The Cats out of the Bag.......So to Speak

It has been a very hectic week to say the least. I posted a photo on Facebook, saying that "Our mini vacation was over" with a photo of our truck and camper. I didn't say anything about our "New" camper to see if anyone would notice. (We only told a few people about it) And surprise! Lots people did notice it.

For a few months we have been toying with the idea of getting a new fifth wheel. (New to us, anyways). When we were in Moab Utah we actually drove down to Tuscon and Phoenix to look at a few we found on line. We even put in an offer on a beautiful Cameo. But it wasn't meant to be, so we drove back to Moab empty handed. We got to Yellowstone and Lisa checked out some of the dealers around here. We drove to Bozeman and found one. But on final inspection we noticed some front nose damage that we could not live with and nixed that deal.

So the search continued. Finally Lisa finds a prospect in of all places, Minnesota. Anoka in fact. If we lived in MN it would have been 160 short miles away. But NOOO!!!! We are in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Over 1000 miles away. It was a very nice fifth wheel which deserved some more thought. With the crappy cell service and internet here in the park it did make it a little challenging.

We first got in contact with some friends of ours who own one very similar to it. I shall not include their names to protect the innocent, but their initials would be J and B. We asked them questions about theirs and we have been in theirs when they were not home in Quartzite because they didn't lock their doors.

We also contacted my Brother-in-Law and asked him if he could go take a look at it because he lives just a short distance from the dealer. So he was our eyes on the ground. He even went back a second time with my sister in tow to scan it again. We talked to the salesman several times asking questions about it. Things where looking good.

After many discussions between us, we asked for some time off from work, loaded things up in the fifth wheel and pulled out of Yellowstone on Sunday the 10th of July. We left Lil' Blue as hostage to ensure that we would return. The weather was not that nice that day. Hail as we were leaving. Threatening clouds the entire trip. Our plan was to get to Bismarck ND and stop. But it was around 5 pm and the storms that where chasing us were pretty bad. We were talking about golf ball size hail and 80 mph winds. So we pressed on. We got to Fergus Falls MN about 11 pm to Lisa's mom's house. Whew. 16 hours in the saddle. End day 1.

Day 2. We slept in for a little bit because we did all of our driving yesterday. We left Fergus Falls at noon and got to Anoka around 3.

Surprised our salesman because he didn't think we would get there until late. So he showed us the fifth wheel. It was very nice. Everything we where hoping for. It is a 2014 Cardinal by Forest River. It is like night and day from what we had. He said that with our approval they will install the washer and dryer first thing in the morning. SWEET! So with time to kill, we had dinner and went to my sisters house for cocktails and giggles.

Day 3 found us waiting for the install of said washer and dryer. Then the final John Hancock's on the paperwork. With that all said and done moving day began. Our two fifth wheels are parked side by side so that helped some. After hours and hours of moving stuff(note the nice word) I said to the salesman as he was checking on our progress "Really, we are not hoarders. I never new we had that much stuff (nice word again) stuffed in that fifth wheel."  Like with all moves, at the end you just start throwing stuff (nice word) everywhere. We said our final goodbyes around 6 and got to Fergus around 10 pm.

Day 4 was running around. Oil change on the truck. Lunch with our son in Fargo for his Birthday. Back to Fergus to stock up on groceries.

Day 5. Drive to Glendive Montana.

Day 6. Drive to Yellowstone. We got to Yellowstone to a warm welcome from our co-workers. When we left we put a note on the board. Please don't rent our spot out. So we came back to "For Rent" signs on the Jeep and our spot. And everybody came out to look and laugh.

So all is history now.  We are trying to re-organize everything and get rid of the mess inside so we can live in it comfortably. We don't have any good pictures of it yet because of the mess. But someday.