Hammie Comes Home

It was dark already and it felt like Kyle should have been home with the camper already.  He had gone after work to pick up the little North Star camper we had spotted on Craigslist the day before.  Always impatient, I picked up the phone and called him.  He answered on the second ring, telling me that he was talking to my dad on the other line and driving as slowly as he possibly could in order to make it home safely.

It seemed that the tail and brake lights on the camper did not work.  It also seemed to be making a loud, rhythmic clanking noise and he wasn't sure why.  Thus the phone call to my dad, hoping he would have some idea what the problem might be.  At this point Kyle may have had a bit of buyers remorse as a clanking camper was not what either of us wanted.

About 45 minutes later, he finally pulled in to the neighborhood.  I heard him coming as he came down the main road - CLANK, CLANK, CLANK.  My heart sank.  For while my dad is a hot rodder and an amazing mechanic, he also lives seven hours away from us and although I know how to do some very basic things, I am in no way qualified for a major camper overhaul.  I stood in the driveway with nervous anticipation as Kyle rolled to stop in front of the house. 

In the dark it was hard to see the outside of the camper well, but armed with a flashlight, we cracked open the door.  It was musty, but not damp smelling.  The camper listed to the drivers side, enough to make us feel unsteady as we looked around.  I went immediately to the corners, checking for water damage and my heart sank as I saw the dark spots in the corner on the drivers side and under the back window.  It dropped even further when I opened the back window curtains and discovered the six foot window was missing completely.  Covered by an outside awning and curtains on the inside, Kyle didn't think to look at it.

Aside from those few items, leaning camper, clanking noise, water damage in the front corner, water damage under the rear window and a missing rear window, the camper was surprisingly in good shape.  The door was sticky and hard to close, but we attributed that to the leaning issue and not to an actual door problem.  

Because it was dark, we locked it up and went inside.  My plan was to go through it carefully the following day when I could do a better job assessing it and go from there.  Our hope was that everything was minor.  Our fear was that everything was huge.