For the past few years, I have been a bit obsessed with finding the perfect little RV project. I guess the idea of being able to camp with less pain and suffering is appealing. A good friend bought a used pop-up tent trailer a few years ago and I immediately wanted one. I spent hours online looking at design ideas and RV remodels. Then last summer my friend and I spent a week exploring Alberta in a camper van, and I fell in love with the lifestyle. In reality, I can’t justify buying another vehicle unless we could commit to many weekends using it. With all the projects on our property, we won’t have time.
If not a van… then what?
At some point earlier this spring, I came across a used Chalet A-frame for sale and I instantly fell in love. The real motivation for getting a small four-season camper is to use it as a guest house. Our newly built bathroom building makes it easier for guests to come and stay on our property in Santa Rosa. We had some friends camp out this summer, which was fun, but we are all getting too old for tents and air mattresses.
Once I had a target in mind I spent way too many hours scrolling through every used RV site I could find. The perfect Chalet was for sale about five minutes from home. I had an appointment with the seller, cash from the bank, and a friend ready to come with me. A few hours before I had arranged to meet the seller the status of the trailer changed “sold”. He sold it to someone else and never even bothered to let me know, it was very disappointing.
I was really sad about missing that trailer, and how the seller operated. My husband was so sick of hearing about used trailers that he suggested we just buy a new one. I was excited about the prospect but we couldn’t find one anywhere with the floorplan we wanted. I searched as far as Utah, Nevada, Washington, and Idaho. There was a huge RV shortage here in California. It seems that with COVID everyone decided to try camping this summer.
Success!
I inquired after many trailers throughout the summer, but the same scenario played out again and again. It seemed everyone was going camping this summer. I had pretty much given up but then I saw one more ad on Facebook. A 1995 Chalet about two hours from our place in Santa Rosa. We were already up there for the weekend and the guy responded right away. The photos looked pretty good and it was listed for $4400, which was too high based on all the different trailers I had looked at over the summer. We figured we could at least see the inside of one in person and decide if we should keep hunting if this one didn’t work out.
We got to the trailer before the seller the next morning and took a good look around. It was clear that the rear passenger corner had some damage but we figured we could fix it. I crawled underneath and took a look at the floor which was falling to pieces in a couple of places. Once the seller arrived we went inside and things looked ok. The floor was squishy in the expected places, but it didn’t smell musty and there didn’t appear to be any water damage on the roof.
We made him an offer of $2000, which I now know was too high. Considering every other A-Frame trailer I looked at this summer was between $3,000-$16,0000 I figured we were getting a deal. After a little nonsense with the seller about another potential buyer, we were driving away when he said he would take our offer. He helped us fold the trailer and hook it up before we hit the road.
The drive home was stressful but we made it. Once parked in our driveway my husband noticed that it seemed like the trailer had shifted during the drive. It was no longer centered on the bumper as it had been, and one wheel was rubbing on the fender. It didn’t matter to me at the time, I was so excited to have my little project trailer home. I had no idea what I would uncover the next day. All I can say is I am grateful that the trailer didn’t cause us to have an accident on the freeway on the way home, as it certainly could have
