Glendale Camper

Sometimes ‘Mother is the invention of necessity’ I think is a better wording of the old saying. Perhaps necessity is the mother of invention, but sometimes you don’t need to invent anything. You just go back to what you are used to, and what you know what will work regardless of the warnings. Of course there is a warning on Coleman lanterns to not use them indoors. And that means campers. And my girlfriend reminds me that it is “dangerous” to have the Coleman lantern running inside the trailer.

But I also know the risks, and the main risk is no or poor ventilation, while the second next risk is that the lantern will be knocked over and the flames will ignite something flammable inside the trailer.

Well, with the windows open in here, ventilation is not a problem. And I’ve got the lantern sitting sturdily on the stove. And I’m nowhere near it to knock it off. And I need light.

I haven’t figured out the lighting yet in this Glendale camper. None of the lights at the “front” of the camper (that being the side towards the hitch) work. At first, I thought all the bulbs were blown. I went into the local Home Hardware store to get new lights, and they told me I needed 12 V Type A bulbs. Excitedly, I brought them back, screwed them in, and awaited light when I turned on the switches.

There was no light.

I also tried the automotive type bulbs that go in the ceiling fixture. Slid the switch. No light. Then, I wasn’t so excited. I remembered I had seen a fuse box in the bedroom and went to check that.  There are also some breaker switches in there.  The breakers seemed fine. One of the plastic screw on thingies that holds one of the fuses is duct taped. If I wiggle that, the lights in the bathroom and bedroom go out. Wiggle again, they come back on.

So, I try to keep it wiggled just right so I have light in the bathroom and bedroom.

I took out the other fuses, and they appear to be fine.

So I’m not sure why there are no lights in the front of the camper. My electrician brother-in-law might be able to point me to the right place to start looking but I’m not sure when he’ll be able to take a look. In the meantime, I want some light.  It’s been raining all day, and everything is soaking wet outside. I’m staying dry inside until bed time.

So I’ve got my trusty Coleman 286 going. I’ve had the lantern for years. I am not sure how many – was it the first one I bought over 30 years ago, or did my ex-wife take that one and this is one I purchased later?  Whatever the case, I’ve had it a long time along with a case it sits in when not in use. It has a nasty habit of a large flame up that comes up above the top when I first light it up, but after a minute or so, it settles down and the mantle becomes brilliant white and gives me tons of light.

It’s been on a lot of camping trips, often been my guide back when I’ve gone for a walk during a dark night, and right now, is helping me to read and wr

I awoke after C. And thankfully, she had already brewed up a pot of King Cole tea! A nice hot steaming cup of tea was waiting for me after I threw on my track pants, rubbed my eyes, and pushed the cobwebs away from my brain. We didn’t get a whole lot of sleep – didn’t want to waste the day, but after a few cups of tea, we were almost raring to go. I put on breakfast (glad I have the well seasoned cast iron frying pan) of bacon and eggs, and even made toast over the Coleman stove. Nothing like eating breakfast outside! And along with it, percolated coffee. You could smell the bacon cooking a hundred yards away too.

After breakfast, C. surveyed the clutter I had in the trailer. Moving in has meant that I am still not sure where to put stuff, and having no clothes hangars, clothing was in a big pile at one end of the trailer. “Ok, we’re going into town later to get you some hangars,” C. stated. But first, I’m going to clean that bathroom, get rid of the old mat over here, clean under that, clean in the space where the fridge is going, and we’re going to get this place organized for you.

She went to work while I watched. For about five minutes. Then I decided I’d try to figure out why there was water leaking down from the faucet in the kitchen.  Turned out the the retaining nut or whatever it’s called was loose. With some tightening, no more water leaking. Then I decided I’d attack the Wedgewood range stove top I wrote about earlier – the filth of it disgusts me. Looks like cleaning that is going to take a lot of elbow grease and not something I can’t do all at once.

C. pointed out that because I don’t need to use the shower and tub in the trailer (there is a more comfortable shower over in the public washroom area of the park), I could use that area for storage of stuff that I’m not going to be using for awhile. That cleared up a lot of clutter, and after several hours of sweat inducing hard work, we took a break.

