Monday, June 27, 2022

The Trailer Experiment

So, this one was admittedly a bit of an impulse buy for Brian - but he thought it'd be a fun way to make memories with the kids. Spend weekends, especially in the winter months (when we can't go boating), traveling for the weekend and exploring etc. Also thinking a camper could be perfect on a future property, that he was continually on the lookout for.

What we didn't realize at time of purchase is how booked up campsites are - we thought we could decide on a Wednesday "yup, lets go this weekend to Charlottesville", call, and get a reservation for that weekend. In reality, when you call they say, "nearest availability is next October...14th!" Uhhh. Ok. So you book that time slot because you have to, but 3 months later when that time approaches, it's really not a good time to be going away (Brian's work requires some weekend stuff sometimes, not all the time, and it can't be predicted that far in advance). We are just last minute people by nature/by the way our schedules work with work. 

As a result, we have used this gorgeous camper exactly 5 nights in 1 year. Because we couldn't get spots, or we couldn't go when we could get spots. Weekending in Williamsburg, Lake Gaston and Edenton. We did find a property we love. It has a homeowners association and no campers are allowed at all, so that eliminated that reason to have it/keep it as well.

Additionally, Brian thought for sure he'd like camping (which he hates), if it was "glamping"...well - turns out we all LOVE it, Him, not so much. (Although I don't think any of us mind regular camping much either - I grew up doing it, we've only done it once as a family bc Brian hates it:-).

Our camping style can be defined as "elegant"๐Ÿ˜‚

So. We decided to sell it. It's a gorgeous camper, and too nice to be sitting around 99.9% of the time. Someone could use it well, or even live in it, and it would be so perfect for that. 


So, here are a few pics I took of it. We needed to have nice ones for selling it, and also need to have the memories/proof - of the camper we used to have once upon a time.




Wired for solar, direct tv, and wifi. Comes with DVD player and built in stereo/surround sound inside, and outside.
We still have the "couch protector" foot thingies on the couches - because why not. Keeps it cleaner with dirty feet!...and now it still makes it look really new:-)
The couch in the slide is heating and vibrating/massaging๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚



A porcelain (not plastic) toilet is apparently a really big deal๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜





Shower screen closed


Inside fridge



Outdoor stove top

Outdoor fridge

Outdoor kitchen - the sink just drains onto the ground tho, not into the grey tanks

It has a heat furnace, and 2 ac units, and 2 fireplaces. Apparently this thing can survive winters in Canada (for it's winterization), we've only ever used it in 100 degree weather. Ac works!
Bedroom Fireplace

King bed

bedroom sitting area


Bedroom closet can hold a washer/dryer!

As with all campers, there is storage EVERYWHERE. They make good use of every nook and cranny.

 

This is technically a 4 person RV. However, it works well for us. The sitting couch in the bedroom is a bed plenty big and comfy for Vale. The couch in the livingroom pulls out to a queen, and the other couch Grey is still short enough to use as a bed - but also there is lots of room between the pullout and the island for a twin air mattress, which is what we do. We have a fold up chair we bring for kitchen chair seating, and V has her little fold up /portable high chair still to use, it is quite spacious and comfortable for us, we don't feel on top of each other at all.

It was a fun experiment, but seems like maybe we just aren't meant to be adventuring campers. I guess that's ok. Can't be good at everything, now can we? ๐Ÿ˜‰ We had really fun times when we did use it, and great memories from both Lake Gaston and Edenton that'll be lifelong for sure. (The 1 night in Williamsburg wasn't really a "trip", it was the closest to us that we could get some time to actually use it - like make sure it worked, how to set it all up, etc. ...we booked that in May when we bought it - for a late July weekend.๐Ÿ˜– - blame covid for everything I guess, but apparently it really did change the "RV scene" - people are working remote - so they get an RV and travel a lot, booking campsites along the way of course, and then the rental market has been insane (no where to rent), so people have been living in RV's at parks. All of that makes them busier than they have historically been, and makes it hard for casual glampers like us to sneak in a weekend!)

EDIT: We did sell it! To people that will live in it full time here, and hopefully in a few years take it to Montana at set up home there. So happy it's getting used "properly" though we will miss it! As it stands we were able to sell it for exactly what we paid (including the extended warranty, which conveyed) - so we got to use it for 1 year, for free!! Haha!! Can't beat that! Because it was in brand new condition, and because the market is still crazy for stuff like luxury campers, the value perhaps technically depreciated, but because of high demand/lack of availability, it held it's full value. 


Here we are scrubbing 'er down, getting ready for delivery. When we pulled her back up to the house (it had been parked in a field at the end of our road on the busy street for visibility with a for sale sign on it), Vale came running out and literally hugged the side of the trailer and said "oh Happy Campah, I've been soooo wah-weed (worried) about you!". She helped us get her all shined up, and we didn't make a big deal out of the good bye part, haha! She would've been way too heartbroken. 






Hot Tub Prep

Deciding to reno the porch last year and put a big deck on...there was always a "background" thought about having room, making room, keeping room for a hot tub. But after all the work we put into the house last spring we were done for a minute or two, haha. Well, this year is the year! 

3 tons of crush and run - kids and I moved it in 48 hours! That's 6000lbs!!



We moved it filling the trailer on the mower and shoveling and dumping, load by load. That mower & trailer were life (and back)savers.
Only about 2 loads left!
About to start pouring! - we used 81 bags of 80lb concrete to make this slab!!!
Started around 6:30. By about 10:30 we were done.
This morning we took the wood frame off
Our yard in this area slopes two ways - down and back. So the pad on the back corner is barely over 4" thick (minimum for the hot tub), and the front edge is much, much thicker.


 We had this "beam" piece of wood left over from the deck last year. Well, it's now the front of our planter box flower garden!
Hiding the tall edge of the concrete and making it prettier, we decided to put in citronella, lemongrass and marigold (mosquito deterrents)...and a bit of basil, just because I had it inside ready to plant:-)


It's looking good and should be all ready for "phase 2"...the drop of the hot tub, and the leveling of the rest of the crush and run for pavers added on top!