Twenty Six Hundred Bucks

5 years ago, in February to be more exact, I broke my ankle in a colossally stupid accident at work that was in no way comparable with the amount of damage I did to it. I won't go into details except to say that after the fall my leg and knee were pointing south and my foot was pointing west. It was disgusting. And there was a shitload of therapy and all that crap that followed for 8 months or so. Then, after the L&I claim was closed, I got a check in the mail that I wasn't expecting.

Not ones to look for a savings opportunity, Kristi and I immediately embarked on a mission to spend the newfound loot. Sure, we bought stuff for the little monsters, and even paid off some credit cards, by golly, but we wanted to buy some big shit too! That's when the inspiration for the tent trailer struck.

We go to a resort town to hang with Kristi's family every year - they all camp and we'd either stay in a hotel or hang out at their sites in a tent, which wasn't really doing it for us now that we're old, we have kids, and we're not wealthy. Also, I grew up camping...in a trailer with the grandparents and out in the wild with my pops, so I had the nagging feeling that I needed to do something like that for my own brood, even though I knew that the backwoods stuff just wasn't really my bag.

So I started looking and before long I found a 1996 Camplite by Damon tent trailer, with a slide out dinette (!) that was in pretty much perfect condition. The folks that owned it didn't use it much and obviously didn't know what they had, so I ended up getting it for 2,600 measly bucks, which was about $1,500 less than what it was worth at the time. We took it out for the shakedown trip a few weeks later and have been camping ever since. We're usually good for at least 14 nights a year in the trailer, and if I had my way it would be a heck of a lot more than that (our jobs, however, are useful for paying the mortgage and buying gas, and other stuff, so we do what we can).

We just got back from a 4 day trip to the Washington Coast, one of our favorite places. This was probably our 6th trip to this particular campground, and it was really fantastic. Some of our oldest and best friends joined us for most of the trip, along with their 2 year old, who is just a great, fun, little kid. Our munchkins had a great time showing him the ropes!

Our campsite backed up to a wetlands area where there were a bunch of trails, and on this trip the boy discovered his inner explorer...with walkie talkies in hand he and I ventured out to find out where the trails led. He was the trailblazer and I hung back, keeping watch for chipmunks and garter snakes, all the while we were keeping each other constantly apprised of our "20" (location) on the handhelds. When I caught up with him in the tall beach grass we happened upon a clearing in the berry vines, and I showed him the flattened spot where an animal (deer, bear, who knows?) would have rested for a while...his eyes were wide and his tone hushed when he said "Cool!".

We finally popped out of the grass and wind blown birch trees onto the beach, and the boy was amazed at how we got there. He was sure this was the first time a person had done this, and was justifiably proud of our achievement, and was sure to tell everyone at camp about it in detail when we returned. He led an expedition comprised of everyone but me down the same route the next morning as I completed the painstaking task of taking the tent trailer down and securing the top, and is now the official trail guide of the family!

When we got back from our expedition I found the baby girl playing with a new friend across from the site in the center of the loop, in a big sand pit. They came over excitedly and adjourned to the camper to play with their American Girl dolls, as if they had been friends for years. It constantly amazes me how cute little girls are when they play together...so cooperative and inquisitive (and independent). I poked my head in to the camper to make sure that the new friends parents knew where she was and she said they did...and thanked me for asking! I stopped by their site just to make sure, of course, and all was well. The baby girl later said that she was happy to make a new friend, even if they won't get to play at home, because making a friend is always a good thing.

Kristi and I have always worked to put family first in any way we could, and we did plenty of family activities prior to buying our little tent trailer, but I really think that these trips are beyond compare. Twenty six hundred bucks is a lot to us in pretty much every case, but in this case, well, I can't think of a better bargain.