Let me take you on a journey.

This is the story of how we bought a camper – on a whim – to live in for the Summer instead of paying rent in an apartment. This is how it happened.

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Two weeks ago, my husband and I were in his car in front of my cousin’s store, using the free wifi to try and locate apartments in the area. Most of the rural areas where we wanted to move do not have listings or, if they do, we have already exhausted the options in that town. We felt defeated. We were worried we would be homeless (again). We do not want to live in the “city” and it seemed like we would have no choice once our lease ran out. So, as a joke, my husband started looking at RVs and campers. We joked about it. But then, we noticed one advertised for $1000 OBO (or best offer) that was in the same TOWN we were in. Then the mood changed – it went from “haha, that’s silly” to “that’s not a bad idea.” So we called the number listed and went to see the camper.

The 1989 – 36′ Fleetwood Prowler Lynx

The trailer was buried in snow so deep that we could hardly tell it had wheels. The roof had damage because a tree had fallen on it. One tire was completely flat on the trailer. The cushions in the kitchen had a few holes and clearly had been nibbled by critters (probably squirrels since there were acorns strewn about). But other than those few things the camper was in excellent condition for the year! So we haggled. They would let us borrow a tire they had to move it – which they graciously offered to do for us (more like, with us).

When we left we thought about it, we talked about it, we laughed and I cried about it. I have been very stressed lately (I didn’t mention I had an interview this past Monday). After long hours of discussion and debate we decided the camper was a good idea. So, we paid the $1000 in cash and planned a day to move it. In the meantime, my Uncle David offered to have us place it on his land (which happens to be SO much closer to my husband’s job – which happens to also be where I had my interview – *crosses fingers*).

So here we are: this is the moving process and our camper, Miss Stevie Lynx (get it, it’s a Fleetwood – Lynx sounds like Nicks, kinda … the husband came up with it).

The drive: we drove behind the camper while the previous owner drove in his truck with the camper in tow.

We all flashed our hazards and got going. It was a long haul but it went fairly well. We lost what we THINK was the radio antenna off the top of the camper (it is long gone – it smashed on impact). And the front door flew open a bit over half the way to our destination yet there is no damage to the door. The tin panel on the top (the temp fix for the tree damage) flew about and we had to use a stick to plop it back over and tape it down with duct tape. The cap to the propane tank storage flew off and I had to run after it on the side of the road. But all in all, it was a beautiful trip and we made it safe and sound.