Then the rains came. And it’s rained, and rained and rained! Off to town we went, got clothes hangars, and now the place is looking much better!

I promised I would tell you about the original specifications of the camping trailer I am living in. From the manufacturer information sheet attached to a cupboard door:

1983 Glendale Cottager 310

Furnace: Duo-Therm 65930 – Gas

Water Heater: MoreFlo ARV-6 – Gas

Range: Wedgewood T2150 – Gas

Refrigerator: Westinghouse 10318 Gas/Electric

Range Hood: Jensen X725-20 !2 Volt

Electrical System: 110 Volt

Gross Trailer Weight (GTW): 3245 KG

As mentioned previously, the furnace does not work and the fridge is no longer in the camper. I’ll have to get a bar size fridge for it soon. Also, the range hood fan does not work. The two air fans in the roof also do not work – I haven’t checked to see if there is a fuse or two that need replaced or if the motors are just simply burnt out. I know I’d like to get the air flow fans in the roof working soon though, especially for those hot humid days when there is not much breeze!

The stove top is covered with stuck on dirt and maybe rust. I’ll have to give that a good cleaning soon as dirty stoves gross me out. I am not sure what cleaning chemical will do the job or if it is just going to take lots of elbow grease.  Whoever owned and stayed in this trailer previously seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping the rest of the camper in good clean shape, but they weren’t stove cleaners!

On to the rest of my day! It’s a beautiful sunny day after the almost unbearable heat and humidity of yesterday. Some rain last night and the temperature has cooled down somewhat and I won’t be sweating like a pig while walking and working.

After C. left this afternoon, I decided to take the new propane tank out of the Jeep and put up in front of the trailer. At the time, I decided to turn on one of the tanks that is hooked up, and when I did, I realized that the spewing propane was not coming from the regulator at all! There is a hole in the hose that goes from the tank to the regulator and it’s from here that the propane is leaking.

That means I just need to get a new hose.

When I discovered this, I turned on the other propane tank (the first one is turned off, of course), and there were no leaks.

With that wonderful discovery, I got myself busy at getting the stove and oven in the trailer working as well as the hot water heater.  Attached to the inside of one of the cabinet doors in the Glendale Camper is a sheet of paper with the specifications of the camper and original equipment. On it, it instructs to light all pilot lights after turning on the propane. So I busied myself looking for any pilot lights that needed to be lit.

First was the water heater. I went around back of the trailer and easily figured out how to turn on the pilot for the water heater. Pretty standard – turn the control knob to “Pilot,” hold down the red button, and stick in a lighter where the pilot light is. A blue flame!

Next was to figure out the stove and if it had a pilot light even. I turned one of the burners on, and there was no “clicking” sound like on other gas stoves I’ve had. I was able to light the burner with a match. Then, I lit all the burners, thinking that if the stove had a pilot, it would catch with all the burners lit. It was kind of dark near the stove, so seeing a pilot light flame somewhere should be easy, but I couldn’t see one nor could I see any place where a pilot light would be.

I turned off all the burners, waited a while to see if I could smell propane which would be evidence of an unlit pilot light. Nothing. Then I lit a long match and slowly went over the top of the stove and into every part near the burners, seeing if something would light. Nothing.

So I am sure there is no pilot light for the stove. Which is fine by me.

Next was the oven. I opened the oven door and smelled. No gas. But a gas oven usually does have a pilot light, even those that have stoves that do not have pilot lights. Once again, I lit a match and slowly hovered it in and around the gas burners trying to light something. Perhaps the oven was not working?

I don’t like playing around with gas and flames very much.  But I thought I’d try to see what happens when I turned the oven on to “low.” With the match lit, and kneeling in front of the stove as far away as physically possible, I turned the knob to low.  The oven burner did not light up. Using a flashlight, I could see what appeared to be a pilot light burner burner near the back. I put the match close to it, and voi la! I had it lit.

I then turned the oven on to full blast. The main oven burner lit up. I turned it down to low again. The main burner went out but the pilot light stayed on. I turned the oven off. The pilot light went out.

