Monday, January 23, 2012
A New RV Member of the Family
Hot on the heels of my last two posts about the joy my husband and I experience on the open road in our folding travel trailer, I'm now a little embarrassed to admit that as of this morning we sold it.
Yep, we sold it. But, the good news is that we sold it to make room for a brand new folding trailer. One that will give us the ability to be out on the road for longer periods of time in just a little more comfort.
Here are some photos of our new little family member; a TrailManor 2417 Sport hard sided folding trailer:
Let me back up and start at the beginning . . .
As we began contemplating what retirement on the open road might look like some years back, we began visualizing multi-stop, multi-week trips that would take us into different areas and climates all around the USA and Canada. Our prior trailer (prior as of this morning) was ideal for one stop trips of 10 days or less, but perhaps a little too austere and a little too much work for much more. As an example, our prior trailer was built to stay dry in the rain, and it does, very nicely, but the folks doing the set up and breakdown came with no such guarantee.
During this time we stumbled upon TrailManor and their unique line of trailers. TrailManor has a one-of-a-kind product: a hard sided folding trailer that provides many of the comforts or larger trailers and motorhomes, but still folds down into a size compact enough to fit in a garage. We loved the trailers, but felt the line available were all a little bigger and a little fancier than we wanted or needed.
But just this year TrailManor decided to release a new, slightly smaller and less outfitted trailer, the 2417 Sport. And as soon as we saw it, we knew it was the one. Similar to the other TrailManor folding hard sided trailers, the 2417 Sport can be set up and broken down in under five minutes. That gives us the ability to better deal with bad weather upon arrival to or departure from a campground, as well as utilize the trailer during any stops we might make while traveling with it hooked up to our towing vehicle. The trailer also has a bigger bed, more storage and more comfortable seating than our prior folding trailer, which will all be appreciated on the longer trips we plan to now take.
Although we'd been considering an upgrade for a couple of years, we had always assumed we would buy a used trailer for the obvious reasons - lower cost and less dramatic depreciation. This model, however, was brand new and therefore not available to be purchased used. What to do?
We thought and then thought some more. And eventually decided it came down to this - if TrailManor decided for whatever reason to take this model off the market after one year, and we lost the opportunity to purchase it, it was unlikely we would ever find anything remotely as well suited to our purposes as the 2417 Sport.
Another deciding factor was that we could afford it. We've already sold our current trailer and have plans to sell one more item - a seldom used motorcycle. The revenue generated by selling these two items will cover most of the cost of the new trailer, with the difference being paid in cash.
And probably the most important factor of all - we absolutely love it, and plan to make it the cornerstone of the lifestyle we'll be creating in retirement.
Delivery expected within the next few weeks, with photos to follow, just like any proud parent
