This & That

Hey Blog Buds,

Not much going on around here besides packing and refreshing searchtempest every time I get internet access in search of THE camper that will be ours. It's tough stuff I tell you! It's kinda like buying a house...except in a much smaller, less expensive, short term kinda way. We hope to go look at some pretty cute ones tomorrow. Small, cute, cozy ones!

One lady who came to look at the camper just kept saying "oh, it just needs a good home, it's so cute. You could really do a lot with it." ...I was totally thinking, "YOU lady, can do whatever you want with it...take it to your home because it is NOT welcome as mine!"...she didn't end up buying it. BUT in case you missed it on twitter, we SOLD that demon camper (as my dear Count liked to call it) and oh! what a burden was lifted when that thing got pulled away...Ok, I wasn't there and my hubby left before the guy pulled it away but whatever. It's a huge sigh of relief to have that off our hands. And for me a huge relief because I no longer have to live in fear of My Count deciding to keep it because through our sitting in it and showing people it he started to *like* it. I know. "Maybe we could handle it with a no-sway bar and breaks."...yes, those would've been smart to have (have I mentioned we're new to the camper thing?) but no, I would never have loved that camper after the torment it was that fateful night. *sigh* Glad it's moved on to it's next chapter.

We ended our internet contract at home so I won't be on here much. Plus it's crazy trying to pack and store things and decide what we need on this trip...and what we can FIT in a jeep and a small camper. I won't lie though, I'm obsessed with Goodwilling things and downsizing. It's so therapeutic to purge belongings and it makes me so thrilled knowing we're fitting all our stuff (our apartment and his office) in a 10x10 storage unit. Ah, the freedom from stuff. It's wonderful!

I'm in the process of setting up our travel blog...debated posting here but we're both going to be posting and decided we needed a blog dedicated just to this trip...and hopefully we'll add to it the trips we take in the future. I'll let you know when it's up and running. I hope you'll all come follow along on the journey! :)

Guess that's about it. Hope life is well with all you blog buddies out there! Happy Father's Day to you dad's!

~Jessi

GOODBYE Camper!

Our first adventure with our camper went something like this...

I get a phone call last Tuesday right when I get off work, "Honey! Guess what we're doing?...going to KY to look and probably buy a camper! I found a really great deal!!"...
"We are? um, ok. How far away is it"
"Just about two hours"...I should have seen the trouble brewing here...
We'll be home by midnight *I told myself*..."alright, I'll meet you at your moms and hop in the jeep with you"...

Off we go to KY to look at a camper that we did end up buying. For a rockin' awesome price, lower then we've found and in better condition then we've seen! A 1969 Holiday Rambler. Check it out!


Well we didn't end up having the right adapter for the lights so the guy we bought it from followed us and our big camper to Walmart. We shake the mans hand and off he goes. Buy what we need but for some reason we can't get the adapter and lights to work. GREAT! It's like 9:30 at night now and we have to have tail/brake lights to go home. And I've GOT to be at work the next day!

A nice guy pulls up in a jeep like our own, "Need some help?!"...yes, if you know how to get this lights working! This nice guy hangs with us for about 40mins in the parking lot trying to do everything he can to help. Hooks it up to his and the camper lights work fine. Lovely. It's our jeep. He tells us we could rig something up through a tag light and goes on his merry way...we have no clue WHAT he is talking about.

So no tail lights. It's dark and we can't possibly go down the interstate (2.5hrs) to come home...but decide to anyway. Oh my! We get pulled over by the cops in the parking lot!!! After we had decided to turn around to go back to Walmart to get something to rig up something through the tag light. We didn't end up with a ticket (he pulled us for driving across the parking lot, not having no lights, whatever). The cops did stick around talking wiring with us for a while...they had no clue what they were talking about either. Welcome to the club.

So in to Walmart we go for about the third time...wondering the isle forever, talking to the nighttime Walmart people (who are all kinda *interesting*). We head back out with wire cutters, some sort of wires and get to work. So we get the tag light out, cut wires, try to hook up wires...do a bunch of stuff we really don't know how to do and...TADA!...blow something, burn something, kill something so now the tail lights in the JEEP don't work and the trailer lights still don't work...it's 2am now.

Another cop pulls into the parking lot. We wait outside the doors like stalkers and practically jump him when he walks out the doors. He tells us we're not in the greatest part of town but there's a nicer hotel up the road 2miles. He doesn't want to escort us and our big camper but calls on the radio to let others know we're coming so we don't get pulled over. Thanks.

We get to the hotel at 2:30. Both look down at our new camper from our hotel window, shake our heads while thinking *what are we getting into* and hit the sack. I wake up at 7 to call work and tell them I'm stuck in KY and can't come in...know they're pissed because this is my last week and our lead teacher is out on vacation. Oops. He wakes up and calls to cancel and reschedule his clients and we checkout of the hotel around 10:30...

I head to the jeep while he turns in the keys...I notice the alarm light isn't flashing and think either the jeep is dead or we didn't lock the doors...get in and THE JEEP IS DEAD!!! How can we be so stupid after all that to leave the lights on... and not notice when we looked out at it the night before?!! Lovely.

The nice hotel guy comes out and works with us trying to jump the jeep for over an hour (it was VERY dead!), then leads us to one auto shop, closed and then to another one and then leaves (he was so helpful and nice!). They say the battery is ok that we just need to drive it more to build the charge up but sorry, they can't help us with the lights...the next place is too booked to help us with the lights, we decide to hit the road with no break lights or taillights, whatever! We've gotta get home! So off we go back to the hotel to hook the camper back up...

Oh MY! Our sweet new camper sways and moves and feels like we're gonna flip with every truck that passes and every hill we go down, husband is freaked, I'm freaked...we're gonna hit Nashville at rush hour with no break lights and we can't see in the side mirrors. This is SO not working out like we planned. We (I) decide to find a storage place before Nashville, park it so we can sell it because we do NOT want a camper that big after all and don't want to wreck it in Nashville or get pulled over.

So we find a place and wait for the guy for 40mins to let us in the storage unit. Ahhh. All our cares are over not! Or not. As we're backing it in radiator fluid goes EVERYWHERE and there is smoke/steam billowing from the hood of the jeep. Great. We leave our dear camper parked and waiting for another life.

We find an Auto Zone, buy some leak stuff...realize the engine has to cool before we add it so we go find a restaurant and have dinner while the engine cools. Go back out and we realize it might be a leak/overflow instead of it bursting and drive home with no AC. Picked up the other car at his moms around 6:30 and head home, arriving around 7:30. The service engine light comes on in the other car when I pull into onto our street. Suck. Whatever.

So THAT was our first adventure with our camper. We're selling it for something smaller...or a tent...or a pop-up. We don't know yet but I do know we're saying GOODBYE camper!!


~Jessi