We sold our 5th wheel today and it went away.
For a few moments I felt strangely homeless, even as our beautiful house loomed 50 yards in front of me.
The 5th wheel was our first "home" here in Montana. All the memories of it are good. We got it from Mike Olson Dodge; they'd taken it in on a trade. Carl Farnsworth knew we were looking for one, so he called us. We hauled it up here in April 2004, and here it sat until today. From our first dinner in it on April 2, 2004, to the last night we spent in it on Feb 28, 2009, the "tin tepee" was our vacation paradise and our shelter in the storm.
It got only occasional three-season weekend use for the first few years. It was our retreat...a place to escape the bugs, heat, rain...a place to drink morning coffee and nightly cocktails...a place to eat one-pot meals cooked in the microwave, crockpot or electric frying pan...and a place to stretch out and sleep after a day of woodcutting or hiking.
It was also a place from which we measured success on our building project. At first, we had neither water nor electricity. Then came the well, and we were able to hook up and enjoy real showers and unlimited drinking water! Next came the power...wow, now I could plug in the mini-vac and hair dryer...and use the electric cooking appliances instead of the propane stove! Suddenly it became a space with year-round living potential...
In November 2007, we'd sold our house in Yakima, Don had closed Shooters Supply, and 80% of our earthly possessions were already in Montana. There was just one problem; our house wasn't done. "Three more weeks," we were told. The idea of living in the cramped 5th wheel for that long seemed daunting, particularly with three large, hairy dogs. But it never looked any better to us than it did that cold, snowy night of December 1 when we pulled onto the property, utterly exhausted and "for good." The "three more weeks" of course turned into THREE MONTHS. They turned out to be among the best of our long marriage.
We sold our 5th wheel to a young local couple. They're building a house, and need the trailer as temporary housing until the construction is completed. And so it's gone full circle.
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