So it seems that in order to light the oven pilot light, I have to turn the oven on to low and then adjust the temperature control. I have no idea if the oven thermometer works or not but that will be tested another day.

After being very excited about figuring out the oven and stove, I turned on the hot water tap. I had warm water coming out! The hot water heater was definitely working, and an hour later, I had very hot water flowing from the tap!

I can now do dishes without having to boil water.

I arrived at the trailer quite late last night – about 1AM. My brother had some issues with the moving the moving truck so we didn’t get started unloading it until after 8:30PM! I left his place about 12:15AM, and with sore muscles and all but surprisingly  quickly, arrived “home” 45 minutes later. I probably could have done it quicker, but made a stop at 24 hour convenience store.

I need a comb. Clonvenience stores don’t seem to sell those men’s black combs anymore. And sure enough, Mac’s didn’t have any. Baseball cap time, I guess.

I had a fantastic sleep! Probably because of all the physical labour last evening. I set out my sleeping bag on the double bed in the bedroom of the camper, lay my weary body down about 2AM and promptly fell asleep.

That is one thing I have missed over the past 10 to 12 years. Hard physical labour. Operating a business from a desk and chair can be mentally tiring, but I think humans still biologically require physical effort throughout the day. We’re told to get lots of exercise – and we often try to do that – but too often we stop because some business matter “needs” our attention. This is another reason this move is good for me to a camping trailer. I will be forced to exert myself more, and work more physically to live.

Today, I have some work to do. Cleaning. The camping trailer is in good shape, but needs cleaned. Parts of it are filthy. I don’t when the last time the trailer was used, but there sure is a lot of dust and grime built up in places.

Ah, physical work. I am a good cleaner and can get things very clean, but it is not what I enjoy. I seem to need to take lots of breaks when I am cleaning. But I am happy I was able to pick up a broom, sponges, cleaning and disinfecting supplies, scrubbers and the like.

It seems I will have to get out the Coleman stove to heat water. Although I was told that the gas stove worked inside the Glendale camper trailer, when I turned on the propane, I heard a loud hissing noise and felt and smelt propane blowing against me. I fear the 3-way regulator needs replaced. Earlier, not knowing how much propane was in the two tanks sitting at the front, I picked up a brand new filled tank, but it looks like I won’t be able to use until I repair or replace the regulator.

Until then, it looks like I won’t be able to take advantage of the stove, oven and water heater that are in the trailer until I get it fixed.

Back to my cleaning.

I am not sure I have ever felt $5,400.00 in cash before. But I had it in my hand in a wad of 100′s, 50′s and 20′s. I’ve received cheques for more than ten thousand dollars, and have written cheques for more than ten thousand dollars the odd time, but the largest amount of cash in hand was probably about $2,500.

A hundred thoughts go through my head. “What if I get into a car accident and this blows away?”  “What if I appear to be the perfect person to rob right now?”

I arrive at the trailer camp, meet with one of the owners and count out what I owe.

“She probably thinks I am a drug dealer with this much cash,” I am thinking to myself.

I am hoping I can stay in my trailer tonight and ask, “Is the camper on the site?”

“Yes we moved it down there already. Normally we wouldn’t do that until everything is paid for, but this is the long weekend and we’ll be very busy. So it is there waiting for you!”

“Yes!” I think to myself.

“O.K…. I’ve never owned one of these before, so I have a lot to learn. Do you know if the water, sewage and electricity have been hooked up?”

“Probably not,” she replies. “We wouldn’t normally do that. That’s up to the owner.”

The owner probably saw the look on my face of worry. She reassured me that tomorrow, if I came back to the office and asked for Larry, he would be more than willing to show me what I needed to do. I thank her and am relieved that I won’t be totally alone in this experience.

After I receive my gate card, I decided that I should unload my sleeping bag and the camping gear that was still in the back of the Jeep from my camping trip last weekend. I can’t stay right now, but plan on returning later in the evening. For now, I have to go and help relatives move, but I’m looking forward to getting back and doing some cleaning and organizing.

