Almost a year after the fact, we are finally completing all the pieces of our move.To recap, last May we moved out of a 1,200 sq ft three- bedroom apartment with a large outside storage room, to a less than 750 sq ft two-bedroom house with no storage at all (we barely have closets). Among other things, that presented us with the problem of where to store all of our camping gear.
One option was to keep it at a storage rental place for a monthly fee. We decided instead to invest in a cargo trailer that would allow us to store and transport our equipment. We have so much gear that we've had to rent a U-Haul any time we've gone camping. When you camp as often as we do, that gets expensive.
It turns out that cargo trailers aren't cheap, even if you buy a used one. It has taken us until now to finally get the money together for the trailer we wanted. We brought it home today, and that's when the fun started.
The first time I ever pulled a trailer was when I hitched a U-Haul to my Jeep and drove it from Pittsburgh to San Diego. Another time was our trip last summer through Alabama and Mississippi to Arkansas for a camping vacation. And of course there have been our many camping weekends here in Virginia.
As long as I'm going forward, pulling a trailer isn't a big deal. It's when I have to back up that things get complicated. My solution has been to avoid any situation where backing up is required. I've gotten away with it so far.
That wasn't an option today. Although it wasn't pretty, I'm proud to say that I managed to back that sucker into our driveway. And I did it without hitting a tree or our other vehicle.
Now that we have the trailer, we can move all our camping gear out of our sun room. The plan is to turn the sun room into a dining room. We'll accomplish that when we can buy a dining table.
7 comments:
Your post made me think of my dad. The man, bless his heart, could never manage to back up his trailer. My mom or I always had to do it for him. It's not easy, so good for you for doing it!
How are you all adapting to living in such a smaller space?
We are adapting just fine. We unburdened ourselves of most of our possessions and minimized or simplified. For example, we sold the king-sized bed and replaced it with a nicer full-sized bed. We sold the big 36-inch tube TV (a 600-pound behemoth) and eventually replaced it with a 45-pound LCD TV. I got rid of most of my library. We sold the dining room set, the living room furniture, our desks, my audio equipment (including some bitchin' infinity speakers), and a lot of kitchen appliances that we rarely used. Over this past year we've replaced what we had with smaller, or fewer (but always sufficient) items.
It's really liberating to let go of possessions and live in a more minimalist way. The simple life.
Next time you come through Alabama, I'm sure Miss A would be more than happy to give you pointers on how to back up a trailer. She's a professional at it. I am much like you. I avoid getting myself into any situation where I might have to back it up.
And congratulations on the progress. It's always satisfying to be able to see what you've been working toward and dreaming of.
OK, from my uncle who used to be a long-haul trucker, the key to backing-up with a trailer is to put your hand at the 6 o'clock position on the steering wheel and "drive" the trailer that way.
Holy shit, I think I may have just pulled a "Weese"...kind of like pulling a "Syd", yet without the embarrassment.
no video? :)
Oh, THANKS, Kris.
How long did it take you, Trop?
I can barely park my car in the garage without banging into the lawn mower or the snow blower.
Bing just loves this about me.
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