How The Travel Trailer Came To Us

I guess I should give some back story before I jump into where we are currently..

Around July of 2021 my boyfriend, Joe, asked if I'd want to live on the road. 

(If you know anything about me then you'd know this is something I've been interested in since I was 18 years old.)

Of course I say yes.

We begin to go to dealerships around our area. In search of our dream travel trailer. We knew we wanted a travel trailer because we wanted to have the truck with us as well. So then we can disconnect and go adventure any place that we are in. While searching we come across a brand that we really like.. the Grand Design. The one we originally looked at had bunkbeds and we knew that was something we didn't want. Once we got home I went online and kept searching. I came across the Imagine 2600RB. This was the perfect layout for us and our two cats. Bathroom in the back, open living area with the kitchen, and bedroom in the front. Another thing we knew, was that we wanted an "older" model. It seems that anything made during 2020 and after is made very poorly. For many obvious reasons. I ended up finding one in our area, about one hour away. We went to the dealership some time in the winter months. The dealership actually lost the trailer we wanted. They told us they'd call if they came across the trailer.. they never did. We called around other dealerships that had one posted on their sites FOR SALE. Only to find out the sites haven't been updated and they were no longer available. Feeling very unlucky we decided to take a break from searching. 

In January of 2022 I started to look for the 2600RB again. To my surprise there was one at a dealership two hours away from us. We immediately went to the dealership to go look at the travel trailer. The trailer was still there and no one had lost it or bought it. We made the purchase with almost no time to spare. There was an older couple that wanted the same make and model as us. Just as we put the SOLD sign up, they were coming to purchase. 

(I felt pretty bad because they were probably searching for a long time as well.)

So, we have our dream travel trailer. Joe started a job at the mill and was working 7 days a week and anywhere from 10 to 16 hour shifts. At night. We weren't picking up the trailer any time soon. Which was fine. We are very lucky that the dealership held onto our trailer as long as they did (for free).

March comes around.. Joe and his family receive terrible news. His dad, Jeff, had passed away. 

To look at this in a positive light: this is something his dad would have loved for Joe to be able to do. He's definitely with us out here in the trees. 

Bad things usually come in twos. July is here and Joe is finally done at the mill. There is another death in the family. With all the sad things that come along with these events, we obviously stayed with family in Ohio.

Once we drive to Columbus to finally pick up our trailer a few mishaps happen. Turns out you need a working brake controller (you don't NEED it, but it's extremely helpful. Especially for someone who has never towed anything before). Our brake controller wasn't recognizing the truck. So, we tried another one and the same thing was happening. Everyone at the dealership was so eager to help and they really did everything they could have done. In the chaos of all of this.. the service team manages to blow the main truck fuse. We leave the dealership that day with no brake controller, power steering, cruise control, and a bunch of other random alerts. SO, now, we have an appointment to go to Ford and get everything fixed. Ford is behind on orders and it take a week and some days to get in a new fuse. Great, we have a working truck again. Not so great, the missing part for the brake controller will take even longer to come in. Cut to, we finally have the brake controller piece and everything is good. 

July 28, 2022 and we have our travel trailer.