I’ve always dreamed of my second vehicle being an – the motor home kind. A little kind of home, that “I” could drive, to work or on errands if the mood hit me. Zipping between traffic too. However, for whatever reason (probably a lack of thinking I deserved it, spending money, or whatever else gets into your brain about NOT doing something) I put it on the shelf, down in the cellar.
In February 2017, I was cleaning the dishes, I passed the stove, and instantly a thought poked at my brain. It said, “What about that camper you always wanted?” And that was that… I was on Craigslist searching for campers. I decided to start with a pull behind. Something small. To research if I even wanted to be out in the wild with a camper. Spend around $1,000 to see if it’s all worth it. I also rationalized, if we were going to go to far away lands, we’d want to have the truck. This way we could venture about while we set up a camp. And this is when I researched campers.
We saw a new one. It was retro like. The quality sucked. If it was better, perhaps we’d be camping right now. And with the carpenter-I-do-not-cut-corners husband we’d never buy the mass cheap ones. The sales man even answered my husband questions of quality with a shrug and “You can’t make quality when you mass produce.” WTF?!
I searched Craigslist and found a 1948 Spartan Manor. It had a boxy look. It was a pure gut job. Horrible really. We tried to negotiate, and the trailer did not have a title. I didn’t want the additional work of filing out the paperwork for that – so, we let it go. As I continued to search, I began to really enjoy the Spartan model. I was ready to spend a year, two years for the right one. In the meantime, I was going to buy a small camper. One that would get us camping immediately.
It is inevitable with the man I love – the dreamer – that things go extreme. I should have known when he was getting excited about a larger camper. And the history of the Spartan being from an aircraft manufacturer. Yes, he likes airplanes too.
Only a few weeks later was when I saw the Craigslist post “Make an Offer”. It was a Spartanette. A 1951 Royal Spartanette. I didn’t know if I’d like this style. I messaged the seller. He was great, and prompt and full of pictures. We took a road trip to see her a few days later. A 2 hour drive and we made a day of it for Father’s Day. The owner we were talking with wasn’t available. His family members would show us the trailer.
We roll into the long dirt road and I am a believer in LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. The palpitations, the flutters, the crazy stir in my blood – it was amazing. We say hello to the fine folks, when really I just wanted to shove the owners out of the way and get inside. She was and is stunning. She was plugged in and we could turn on lights. There was a flash. I could feel the energy of people inside this camper years and years ago. I imagined the mid-century swag that would have been in the cabinets. The martini shaker and glasses. A woman, a man, a lit cigarette somewhere. And then, another flash, of myself and my family using her in the near future. Updates, refreshing but still with a martini shaker and glass.
Carl, he looked over the mechanics. We were happy with her. And then, the name your price discussion. Carl and I didn’t talk about price before hand, and so we had the discussion now. In front of the owners – cool thing about sign language. We confirmed our starting offer. I made our offer – all by premising how I have no idea how to price vintage let along a glorious 35ft trailer.
They declined. They didn’t even counter. And, technically there wasn’t a title to surface yet.
We walked away. I had no idea what to offer and that was it, all I could go on.
A few days later, I received a text from the owner. Title found. I begin to get dizzy. Maybe it was the excitement of knowing we have a chance again. We have an opportunity for creating a tiny home, with martinis.
We negotiate bluntly on price, and made a deal!
In three weeks, we’d be able to bring our baby home. So much to do, to plan for her arrival. And learn. Oh to be first time parents.