First time ‘in charge'

You would expect some lessons were to be learned on extended trailer trip

- JUNE MCCAN

I have been a camper all of my adult life; in tents, tent trailers, pickup campers, trailers, fifth wheels and motorhomes.

However, I have never been the “in charge” person. That changed in the summer of 2020 when I bought a 16-foot vacation trailer.

I had looked for a small vacation trailer two years ago but didn’t find what I wanted in the price range I wanted to spend. Then, in 2020 as I was having to deal with COVID-19, I began to rethink owning a small trailer.

My daughter and grandsons live in Salt Lake City, Utah and my son lives in the Vancouver, Washington area.

I was not willing to fly to Utah and with two little dogs, Suki and Lilly, and I didn’t want to drive and stay at motels either. So, it made sense to me to look into buying a small vacation trailer.

In June I began a search in newspapers and online ads to see if I could find what I wanted. I wanted it to be no longer than 20 feet but I was flexible about what else it featured. A walkaround bed would be nice but seldom had I seen a short trailer with one.

After about three weeks, I was getting discouraged. What I saw was either new for more money than I wanted to spend or several states away.

Then one afternoon, I called All Seasons RV to see if they offered used trailers.

The salesman said that they did offer some used trailers, as they received trade-ins, but that the smaller trailers were hard to find.

I already knew that but at the end of our conversation, he took my name and number and said that if anything came up, he would call me. We concluded our conversation at about 3:15.

Then at 4:45 he called me with the news that a lady he had sold a 16-foot Coleman trailer to a few years ago had just called to say that she wanted to trade it in for a motorhome. I couldn’t believe it. Lesson learned: Shop local. So, my friend, Linda, and I went to see the trailer when it came into the dealer the next week.