4. Buying Our RV

In September of 2017, we started looking for a travel trailer that could take us, our pets, and lots of our stuff cross country. We already had a flatbed Ford 350 as our farm truck, so pulling a heavy trailer wasn’t a problem.

We knew we wanted to spend more on a boat and less on a trailer, so we started looking at the used ones on our local Craigslist. Some were too big, too small, too dirty, or too worn out to interest us. On the way home from looking at yet another trailer, we stopped at the local Smiley’s RV (it has since changed hands to Click It RV). The salesman was friendly, not pushy, and as we looked at the various campers we were pleasantly surprised that they seemed as inexpensive as the ones on Craigslist.

We found a 2007 29’ Jayco Jayflight that we liked. It was in excellent shape for being ten years old, and even had how-to-care-for-your-shower stickers in the shower: it had never been used! Regarding the price, I asked the salesman, “What is the best you can do?” and he gave me a price of $13,500: sold! We did leave the flimsy mattress with him, and purchased a thick new foam one for about $500. (We have since downsized to a smaller trailer. It’s much easier to maneuver, especially when traveling through large cities!)

After we bought our trailer, the salesman took us through our whole trailer, explaining all about the grey water tanks, black water tanks, etc. In hindsight, I wish I would have made a video or taken notes so we had that for reference.

Our daughter Katria surprised us with several “Escape Pod” stickers to add to it!

Join us next in “5. Downsizing Our Farm 2018”