Day #132 – New Trailer

Monticello FL to Lake Park GA

Today, we packed up the TrailManor for what we thought would be our last day with it. It hurt to think we’d never see our home-made curtains again. I was sure Carolyn, who made our new cushions for us, would be really angry about all that work not being used. We would no longer be walking on Kelly’s magnificent new floor. We would no longer be using the Giant Sucking Fan that Runs in the Rain that Kelly and I installed together on last year’s hottest day of summer. I gazed at the water valves we’d replaced. I did not crawl under the trailer to bid adieu to the patched gray water tank.

The Monticello KOA was hard to leave. We’d had some nice conversations with many of the folks there. Even I had talked with strangers, only to find that, after a couple days, they weren’t really strangers any more. It was a pleasant campground and we’d miss it.

We were both quiet and thoughtful as we towed the 85 miles from Monticello to Lake Park. We had talked about alternatives if the deal fell through, but we really didn’t have a firm plan. There were two trailers we’d liked at another dealer, but both were made by a manufacturer with a reputation for building leaky trailers. Plus, we knew they’d give us little on a trade-in. If this deal fell through, we’d have to sell the TrailManor privately and then work a cash deal with a dealer. It would take time, and travel money, and hassle to go that route.

Our worry was for naught. The dealer thought our TrailManor, despite its age, was in very good shape. In fact, he was surprised by how nice it looked and by how well it was maintained. (Thank you, Carolyn! Your cushions made a great first impression!)

We parked the two trailers side-by-side and moved all our stuff from the old to the new. Everyone was surprised at the amount of stuff we pulled from that little trailer.

I signed way too many papers; the technician gave us explanations of all our new trailer’s feathers; we hitched up; we drove off into the sunset.

Well, almost into the sunset. By the time we were ready to set out, the dealer had closed for the day. Kelly’s first towing experience with this huge thing was to back up and turn around in a field in order to go out the only open gate. We drove a few yards down the road, to the Eagle’s Roost RV Resort (https://www.eaglesroostresort.com), where the dealer had arranged a free night for us.

We had a dickens of a time getting the trailer on the parking pad at our assigned site. It was a cement pad, the exact width of our rig. Kelly would get the left wheels on, only to discover that the right ones had fallen off the other edge. I finally directed her to back up, almost into the spot across from us, and then straighten out into our spot. It worked. We weren’t quite level, but it was close enough.

It was a long evening of sorting and organizing. But, we had lots of fun discovering all the new doo-dads on the trailer.