Leap Day!
It’s leap day and boy did we take a leap! The long wait for the arrival of our new “home” on wheels for a year – is over.
There she sits in the driveway – all 21 feet of her – looking much larger than we envisioned. The bright white body with black trim is sharp and simple. The altered teardrop design, lending itself to improved aerodynamics, gives it not only a functional edge over the typical box frame but is visually pleasing as well. It sits on a custom made chassis of tubular steel with a lightweight aluminum frame and seamless fiberglass roof.
She’s our terra ship and as such we’ve christened her Serenity.
se•ren•i•ty : The quality or condition of being serene; clearness; calmness; quietness; stillness; peace: as, the serenity of the air or sky.
We ended up finding what we wanted at a Colorado dealership, Colorado RV Center. Making such a big purchase long distance and sight unseen adds more angst and risk to a process that is already fraught with uncertainty. Why didn’t we purchase/order through the Bretz RV dealer here in Boise? For whatever reason it just didn’t fall into place. It would have been nice and incredibly convenient but things happen as they should, right?
There was no wheeling and dealing for this trailer. No matter how many comps I came up with the final price was always just about the same at every dealership. Fortunately, the Colorado RV Center salesman we worked with, Shaun, was genuinely helpful and attentive. For instance, when we asked him if he could take some interior measurements for us he responded by creating a document with visuals of the area of concern with corresponding measurements. After covering all the “what if’s” we went ahead and made the purchase. His attentiveness, good manner, and positive reviews of the dealership tipped the scale to go ahead and trust the decision.
Always uncertain about our financial future we had squirreled away some money for a “rainy day”. That calculation paid off – literally – so we didn’t need to take out a loan. Phew! Even so, it was a tough decision to make. You go into this knowing that the moment the trailer leaves the lot its value has instantly depreciated by 20%. This is clearly not an investment in the traditional sense, rather, it’s an investment that will provide us wealth of a different sort.
All the paperwork signed and received the delivery date was scheduled for February 29 – leap day! I didn’t even realize it until the day of as I sat down and began to write this post in anticipation of the trailer delivery. The drop off went well and the driver was very helpful and chipper given he’d been on the road all day. I think we are a little stunned – it’s actually here and that means we have to take the next step.
Mods We Want to Make
The trailer interior design, quality of materials used, and two year warranty are the real reasons we chose it over any other comparable light-weight trailers. It seems to be the best built of its kind. The cabinetry is hard wood and not stapled together. It has lots of storage space and we look forward to making our own modifications to utilize every bit of that space and keep things organized.
The dining area is a bit tight so we plan on converting that space into a sofa lounge type area. This configuration will also house the dreaded cat box underneath – out of sight. Ken also plans on modifying an over sized wooden TV tray to use as a multi-use table. By shortening the fold-able legs it will sit nicely on the “sofa” and give us enough height to sit comfortably while we eat or work. When not in use it can then be easily stowed away.
The wet-bath will also see some changes as we don’t relish the thought of dealing with the black water tank. Instead, we will replace the toilet with a DIY composting toilet. That’s right, and it’s supposed to work better and smell better than those $1000 composting toilets. We’ll let you know how that turns out in a later post.
And of course, decorative touches must be made and that is my department. My job is to make it feel and function like home. I will be visiting TheTearDropShop to purchase the practical and compatible items we will need to outfit the rig. Look for future posts documenting the before and after treatments we use and why.
Leap Day in May
We are getting ever closer to our goal. The finish line of one journey becomes the starting gate for the next! This is just phase one of our plan to live with less and be mortgage/debt free. Truth be told, we are still feeling a bit unsteady about this decision but are resolute in seeing it through. Once we sell the house in May 2020 there is no going back. But that is exactly the point – it is only in choosing to move forward through life, not kicking and screaming, but with purpose and by your own design that reveals its beauty.
There’s a rhythm in rush these days
Where the lights don’t move and the colors don’t fade
Leaves you empty with nothing but dreams
In a world gone shallow, in a world gone lean
There is a truth and it’s on our side
Dawn is coming, open your eyes
Look into the sun as the new days rise– Ryan Adams “Stay Alive”
one day,, I will meet you on the sunset.
I look forward to it ;). Plan, plan, plan and then just take the leap!