My Travel Trailer Blog:

October 26, 2008 - I have sold the trailer to a friend. After working a bunch on his truck, he was able to take it home today. I made a series of repairs and was happy to see it go to a friend. It's a great little trailer and I hope he gets many happy years with it.

May 30, 2008 - After a successful trial with the travel trailer we've decided to move up to a full motorhome. We'd been closely watching all the ads for a class C motorhome with specific specifications and found a 29' Itasca with 27K miles. It looked great and we bought it but quickly found it had some major problems. See our page devoted to the motor home here. To make a long story short, we're now going to sell the travel trailer. I have a couple little things to fix and I'll put it up on CragisList.. Unless someone who is reading this is interested. If so I'll make them a deal and sell it AT COST - $2,600. I figure anyone who is taking the time to read my ramblings deserves a break!

September 5, 2007 - After dragging the trailer across the Sierras, and camping in the desert for a week I'd have to say that the trailer is a success. I was able to pull it even in fairly extreme hills and at close to the desired speeds. Now I need to clean it again and prepare it for a weekend at an RV park.

August 25, 2007 - It appears the trailer has a 37 gallon tank. I timed how long it would take to fill a bucket with 1 gallon of water and then timed filling the tank. That's a lot of water! at 8.3 Lbs per gallon that's way too much for me to tow over any sort of hills. But, a little more cleaning and some last minute tweaks and it should be good to go. I'm going to try it out on a trip by myself and I'll report back here and share my experiences.

August 20, 2007 - I was able to pick up the trailer on Friday. They were able to get the new-old fridge installed - but not without tearing up the cabinets and floor. Hmm.. At least the major things work. We spent the whole weekend cleaning and repairing the last items and then started to stock the rig for my upcoming test run this next week. I've been testing the tanks and figuring out how they actually work. It can hold a lot of water, clean, gray and black. The whole rig creaked and groaned as I totally filled the fresh water tank. While the tank had been bleached and flushed, I don't think I'll attempt to drink the water.

August 16, 2007 - Things are not exactly on schedule. RV Doctor George has been really busy and they've been down 3 workers. They have done the checkout on the trailer systems and have checked the brakes and repaired the running lights, plus they added a new battery and battery box. They dug up a used fridge and that's what I'm waiting to have installed. I purchased 2-5 gallon (full) propane tanks. There are lots of little things that need replacing but they have everything. I've never seen such a well stocked shop. There are tons of used parts for every type of trailer and RV imaginable. Even though my little rig is old, there are new parts for it right there on the shelf. The bad thing is the county want to toss them out and build townhouses. Perhaps us RV owners will have to get together and pound on the county. All they need is some curb improvements. A business like theirs is invaluable.

On Wednesday I took the truck to Campway's to get the brake controller installed. $200 later and I have a plug on the back of the bumper and a strange little box next to my knee in the cab. It should be interesting to experiment with (insert small nervous chuckle).

August 9, 2007 - Today the trailer was taken to RV Doctor George for all the heavy (and expensive stuff. The fridge is shot, the propane tanks are toast, the electrical wiring is a mess, who knows about the brakes, and it needs a battery and tons of little stuff. So did I get ripped off on the trailer? YES.. Anyway, I think these folks feel sorry for me and are going to try using some salvage parts to fix stuff. I'll check in with them in person next week and write a follow up. I hope to have the trailer back by the end of next week. Then I'll use the weekend to refit the insides and start packing for the trip.

July 31, 2007 - We took last week off and drove down the coast to visit some beaches. We also took a look at some RV parks and resorts. The first one we visited (near Morro Bay) was less than optimal. The spaces were tight and things were dingy. But the one in Pismo beach was great!. Very clean, big spaces, and lots of security. Take a look: http://www.pismocoastvillage.com/

Back to the trailer. After getting back from the trip I made a new inner panel and filled in the open spaces with expanding foam. Now the panel is installed I can move on to all the other things that need repair.

The cleaning of all the inside furniture went very well and I hope to have it completely back together next weekend. Then it's off to the RV Doctor for the mechanicals.

The new panel,new framing, and the finished window.

July 19, 2007 - Despite concerns that the truck won't pull the trailer, I've been moving forward with repairs. We disassembled as much of the insides as we could and we've washed the seats and curtains. They look a TON better. I replaced the center skylight and have torn out the whole front end to make dry-rot repairs. The mess was pretty extensive, but new wood and panels will fix it right up. I'm hoping a heavy cleaning will take care of much of the rest of it. I should have taken some 'before' photos, but I was in a hurry rip it apart. Besides, who wants to see the bad stuff?

July 14, 2007 - I went ahead and purchased a travel trailer. It's a 17 foot long 1983 'Wilderness' by Fleetwood. It's in pretty good shape and hopefully only needs a few fixes and a good cleaning. The tires are new, but the fridge doesn't work. I don't have a manual, but I can order one. I think the best thing to do is take it to a service center and have everything evaluated. Even if it doesn't work out to keep it in the long run, I think I can get as much or more for it than what I paid (cheap). Here are my first photos, taken when we picked it up 70+ miles north of home in Biggs:

I hope we'll be able to use it for some short getaways to the coast. $40-$50 a night in a nice RV park is WAY cheaper than a rental or hotel on the coast. Plus we never seem to be able to find anywhere available on short notice - like less than 6 months!

My biggest concern is if the truck can pull it over the hills. It wasn't too happy to pull it at highway speeds into the wind on hwy 99, so I can't imagine what will happen going over Sierras or Coast mountains. I may have to do a test and/or get professional advise.