It was supposed to be a trial run. We had our new vehicle, but because of our limited towing capacity, we were limited in the size of the vehicle we could tow. We found a rare weekend when there was nothing on our summer schedule and rented a travel trailer that looked to be just the right size. At least it appeared to be the right size when looking at the 1”x3” floorplan viewed on the rental company’s website. More importantly, it was the right weight.
We were ready and we were excited. The calendar was cleared, the food was purchased, the itinerary selected – the headwaters of the Mississippi and Itasca State Park. And then the State of Minnesota closed due to a budget stalemate. No state parks were taking reservations. So, we came up with an alternate plan. Still the headwaters of the Mississippi (it is really quite cool if you’ve never seen it and the kids had been wanting to go for years), but we’d stay in a private campground.
Plans changed – we were ready and we were excited. And then, two days before we were to leave, a stomach bug struck. A violent, horrible stomach bug. And it hit each of us separately over the course of four days.
The trailer company was great, they said we could apply our deposit to another weekend later in the summer. We found another weekend, cleared our calendar (again) and changed our plans (again).
The weekend came and now we were REALLY excited. Bret went to pick up the trailer on Friday morning. As he was signing the paperwork, the lady behind the desk proudly said, “We felt so bad for you that we upgraded you to one of our nicest trailers.”
Bret’s heart sank. “How much does this really nice trailer weigh?”
Of course, it weighed too much for our Flex. By this time, all of the other trailers were gone for the weekend. Except for one that the lady said didn’t have any beds big enough for full size adults.
“We’ll take it!” said Bret.
He brought it home, we loaded it up and we were off.