December 8, 2009
We purchased an attachment for our van. Our lives are getting really exciting even though we are entering the routine of the ski season. We may be creating some confusion with my cryptic references to journey’s and international destinations while buying a van and a trailer. All will become clear when it can become clear. For now, we are in an exciting countdown.
So the attachment, the trailer, is a 2008 lightly used travel trailer. It is a Forest River Surveyor 264. I’ll post some pictures later. We have been looking for awhile, hoping to find an off-season deal. While I am not sure we found a deal, we found an awesome trailer. The seller assures me that I stole it from him, but market value on a travel trailer in Alaska in the winter is impossible to determine. While it didn’t seem out of line with other asking prices, even in the lower 48, it is difficult to know what things are really selling for, if they are selling at all in this economy. Regardless, I am pretty sure I wasn’t going to get a better deal on this particular trailer and I am pretty sure we wouldn’t have found a better layout if we waited until spring. We are pretty excited about it.
Kris didn’t even see it before I bought it. I went to look at it on my Friday off. I couldn’t find any evidence of problems. The previous owner seemed like a reputable person who works in some of the same remote locations I frequent so I wasn’t afraid of trusting his word that everything works. Of course there is some risk when you can’t test everything out in the dead of winter, but nothing in a travel trailer is particularly complicated or intimidating. I spoke to Kris on the phone and we agreed to an offer. I called the offer in and after a few hours of deliberation, he agreed to my offer.
Today I used one of my last vacation days and completed the deal. There were a couple of odd coincidences that made the deal extra special. The loan was handled through our bank. He paid down the balance on his loan to the level of my offer so it was simple for us to go into the bank and have them transfer money from my checking account to pay off his loan. It was actually frighteningly quick. Then we preceded upstairs where a friendly clerk dug out the title and had it signed over to me. It was the simplest transaction I have ever experienced. The second coincidence was that the trailer is stored at a storage lot a couple blocks from our condo. So after the quick transaction at the bank, we went to the storage lot and filled out some paperwork to transfer the storage contract to my name. It couldn’t have been simpler. The thought of having to find a storage lot with space and drag a trailer there in the snow was having me leaning toward waiting until spring. This was too easy.
I met the previous owner at the bank at 9;00 this morning only to find out that the bank didn’t open until 10:00. We decided to go out for breakfast while we waited. It was a pleasant breakfast with someone that sees the world in many ways the same way as Kris and I. In addition, we have had many similar career experiences. We were having such a pleasant talk that I don’t think we got back to the bank until 10:30 or 11:00. Every once in awhile you have a social interaction with a near stranger that is just unexpectedly enjoyable. It reminds me of the night I spent on a farm in Wisconsin a little over five years ago when I dropped our dog off to become a sheep guard dog.
Skiing was good over the weekend. North Face opened Saturday, another early opening. We missed getting the fresh snow, although our knowledge of the mountain and snow conditions led us into several turns of interesting snow. We traversed an avalanche zone and the lumpy chunks turned into a softer mix of small snowballs along one edge. The snowballs were quite skiable and completely untracked. Everything was a little firmer on Sunday with no new snow, cool temperatures, and sun. It was a pleasant day, but nothing spectacular. I think our legs are starting to get into skiing shape and our healthy winter routine is returning.