Scary Things

Over the past month we have gone back and forth about Hammie, from being wary, to excited to scared of her.  After spending lots of time here, http://vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/ , we began to realize that doing the suspension and windows and wheels, etc., wasn't enough.  While Hammie seems sturdy and strong, we have lots of long distance camping trips planned for the summer and I began to have panic attacks that she would fall apart as we drove down the road.  It became such an issue to me that we pull the skin and get rid of all the rot and reframe her, that we actually decided to sell Hammie and buy a Scamp instead.

It felt very overwhelming to take on a project ourselves and Parker Trailer was honest in letting us know that they could do the reframe, but it would be incredibly expensive. For a week, we stalked the Scamp websites, looking for one that fit our needs.  Then we stalked the Craigslist adds to get price comparisons so we would know what to sell Hammie for.  Late on a Friday night, I came across this website - http://www.vintage-travel-trailer.com/ Someone who could possibly fix Hammie in the ways that we can't!!

I called them the very next day and sent over pictures of Hammie.  They gave me a soft estimate that seems reasonable and we are currently scheduled to have them take a look and give us a hard estimate in mid February.  Hammie might be done at Parker Trailer by Friday of this week and so we are excited about the next step!  Apparently this little vintage camper has worked its way under our skin and we want to do all we can to keep her.  For me that means solid corners and framing, solid axle, wheels, bearings, etc. and turning her into a camper that we can keep for the next ten years or more.

Hammie Gets A Name

In those first weeks after the camper came to be ours, the kids and I had a bit of trouble adjusting to the idea that we would be giving up our tent camping for a broken down trailer.  Tent camping is how we identify getting out in nature and doing outdoor things.  Having a camper, especially one that needs more work than I was willing to do, seemed overwhelming.

After finding Parker Trailer and getting such good news from them about repair costs, we finally were able to think about a future with the camper.  I began to refer to it as "her" and "she" and one day as we drove by the trailer place and saw her up on the lift through the big glass windows, we decided she needed a name.

We tossed around a variety of names, among them Ethel and Norrie, but what the kids settled on was Hammie.  Hammie the canned ham camper, because it is impossible to say it three times fast.  You know what it means once you name something.  A name means it stays.  So Hammie is ours and we are all finally excited to have her.