Crazy Trailer People!

It’s been a fun/interesting weekend. We went to a town over the mountain pass yesterday to look at a 20’ 1972 Aristocrat Land Liner for an office, as well as guest accommodations, on the Island for my DH. We’ve been on the prowl for something to fill this need for a while. This was the one, and it’s now in the cul de sac until tomorrow morning when I head to the Island. I wanted this purchase to be my DH’s decision. You know, to support his process but not influence. He works intensely. Whatever was going to end up being his office away from his (home) office, really needed to fit him and his aesthetics. 

This will allow him to be on the island when I’m there for weeks at a go. It also means we’ll bring the cat back and forth! As all this falls into place I’ll need to find a garden/chicken/houseplant sitter for our mainland property. And having the trailer now, doesn’t mean we can use her right away. There’s the small matter of utilities, which I’ve already discussed with our AN. I’m hoping by late spring the trailer will be set up and humming.

We had a scare on the way back home yesterday when the trailer and truck disconnected 😳. Suddenly the trailer was violently acting on the truck. My DH started to pull over, I told him to keep going forward as the trailer was gaining on us. If it hit us it’d be damaged. Fortunately the trailer’s electric cable to the truck was intact and as my DH slowed down, so did the trailer (it has its own electric brakes). The only damage is the pole’s end the trailer sits on when on blocks, which is curled a little from dabbling with the asphalt. The pole itself is still miraculously straight. We got hooked up again in the pouring rain, drove at 35MPH to the next big town where my DH dropped me and the trailer at the quilt shop, and then went to Home Depot to buy a slightly different hitch.

Two main things were in play: The ball on our hitch is ‘dropped’ too low for this trailer. The ‘grabber’ on the trailer where it actually attaches to the ball is not up to the task on staying on the wrong hitch on our mountain highway’s pitted and bouncy surface 😒. Our Airstreams’ connection point to the ball, grab the ball 360º around. No pothole can disconnect an Airstream from its tow vehicle at the hitch. We were very, very lucky to learn an important lesson without damage to either truck or trailer, or ourselves. And yes, we are now officially Crazy Trailer People!