Where It All Began
I was thinking about buying myself a really big birthday present. You know -- something special before turning the big four-oh.
How big, you wonder? And how bad the mid-life crisis?
It all began on a hot and muggy night while fighting off a patch of mosquitos. By the time I finished off a bottle of Caladryl, I had already decided to make a downpayment on something that could keep the mosquitoes away and blow some serious ice-cold air.
Living in Florida can get awful boring sometimes, especially if you're yearning
for something other than sand and the occasional beach-side bar. Having fun in the sun has its limits during most months, and on this particular day, I had simply had enough.
I guess buying a big 'ol travel trailer has something to do with getting back to my roots. Having grown up in northeast Ohio, I was transplanted to Florida in the mid-80s, only to realize how much I had given up.
Don't get me wrong - I don't miss the snow at all. But after years of hanging on the beach and sweating through more sunny days than I can remember, I really miss the soft grass, the huge trees and a place I can kick the dust off my hiking boots.
So for my 38th birthday, I stopped by Arrow RV in Clearwater and picked up the keys to a 28-foot travel trailer. It was my way of having the best of both worlds, even if I can only manage to do so for a couple of weekends here and there.
How 'Bout Some Backround, First?
For years, my boyfriend and I have been feeling some trepidation about the quality time
we were spending in Florida. We missed seeing the wild side of life, and we don't mean
sipping Rum Runners and watching half-naked tourists frolic on the beach. We were a little bored with sand and surf, and couldn't remember the last time we went camping. The temperatures are
way too hot in Florida, and the no seeums make the bug bites simply unbearable.
We figured that air conditioning would have to be a top priority if we wanted to travel the back roads of Florida. So how were we going to make it happen?
We looked into buying property in the backwoods and commuting back and forth on the weekends. But after realizing it was way too much work to maintain a home AND a weekend getaway, we figured an RV was the next best thing. Plus, we realized if we waited till we retired, we'd be way too old too enjoy it.
So what did a couple of transplanted mid-Westerners know about RVs? Absolutely nothing. But we knew what we liked, and we knew that we could afford something in the $10,000 range. We picked up the want ads, looked at some Winnebagos that needed a good scrubbing, then stopped by several RV dealers till we found the right one. And we actually found a dealer who was willing to negotiate.
After settling on a Sportsmen, it was onto a truck that could pull it. My boyfriend, Rich, is in the boat business, so he knew what kind of truck we would need to tow it. Friends were recommending at least a 3/4-ton truck, but it had to be something used, since we couldn't afford brand new. Rich made a connection with a broker, decided to sell his 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, and three days later bought a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4.
Now it was onto a tow package. After looking at a few brochures, we settled on a Reese hitch and a couple of stabilizer bars to be better off safe than sorry.
First Time on the Road
The day of my birthday, we decided to christen the trailer and drink from
the new champagne glasses my friend, Helene, bought so we could celebrate the occasion in style. We were giddy for the adventure -- could have been the wine -- and that night, we prepared to set out on our first official road trip. We dubbed our trailer "Wheezie" and were convinced this was the start of a really good thing.
And you know? It's the best thing I've done since leaving the corporate life in '99. It kind of made me think of that poster on "Risk" I saw hanging on a wall. It had a picture of a boat riding atop some rough seas, with a caption underneath the picture that read:
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to leave sight of the shore."
In this case, I was just anxious to lose sight of the driveway.
