Trailer Life

Until I met Jeff, my experience with recreation vehicles was nothing more than theoretical. I thought a nice motor home would be a great way to have a family vacation out west, especially driving across the country. Several years ago I talked it over with a co-worker and she agreed that her family would love to take a trip like that and how much better it would make traveling with their two young children (ages 8 and 3 at the time) so I made up my mind - at some point in my life I would take an RV vacation.

When I met Jeff, I became much more involved with the life of the RV community than I ever could have dreamed. Heck, I really didn't know there was such a thing. I thought the point of these lovely homes on wheels was to be independent and do your own thing and not have to worry with travel groups and all of that hassle. My vocabulary has since increased to include words like "travel trailer", "pop-up", "slide out", "fifth wheel", "park model", "C class", "toy hauler", and many others. And the best part is, I can explain them all to you, or at least the basics of them! 

Almost all the members of Jeff's family own travel trailers, and most of them have memberships at Mountain Lakes Resort on Lake Guntersville. His grandparents have taken several big trips with theirs including several cross country trips and even a venture to Mexico. They have a lot of great stories, and it's an easy and relatively cheap way to have a family getaway. 

"Our" travel trailer is technically owned by his mother, but we have our own membership at Mountain Lakes and Jeff has the truck to tow it, so it's a joint venture. The first time I stayed in it at the lake was an interesting experience, but all in all I have to say I enjoy it. It's a 1990 model so it's pre-slide outs and is therefore a bit "cozy" The newer ones give you more room to relax and you can get a few more people in them. 

This year I ventured with Jeff to the RV show, and it was an experience. The "show" was very small and rather disappointing - only a few dealers came and they probably had a bigger selection at their lots. The biggest draw was the discounts if you bought one during the show. We looked at several and found a style that was rather unique but was a good fit for both of us. We won't be making a purchase anytime soon, but I do still visit the catalog from time to time. 

I don't know that I will ever be totally sold on having the trailer as the primary mode of vacation. I still like hotels and am not a huge fan of driving long distances, but I can see the appeal and I definitely enjoy the possibility of weekend getaways. I'll probably take advantage of it in the fall and winter as a quiet place to get away and work on sermons without distractions. 

I'm interested to see where trailer life will take me next!