In June of 2021 I had announced my intention to retire January 2022 from the City of Columbia and my wife and I was planning to take a two week vacation. My life long goal was to use our 5th wheel trailer to travel in and see the country. We had owned a 5ver since 2014 and I had traded for a smaller 5ver a few years before because I never was comfortable pulling a trailer. We had camped many times here in Missouri where we could get to where we were going in a few hours. This trip was to be an out of state trip to Iowa and Nebraska as our foray into retirement mode. Well, lets just say things didn’t go as planned.
So on June 24 we headed out. Destination, Winterset, Iowa. Home of John Wayne my favorite movie star. All was going well. I pull into a Hy-Vee in Chillicothe, MO for a gas fill-up and stretch for the dog(Maple). I was pulling out and watching to make sure I clear this car and I rubbed the 5ver’s tires on a curb on the other side(I say to myself…You have to watch both sides!). No harm, so on down the road we go. We get to just outside of Winterset and my wife says she needs to stop. So I pull into a Pilot truck stop to fill-up and stretch the dog. Feeling good we are a almost to our destination I begin to pull out of a big truck stop when this happened……I clip a gas pump protector! Well lets just say the day is ruined.
We get to our camping spot in Winterset, I take pictures and use good ole black duct tape to protect the area from the elements of the trip. As I sit inside our 5ver the accident keeps gnawing at me. To the point my wife asks what’s wrong? I tell her I am scared to pull the thing any farther! So we talk the rest of the day and decide just to pull it back home and do something different for the next two weeks. This was a relief to me and we get up the next morning, my wife reassuring me everything will be fine. We head back to Columbia and she was right, it all went well. No more misshapes and I back the 5ver into the barn.
As we discussed my feelings about traveling and pulling a 5ver, I come to the realization that I have never been comfortable pulling a trailer. I did however get the nerve to take the trailer to get an estimate of $1000 to fix the damage.
With that out of the way we shifted 180 degrees and headed to Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville to get away and have a small vacation. We stayed there for three days and then went to Eureka Springs for a couple of days there. As we vacationed the discussion always turned to what to do with the 5ver. Fix it or trade the entire setup for something else? We finally realized our way of camping is to “camp to travel”. We do not see ourselves as ever being fulltimers but we like what the flexibility that camping gives us as we travel.
I have always been on Reliable RV email list and I received an email saying they had a new 2022 Winnebago Travato 59K on the lot. I showed my wife and her first reaction was to not jump in just yet and don’t over react to the situation. So a week goes by and I email the salesman to see if the 59K is still available, He answers yes it is. So I send him pictures of my rig(Truck and 5ver) and he gives my a trade price. So I talk my wife into going down and giving it a look. Now she is not enthused about this but willing to take a road trip. On our way down there she is starting to warm up to the idea of trading and getting a different vehicle for our travels.
So before we even step out of the truck my wife says “Are you planning on buying this today?” To which I say, “lets just give it a look and see where it takes us”. We look it over, and like it so much my wife says to me, “if this is what you want then I’m all in. I think you will be less stressed while driving and I can help drive if needed”. So we make the deal to pick up the Travato in a week. And so a new adventure begins. 😁