While heading to my trailer and site for the first time, I got lost! I drove around the park, going in circles until I finally found it. Although my camper is made by Glendale, it says “Glendette” on the back, and the paint is quite faded. The one advantage that it’s a fairly private site was a disadvantage in trying to locate the trailer and remember where exactly the site was. But after driving past a good number of 40 and 50 thousand dollar trailers, I finally spotted mine.

When I stook inside the trailer, my Bell Mobility cell phone kept beeping – looking for and searching, finding and then losing its connectivity.

“Oh oh,” I think. If the cell phone connectivity is that bad, how will my internet connectivity be?

I am worried. Internet connectivity is vital to me. It is how I earn my living. But I can’t worry about it right now and have to get going to help my brother move into his new house.

But before I leave, I notice that it seems there is a hose and pipe hooked up to my camper. I try a light switch. There is light!

The staff that had put my trailer on the site had done the electrical, water and sewage hookups for me.

I am feeling very grateful.

I am mostly an “outdoorsy” kind of guy.  Years ago, I camped A LOT, mostly in tents, sometimes just in a sleeping bag under the stars.  Although I’ve built fires using simply a flint and whatever natural kindling I could find, I admit I prefer to have newspaper and a lighter.

But I can and have, and know how to “rough it.”  I know some wouldn’t be caught dead spending days of their lives living among mosquitoes during the day and hearing coyotes barking at night, or being awoken by the not pleasant noise of blue jays or the hammering sounds of woodpeckers. But for others, it is enjoyable and can be “dis-stressing” (the opposite of ‘distressing’).

Some men in their 40′s that go through a mid-life crisis go out and buy fast cars. I’m not sure I’m in a “mid-life crisis” although I’m in my 40′s, but fast cars and other teenage desires are absolutely nothing I want to get involved with.  So for me?  I bought a used Jeep Liberty and a used 1983 31 foot Glendale Camping trailer. And no, I’m not pulling the trailer with the Jeep.

At about 46 years old, I’m not even sure I’m having a mid-life crisis! But, for the past 12 years or so, I’ve been tied down to my business.  I haven’t gone camping as often as I’d like, and although I have been able to do quite a bit of fly fishing, still not as much as I would prefer.

And the stresses of not “de-stressing” and doing the things I love have caught up with me. I have responded to situations in ways I don’t like and regret. And with feeling bummed out about my living arrangements, I knew I had to change something before I let everything else change me.
Yesterday, I was driving along a rural road and the thought occurred to me that maybe I could find a place to pitch a tent for the summer. With a tarp to stay dry, my Coleman stoves and latern, and a cooler, I could survive well enough. I could drive into my office, have a shower when I needed one, get my work done, and head back to my “camp” and solitude. Listen to my friends, the the birds, the coyotes, the wolves, and be able to have some solitude; write, think, and live simply but effectively. And, ensure that I am doing the things I want to do in my life, learn what I want (and perhaps more importantly, learn what I need and learn what I should learn) in order to have fewer regrets when life approaches the end.

Perhaps I will also find the time to finish reading “On Walden Pond” and learn more about Thoreau. And along the way, I’ll learn about what I really need, in order to live my life to the fullest, according to my expectations, and doing things such that I will have fewer regrets about how I lived my life when that final moment of “my life is just done” approaches.

What will I regret not doing? What will I regret not learning to do?  What will I regret not learning and being able to teach my sons, so that they might even have a better life than me?

Ah, I will rough it!  I will live as simply as can be, in a tent, with few clothes, and hunt my own game!

—————-

Half an hour later, as I sat in my office, I realized that as much as my thinking was on the right track, completely “roughing it” without even an outhouse was probably unreasonable. My 7 year old son wouldn’t be comfortable staying with me. My girlfriend wouldn’t want me to come visit and wouldn’t appreciate the smell of me, after a week of roughing it, knocking on her door.

So, are there other options?

Suddenly I recalled there was a summer camp trailer park about 20 minutes drive away from my office. A google search quickly found their website, and I found out that a site from May to October  would cost me about 1875.00.

Further, they had new and used camper trailers available for $3,000.00.le. Forget the new ones – $40,000.00 was not an option.  But used – a “handyman” special for three thousand, and a 31′ Glendette for $4,000.00.  I was interested in that one, but together with the site fee, was more than I wanted to pay.

