finally, I have a chance to sit down at my computer and write. when you don't see updated posts you can be sure that my life is not simple during that time. all sorts of projects that were meant to be simple or simplify became far more complicated.
1. little camping trailer...
my son and I explored an rv land on the way home from the bay area a month or so ago. we discovered we really liked the tent trailers but didn't want the netting as the barrier between us
and the wildlife that lives near us. I loved the fact that I could see behind me when towing... I
remembered that years ago, I saw a "tent trailer" that had hard sides. It popped up like a chalet...
so after the weekend of rv shopping, I went online and found one of those trailers... a 94. priced at
about half of what it was worth. I called asap. and found out that it was in fresno and had been
traded in the day before by the original owner. within a day, I put down a deposit on it. it would
be ready for pick up in a week or so. being that fresno is about 3 hours away, a Saturday was our
only possibility.
finally that Saturday arrived, we woke up early, got in our suv and drove off. I knew we had the type
of hitch needed, yeh!! so easy pick up... when we got there we ckd it all out. met my expectations!!
we drove over to the service department to get "hitched". we discovered that yes, the hitch was right,
but the electrical that worked the brake lights and blinkers was missing... "missing!!?" oh my goodness, did not expect that. the mechanic wasn't so happy with us either. he said to "sit", and
he would try to get it working... 5 hours later, after sitting in the 100 degree sun in the service bay,
without food- just a few vending machine treats, he said "let me go get the damages". holy cow,
what was this going to cost me?.... he came back wanting to know what I had done, the boss was
going to comp the whole bill. near to tears, I hugged him. don't think he has been hugged in awhile!!
the other guys sort of lined up, I think all hoping for hugs as well... I didn't hug them all.
we were finally on our way. oh crap! I am pulling this huge trailer, or at least felt like it. they had
drained my battery while working on my car, so I couldn't turn off the engine and we were so
thirsty we were about to drop. so I did what any other trailer hauling mom would do, I drove thru
the drive thru!! we ordered lots of drinks... and drove off our merry way.
driving down the 99, is like driving down a dirt road after a rainstorm, bumpy bumpy bumpy..... now.
time for gas. found an easy station to pull off for. while we were at the pump, this dad looking guy
very embarrassed asked me if I could spare a few gallons... he had run out of gas, had two girls in the car, and didn't have any money left. feeling like I really needed to pay forward our free service bill, I said no problem and filled up a 4 gallon container for him. I don't think he was expecting ever to get
home that night. and off we went again.
I decided that I didn't want to go the twisty way, so we would drive to Manteca via 99 and then cut over east... shopping at target was my bribe to my son... we bought a few things for the trailer and headed off. hungry!!?? yes, as we drove thru the in and out burger drive thru. this one was tighter, but we made it!! I even asked the guy behind us if our lights were working, yes.
ok. now we are hot, tired, not hungry, and really ready to get home. knew we had another 2 hours to go. so I drove, and drove until a small car passed me and then stopped us at the stop sign... oh gosh, now what!? the stairs of the trailer had come down, and were about to scrape on the ground. thanks to the jiggling of hwy 99... fixed them. and drove off again. were we ever going to get home....
my biggest worry of this entire trip was how I was going to back down my driveway to get the trailer where it needed to be. by the time we got home, it was dark, my son was asleep and I decided to forget driving in reverse and just drove down the driveway. parked. turned off the engine. got my son. and went to bed. we would deal with it in the morning.....
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