Memories On Wheels

(My husband painted this wall hanging several years ago. We were at a Family Camp and the assignment was to make a banner that represented your family. You can see many of our interests included in it, as well as a stork, symbolizing the new baby that was on his way!)

So here I am, camping in our well aged trailer, at the coast with 4 of my kids, having been awakened very early by the bold and hungry raccoons foraging for any scrap of food they might find.

There was a predicted 40% chance of rain. I’ve discovered that means there is a 100% chance that 40% of your belongings will be soaked. Thus, the entry rug up on the table, the tarp over the dog run, and all of the swimming holes in what was a perfectly convenient campsite a couple days ago.

(It is WET. The white spots you see is more rain. Everything is soggy.)

I say aged because this trailer is definitely not of the sort you mostly see being used this time of year. Most of the people out in trailers and RV’s this time of year on the coast are the type who spend a good deal of time in their “homes on wheels”. So they have alot of bells and whistles, like slide outs, rear mounted cameras for easier backing out, washing machines and such. So we are a study in contrast, both by our trailer and by it’s occupants.

Really, our trailer is middle aged, as trailers go. It was made in about the early to mid 90’s. And I think it’s been stored outside all of it’s life. Most winters it grows a crop of moss on the front end and the grass grows up tall around the wheels. And the decor, well… I always thought it would be fun to repaper it in a flamingo print. Flamingoes are so very trailer-ish in a retro kind of way. But it has remained as it came to us. And it’s pretty trailer-ish in a 90’s kind of way. Yes, it’s definitely modest by any standard!

I say “well” aged because we have so many fond memories in this humble little trailer. Some of them did not seem so nice at the time, like our maiden voyage when our transmission went out and we had to camp at a horrible and dirty KOA right off of a freeway. But it forced us to be together because there was nothing else to do. Of course, not knowing how much $$$ we were going to have to fork out added to the stress, but today, 5 or 6 years later, it is one of our favorite memories.

(Here is the dinette and the couch. Both fold out into double beds.)

Then there was the very last extended family camping trip where my grandpa joined us, the summer before his 90th birthday. My aunt had also just been through a grueling battle with colon cancer (which she won and is doing great today!). What a precious memories we made that weekend.

(Kitchen area with sleeping quarters behind. Doors you see are the fridge and freezer. Between the fridge and the back is the bathroom door but you can’t see it very well.)

I do love tent camping and miss it at times. But as I sit here in the rain, on the very wet Oregon coast, as my daughter is finishing her math lesson at the little table, a son is reading a book about Pocahontas on his bunk and an older son is laughing at a 2 year old who burped loudly as they sip together on bottles of juice on the bench seat, I am reminded again how grateful I am that we have this little trailer, so perfectly suited to our family.

(Bunkhouse)

But things are temporary, and this too shall pass.

Mostly I am grateful for the opportunities this little trailer has afforded us to create memories that will last forever.