Plus, I’ve owned never owned one or camped in these types of trailers before.  No idea what I need to do to maintain them, fix them, or anything.

To even think about it, I would have to go into even deeper debt.  But what the heck …. everything else I’ve been trying for the past while hasn’t worked. But I was prepared to go about $5,000.00 deeper into debt.

My son and I drove out to the park the next day, just to see what I might be getting myself into.

Bob, one of the owners, showed me the $4,000.00 trailer. More on the specs in a future post. It was old, but in generally good shape. I have to trust Bob because I have no idea what to look for but he says the roof and floor are in excellent shape.

I look around and envision living in this space for the next five months.

I can do it.

But what about the sites available? Personally, I’m not keen on most of what I hae seen of trailer parks; the sites are too close together and I have a perception that they are noisy and not exactly something that provides solitude when it’s wanted.

Right now though, I don’t have a lot of time to do a lot of looking.

Bob shows me a few different campsites that are available that will accommodate the 31′ Glendale. The first one seems to have a nice mix of sun and shade. But no grass. Bob tries to sell me on it, “Well, you won’t have to maintain grass or cut it. That’s a nice thing. No mowing.”

“Well Bob, I’m at a point where I want to maintain some grass. I used to mow a half acre with a push lawn mower, so I’m sure I won’t mind cutting the grass of a 35′ x 20′ area with an old fashioned non-motorized mower, once a week.”

Bob shows me a second site. It has grass. And lots of dandelions. Perhaps more dandelions than grass. But at least there is green stuff to walk on.

And the site is separated from the others that are adjacent to it by 8′ high lattice. There is also a small trailer-less site between me and the backside of another trailer and Bob points out that they will probably never lease that site out as it is just too small.

“O.K. I like this one better than the first one you showed me. What else do you have?”

My son and I clamber back on Bob’s golf cart aand we go look at another site. It is narrow. I could see what other people are doing in about 3 or 4 different sites, and they could see what I was doing. I could probably hear them whispering, the sites are so close together.

“Bob, I like that second site the best.”

No, it’s not the ideal place for me. But Bob says I can even get internet access in the park if I have wireless broadband. And so now I am seriously thinking that this is where I will be living for the next five months.

Come October? Who knows? But I have some time to figure that out.

“Bob, I have access to $5,000.00. So we might have a small challenge here to make this happen, but if we can make it happen, you will have a camper trailer sold and a site leased for the season.”

“Hmm, that means you will be offering less than thirty-two hundred on the trailer?”

“I guess if that is how the numbers work out.”

Bob was silent for a few minutes. I didn’t fill any of the silence. But I wasn’t feeling very optimistic. But I had laid it out for Bob and had nothing more to say.

Finally Bob spoke up. “Well, do you want to put in an offer? I can take it to the owners and see what they say. I am not sure what they will say about this but you can always try.”

I had thought Bob was the owner. Turns out it’s a “family affair” and he can’t make the final decisions on these things. And I agree to make an offer.

“Ok,” Bob said, as he scratched his head. “This means that the actual offer on the camper is $3175.00. We’re asking four grand. We’ll wait for an answer.”

“How long will that take?”

“Five minutes.”

Bob gets up from his chair and we leave his office and go outside. Bob calls over his radio, “Hey Mom, are you around?”

“At the house, Bob.”

“O.K. Be right there. Don’t go anywhere.”

So, it’s Mom that makes the final decisions in these things, here!

My son and I wait. I am wondering if I have done the right thing, and even if I have, are they going to accept an offer that amounts to over 20% less than the asking price? It didn’t seem good.

My son asks me, “Are we going to get that camper, Dad? It is so cool!”

“I’m not sure son. We’ll have to wait and see.”

A bit more than five minutes later, Bob returns. I’m looking for a sign in his expression as I watch him get out of his truck. I can’t tell if we have a deal or not, yet.

As Bob approaches me, he sticks out his hand to shake mine. “Well, I wasn’t sure if they would, but they accepted the offer. Let’s finalize the paperwork.”

After we complete the details, I drive away feeling a little more in debt but also a little more secure about how and where I will be living for the next five months.