t have but they gave us some amazing camp chairs that were actually ones that we had wanted to get for the trailer. All in all with financial value we got about $400 worth of items for free and we couldn’t have been happier with everything with the service.
With John’s arriving home later than anticipated on Thursday this really left everything in last minute high gear. As soon as the kids left on Thursday, Emelia and I went in the trailer and went into full organization mode. Now after working with a tiny vintage trailer I have become the master of the organization in a tight space, and now we have what feels like more than double the space we once had. The trailer came together pretty quickly and then Emelia and I had to rush off to get our groceries for the week. We got home far too late and I had to get a very tired girl to bed.
The morning came early and I had to work but John and Emelia had the day off. John was able to spend some of the day getting some of the projects we wanted for the trailer done in the day while Emelia thankfully had some play time with one of our neighbours so I could get as much done as possible while the little ones slept. The entire day felt like a marathon, I got as much done as possible while then kid slept and then had to wait until everyone was gone to get the rest of our packing done.
We finally got on the road later than we had planned but in the end it worked out perfectly because but the time we hit cottage country the roads were quieter and we made great time. We pulled in the Charlie and Todd’s place just after 11 and got a very tired girl to bed while the grown ups had a couple drinks and caught up. None of us lasted long and even the grown-ups were our for the night just after midnight.
The next morning while Charlie and Todd worked we took care of Marshall. The day was amazing, we got to spend the entire day seeing how much he has grown and changed in the short months since we saw them last. He is talking up a storm now and is full of his big personality. We had breakfast, got a couple errands done and made our way to Arrowhead. We arrived just as we were allowed to check in and of course that is when the skies decided they needed to open up and pour. Not an ideal situation for our very first set up – but it went so smoothly. Without exaggeration from pulling in to level and being in the trailer it was 20 minutes. I cannot imagine how fast it will be once we get a few things worked out. That was the beginning of our love affair with our new trailer. I was so reluctant to move past our vintage trailer because of our deep emotional connection to her but I have to say we are totally in love with this trailer. It fits our family perfectly. It is big enough to give us space and small enough to be not too much. My wish list was pretty simple to give up our beloved Wolfie, bigger refrigator, slept 6 people son we could have the beds always set up and a basic bathroom. We have all that an so much more!
The trip already has been incredible. Arrowhead is a beautiful park and we haven’t even had a chance to explore all of it. We are in heart of the Mukokas which could not have been a more idealic part of Canada to spend Canada’s 150th and to spend it with our family of three and my sister and her family was just about perfection. I sat beside my sister, brother in law, husband with my daughter on my lap and holding my nephew’s hand and I knew at that moment that I was truly in my absolute happiest place. It could not have been a more perfect Canada Day if we tried.
This week is going to be filled with some amazing activities, we hope to get to Algonquin Park, go for a boat ride with Charlie, Todd and Marshall and continue explore this incredible park we are staying in. That is the week that was, off to sit by the fire with John and enjoy the rest of our evening.