(NO I am NOT pregnant! Bite your tongue and wipe that thought from your pretty little head… )
We bought a tent trailer!! Now we can continue the chaotic House of Q adventures into the wild! Just when I thought I’d run out of Q House material, my posts now have the pick-me-up material they needed.
We are stoked, excited and exhausted from the ordeal and the short of it is, we bought this little gem off Kijiji and she’s a diamond in the ruff, a true jewel is the world of tent trailering, previously loved and we ADORE her already (<3 as Jeff would write)!
She’s a 2006 Flagstaff 206ST Forest River and she’s got all the bells and whistles including; heated mattresses, furnace, port-o-potty, fridge, sink with running water, stovetop, portable BBQ, 2 beds (queen and double), dining area and absolutely all the extra add-ons you could need. The seller included their camping chairs, cooking equipment, flashlights, games, even an outdoor rug! All this baby needed was bedding, food, and clothes and we were off on our first trip.
So we picked her up Saturday morning, loaded up during nap time and headed towards the mountains. I pulled out our beds at our campsite by 5:30… not bad! This has got to be the fastest turn over ever!! Don’t get me wrong, it was intense!
Tricky parts:
1. Towing a trailer when we’ve never towed anything before
2. There was and continues to be a steep learning curve for parking the rig, backing up and turning so as not to cause a “jack knife” or a Q Mom heart attack!
3. Calming the rage when I realized I had 1000 new unlabeled keys to open locked doors and spaces I needed into NOW!!!
4. Coaching the Q Dad when his patience was nowhere to be found! (He just about threw the towel in and parked the tent trailer in the middle of the road instead of backed 100yards into the camp site- too difficult, aborting mission! In the end he did it beautifully!)
5. Emptying the potty when you know there’s something that MUST come out of there!!
6. Bringing with you, a 3 year old and a 10month old who were both non-stop talking, crying and/or carrying on the whole day as they could feel the tension and wanted in on the chaos.
7. Looking for a copy of “Tent Trailering for Dummies” and NOT finding it enclosed in tent trailer that has everything!!… SERIOUSLY! I need to start writing this if one doesn’t exist.
It was a very Q style weekend!!!
And…remember those cursory, potty-mouth words coming from Kai last week? Well this week it’s anybody’s guess as to where he learned those, he has a large repertoire to choose from now as both of his parents were fine examples of how to curse likes it’s a language! ( Dear God – Sorry!).
So all in all, the potty’s been christened (more than a few times, in fact before we even drove it off the sellers driveway- atta boy Kai!!), the beds were approved by Jeff and both Kai and Connor LOVED every minute of the new adventure. I wasn’t able to test out my furnace yet since “turning things on” is easier said than done but next weekend I’ll have it all up and running, mark my words- this Q mom WILL be warm in zero degree camping temps!!
We are very excited to start our weekly adventures in the Flagstaff! We are currently looking for the perfect name, a caged-typed area for Connor (Camping is very tricky with a 10month crawler/stander- Do you know how many inedible items can be found on the ground of campsite? And how close to the edges of beds, cushions and tables do you think my little Connor likes to go? I caught him upside down at least once!!!) and I’m also searching for any and all tips I can find for packing, storing, cooking and essentially using this tent on wheels!
NOTE: All you bachelors, bachelorettes out there: Don’t go assuming you’ll find Jeff’s backcountry gear listed on Kijiji tonight for peanuts... Jeff’s hanging onto that part of his past… one day he envisions a backcountry tour without the Q boys or at least when they’re old enough to partake but for now, he'll settle for the tent trailer!!!