Road Trips for this Senior

I've been considering my desire to travel more, my financial resources, and my dog for awhile now, and started looking for small trailers (I drive a Subura Outback Sport) a month or so ago since I plan a trip to CA (from CO) in September. Then I quite suddenly decided to take a June trip to TX to visit relatives and relieve my cabin fever, and the search suddenly became a real one. I don't really need a trailer for this trip as it will only require 1 night in a motel each way and my family has room and loves to have guests, but there's this great flea market once-a-month in the Dallas area that I've been wanting to go to, and the dates all gelled for that. So I have the opportunity for a "shakedown cruise" over relatively flat ground before I pull a trailer over the Rockies, and if I find lots of wonderful things at Canton Trade Days, I can stow them in the trailer instead of having to UPS them home!!

Yesterday I went to look at a Teardrop "Little Guy" trailer which, from the photos, looked like it might be too "bare bones" for me, but although it doesn't have a "kitchen" in the rear hatch area as many do, I found that otherwise, it's in great shape, has an added-on storage locker attached to the tongue right in front of the trailer itself, and the price would allow me to add some amenities as desired. Additionally, it's plain white (except for a few remnants of "cow patch" decals the owner's daughter had applied all over it) so I can cover it with whatever decals, if any, I want. Unlike some teardrops, and much to my surprise from the photos, it has a screened door on each side so ventilation won't be a problem. I gave the owner a deposit on the spot, and will pick it up Saturday!

Since the hitch and wiring arrangement is going to cost me more than anticipated, I've decided that the only other thing I MUST do before the June trip is find either a new top vent cover or the complete assembly. I'll also figure out bedding (it comes with a really clean, good mattress) since we might try to sleep in it, and might then go a little further with gathering up cookstove, lantern, cooking and eating utensils, etc. so that I can see just how to store them.

Of course, I have to register and retitle it (and in CO the VIN has to be verified by State Patrol before going to the DMV) and it appears not to have a license plate at this point, so I'll be ferrying it around the area with a bill of sale and a pat response to any law enforcement personnel who might stop me: " I just bought it and can't get a license until Monday! Here's the bill of sale."

Additionally I need to figure out where to park it as my condo association has no areas in which I can do that. My mom (who is 96, by the way) has a garage I can use, but right now it's full of a bunch of stuff I need to sell, so I might have to rent storage space for a month until I can get it cleaned out. I might have to park it attached to my car on the street for a few days, so I'll be purchasing padlocks and such because it would otherwise be just too easy for someone to snatch...but I would make those purchases anyway since on any lengthy trips I'll be leaving it in a campground anyway.

In the meantime, I'm dreaming of my upcoming trips, and the wonderful places I can go and see and take my dog along without the worries of finding decent and affordable pet-friendly accomodations. While I prefer something else, there's always a KOA nearby!

I have a friend who likes to travel, and we've tried it out and we travel well together and will probably take some camping trips in CO this summer, but I've never been afraid of traveling alone anyway. I make every effort I can to be safe; I have a dog who'll protect me with her life and is good-size; and I seem to do a lot of soul-searching and healing when I'm driving. I also like the feeling that I'm self-sufficient and know what I'm doing out there on the road.

I'll soon be 68, but don't feel "old" except when my knees start to ache or I can't find my glasses or something. I know there are some older women (and men, I suppose) out there who would never think of doing such a thing alone, but when I was 30 and moved across the country all alone in a Pinto with a covered U-Haul in tow, my friends were wary. Again when I was 37 and decided to take a month-long roadtrip between California and Minnesota with my young kids, they were hesitant to enthuse. At 64 I picked up stakes and moved lock, stock and barrel to Oregon and then back to Colorado 18 months later and my friends were astounded. I feel competent, and I feel safe, and while I no longer like to sleep on the ground in a tent, I hope my "travels with Roxie" encourage some of you to try it yourselves.

Between the rack atop my car as well as the "trunk" room, and the entire interior of the Teardrop in which to store any treasures I find along the way, I think this is almost a perfect (no bathroom, no standing-up space in the trailer, and no indoor cooking facilities) set-up for me, and will encourage me to get out and go some places I've been wanting to go. I'd been thinking of looking for some sort of small motorhome, but the cost is beyond me, and with the price of gasoline...

I still have to name her...she's a "her" in spite of being labeled a "Little Guy" trailer...and decide on her motto. I like, and have used as tags in emails several possibilities: "Wherever you go there you are," "All who wander are not lost," and "A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front of the other" are among my faves. Final choices (and the decal letters to put them on the trailer) will come to me when they come to me, and I'm certain they'll be perfect when they do.

So, signing off for now - at least on this topic - but as I just bought myself a laptop computer, and the trailer has been wired for 110 inside, I can blog about my trips AS THINGS HAPPEN! Will keep my many readers posted with my adventures, my difficulties, and my solutions to any problems I encounter. Maybe I'll see you on the road!

Be prepared; be safe; have fun!!