After selling our big horse trailer, I felt a loss of freedom in being able to leave home and see the world at will (or at least the good old continental USA.)

On our way back from our six weeks out west last year, we decided we had more horse space in the four horse trailer and not enough people space. We planned to sell the big one and get a smaller two horse.

Then Eddie had a stroke in December of last year and it left his eyes damaged and he was unable to drive safely. That left me to haul the trailer. Now I definitely wanted the two horse, if I was to drive.

I was always uneasy with horses behind me. I was afraid the animals might get hurt. I used to ride a big, black walking gelding that used to fall down in the floor of the little bumper pull trailer. He would come out with his feet and legs all skinned and cut. I could feel the trailer shake and sway as he struggled. It sent pain to the pit of my stomach.

An old mare we had would paw the plywood lining the inside of the stall and get her knees and legs full of splinters and she was dripping wet with sweat.

Interstates and high speed tore me all to pieces.

I felt it would be easier for me to drive if there was not anything back there that might die from my driving. Maybe I could get the courage to drive the camper without a horse trailer aspect.

If there was a wreck and the trailer went over the hill, I would look at a camper and ask, "Wonder if our insurance will cover all of that?"

Now if there were horses in it, I would probably faint!

For years I wasn’t afraid of anything and didn’t worry about anything. Then after caring for my ailing Mother for four years and me going through menopause, I was anxious about everything. I am better now, but not like I used to be. It felt so strange to make such a great change in my temperament. So here I am at 64 years old trying to cope.

So we began shopping for a camper trailer. Ed and I knew absolutely nothing about regular camping without horses or camping trailers in general. We set out to educate ourselves about fifth wheels vs. pull trailers.

Regular camping should be a great deal easier than horse camping. There must be 100 to one availability. We were not sure we could enjoy it without the horses. What in the world would we do? Yet, camping with horses is a lot of work. Feeding, cleaning and taking 8 hour trail rides!

Neither Ed or I like to fish. We might try bicycles. I felt we should give it a try because I could get a lot of joy out of traveling and having time to write on my laptop. Eddie seems to like to talk to anybody for a long time, so he might find a lot of pleasure in that. We ought to try it.

The advantages of the fifth wheel is that it would be shorter to pull because a lot of it is in the back of the truck. Hence, 28 feet becomes 24 feet. I would also be much easier to turn around and/or park.

Now, parking should not be a real problem since when I get it off the highway, Eddie, the old expert, could park it into the most difficult places around.

If we got a bumper pull, we could put the ATV in the back of the truck. I don’t know how much of an advantage that would be since most state and federal parks would not allow ATV’s anyway. Some private camps do. There must be a thousand of them at the Bluegrass Festival at Poppy Mountain in Kentucky.

Eddie and I looked at campers of both types at all of the camper sales places in the area. That helped a lot. We began to learn which were top of the line and which were most economical. Obviously we liked the top of the line best.

I was willing to settle for a less expensive type, but Eddie was totally in love with a slide out. He quickly lost interest if there was no slide.

We answered every add in the local newspaper, free certified ad papers, campers parked beside the road with a for sale sign and chased down all of the local rumors about campers.

We looked at antique campers, junk campers, expensive campers, new campers. We considered it a learning process. I always remember if you want to find a prince, you gotta kiss a lot of frogs.

We met lots of people. Some were like friends immediately and gave me flower seeds. Some people very tolerant of our five return visits. Some very helpful and gave us lots of hints and instructions. All were polite.

A big Hitch Hiker almost captured our hearts. A little Nomad appeared to be sufficient.

Then we called about a fifth wheel Terry. The price was right. There were a few problems but nothing we couldn’t live with. Somehow we knew it was right. On the way up to see it for the first time, we bought a fifth wheel hitch for the dually.

When we first saw the camper, I looked around for another one. Surely this could not be the camper we came to see.

It was! It was very, very tall. It certainly wasn’t short but not too long. It was at the outer limits of what I might want to pull. What if we bought a camper and I just had a melt down and was too anxious to get it home! Surely that wouldn’t happen!

When we stepped inside, I was in love. Kitchen in the rear with a big two door refrigerator/freezer, a double bowl sink and a four burner stove with an oven. It had a table and two chairs, which I loved. I really found I did not like the usual booths.

It had a slide out with a large couch that made a bed. The bath was great and you could stand up in the bedroom. There was storage everywhere!

Horse trailers, even big expensive ones, gave most of the space to the horses. We had it all in this camper!

I knew we were going to buy this camper, but I tried not to appear too excited. Eddie made him an offer and he accepted it. I wrote a check and we were in the camping business.

Eddie told him we had to get the hitch put in the truck so we might not be able to get back the next day, but we would keep in touch and let him know. He said he would get the title and we could pick it up when we were ready. He even said we could use his license until we had a transfer of the title.

Ed and I both left with a feeling of satisfaction that we had done the right thing. This was why we could not get ourselves to even make an offer on any other camper. This felt right and it didn’t cost so much that we could still get a horse trailer.

I was so happy about it but still a little concerned if I could pull it with ease. I was not a bit hesitant to drive the Ford Dually. Now I told myself that my mother drove a school bus! If she could do that, I could pull this camper. My friend Sara learned to pull her big horse trailer with ease. I’ll be all right.