It's 8AM and the camper is freezing. As we get up, shivering, I am filled with doubt. The reality that I don't know anything about travel trailers is rapidly sinking in. There is no way we're going to be able to live here if this thing can't make it through a single night!
There must be a simple explanation for what went wrong, right? Did we run through an entire tank of propane already? Wait, none of the lights work either. Okay, maybe it's just the battery? Wait, are we going to have to run our generator all the time? How long can we expect our battery to last?
After inspecting the camper to the best of our ability, mostly feeling for firm walls/ceilings, we sit in the dinette, trying to decide what we should do. Our criteria for this purchase is pretty naïve: don't give us the heebeegeebees by being totally disgusting and creepy inside, and cost less than $4,000. On the face of it, those requirements seem reasonable, but two weeks of searching the entire USA online has yielded exactly one result, and we're in it.
Eventually, we realize that neither of us has any experience or information upon which to base a sound decision. So, we decide to call Todd and see what he can do about the power situation. A few minutes later, he arrives at our door with mugs of milky coffee, apologizing for the cold night.
He runs to his garage to fetch a battery charger, and when he hooks it up, the lights we'd been fiddling with come to life, and the furnace immediately starts piping in hot air. Phew. All of the appliances are working, and everything seems to be fine.
All in all, despite feeling tired from a brief night's sleep on thin, crappy mattress, we feel great about the thing. So, with little go on but a gut feeling of approval, we decide to do it. Inside Todd's house, we sign papers, exchange payment, and collect our bill of sale. Outside, in his icy driveway, we get our camper attached to my dad's truck (thanks Dad!).
Waving goodbye, we pull away slowly, chugging off to the highway. The truck is working hard as we top out at 55mph—the trailer is heavy. Eventually, we get into a comfortable groove as we motor our way towards Minnesota. We're simultaneously bemused by the hulking beast we're towing home, and excited to have a warm place to live this winter. Here we go!