| Twenty-eight years ago, I towed my first travel | | | | sight our hunting rifles in. We washed the pans in |
| trailer. Of course at the time, like most teenagers, | | | | the stream since we didn't have any water and |
| I thought I knew everything. I tent camped for | | | | the rest of the day was spent in the cozy warm |
| years and had experienced camping in travel | | | | trailer. After another dinner of pork and beans I |
| trailers and motor homes with a friend of mine | | | | put all of the cans and other garbage in a plastic |
| and his family, but this was my first RV | | | | bag and set it outside the door. The next morning |
| adventure out on my own. I had recently | | | | was opening day. It was difficult to relax and go |
| graduated from high school and was working for | | | | to bed that night, but knowing we would be |
| an RV dealership in Pennsylvania. I started out | | | | getting up early we forced ourselves to go to |
| washing campers and soon was promoted to an | | | | bed. |
| apprentice technician. I was always mechanically | | | | The first major event of the night was waking up |
| inclined and had an interest in how things worked. | | | | at 1 AM because it was five degrees inside the |
| From the time I was thirteen and took our lawn | | | | trailer. The trailer only had one 20-pound LP gas |
| mower apart, that there was nothing wrong with, | | | | bottle and with the furnace running non-stop since |
| to age sixteen, when I rebuilt my first VW engine. | | | | we arrived the day before, it was empty. |
| Deer hunting season was quickly approaching, | | | | Fortunately, I did have enough insight to bring a |
| which in North Central Pennsylvania is similar to a | | | | spare 20-pound bottle. I told my friend that since |
| national holiday. I asked my boss if I could borrow | | | | I got the trailer for us he would have to get out |
| a travel trailer to use for a hunting trip. To my | | | | of his sleeping bag, change the bottle and light the |
| shock and surprise he said yes. I don't remember | | | | furnace. After some reluctance and a few choice |
| all of the details about the travel trailer, but I do | | | | words he stumbled outside and changed the |
| know it was a Shasta because it had the classic | | | | bottle. Soon it was warm again and we were both |
| wings on the back. I would guess that it was a | | | | back to sleep. |
| mid to late 1960's model and it was about 20' | | | | Somewhere around 3 AM the trailer began to |
| long. The only conditions for borrowing the trailer | | | | shake, I mean literally shake back and forth. I |
| were to bring it back in one piece and not to use | | | | turned a small overhead light on and looked over |
| the water system because it was winterized and | | | | at my friend to see if he was awake. Not having |
| the temperatures were in the low teens. Hunting | | | | any clue what was happening we both stared, |
| season started the Monday following Thanksgiving | | | | wide-eyed, at each other. I pulled the curtain |
| and I invited my best friend to go with me. We | | | | away from the window and peered outside. It |
| were going to head up into the foothills on | | | | took a minute to focus my eyes in the dark, but |
| Saturday to get set up. | | | | I soon realized there were two bears outside. A |
| I owned a 1970 Chevy Blazer. It was a full size | | | | small black bear cub and its not so small mother |
| K5 model and it had a six-cylinder engine. Now, | | | | pushing against the side of the trailer. Not really |
| you would think that working for an RV dealership | | | | sure what to do we both got our hunting rifles, |
| I would have access to and use the proper hitch | | | | loaded them and stood back, ready for when the |
| work and brake control to tow the trailer. I do | | | | bear would come through the door or break a |
| remember wiring a plug for the trailer lights, but | | | | window. We waited for what seemed like forever |
| figured since I wouldn't be towing the trailer on a | | | | at the time, but it was probably a minute or two |
| regular basis I could forgo the brakes and just | | | | before the shaking stopped. We glanced out the |
| drop the trailer on the ball and go. Now you have | | | | window again and there were no signs of the |
| to remember, I knew everything back then. | | | | bears anywhere. Needless to say we didn't get |
| There were no pre-trip checks or inspections. We | | | | anymore sleep before it was time to head out to |
| picked up the bare essentials, a pot and pan, | | | | our favorite hunting spots early that morning. |
| some groceries, our sleeping bags and hunting | | | | When we walked out of the trailer we soon |
| equipment and off we went. | | | | realized why the black bears stopped to visit us |
| It was about a sixty-mile trip to our favorite | | | | that night. There were pork and bean cans and |
| hunting destination. The first forty miles were on | | | | other garbage scattered everywhere. |
| two-lane paved roads and the last twenty miles a | | | | Another reason this memory remains clear in my |
| winding, snow covered dirt road barely wide | | | | mind is because at 8:10 AM on opening day I shot |
| enough for one vehicle. If you encountered traffic | | | | my first 8-point whitetail buck on a ridge about 80 |
| going the opposite direction somebody had to | | | | yards from where I was sitting. My friend heard |
| back up until there was a spot where both | | | | the shot and came over to check it out. After |
| vehicles could pass. I can remember the Blazer | | | | field dressing the deer it took us about two hours |
| didn't seem to steer as well as normal and if I | | | | to drag it down the long ravine, back to the |
| would have had to stop quickly I would have hit | | | | trailer. Knowing that we had plenty of LP gas for |
| whatever was making me stop so quickly. I took | | | | one more night we fired up the furnace and ate |
| a deep sigh of relief after the white-knuckle | | | | some more pork and beans. After making sure |
| experience of getting to our destination and | | | | there was no garbage outside we settled in to |
| thanked my lucky stars that the trailer was still in | | | | the warm, cozy trailer and played cards while I |
| one piece, but little did I know that was just the | | | | recounted the events of the great whitetail hunt |
| beginning of my first real RV adventure. | | | | over and over again. |
| We set the trailer up, which really wasn't anything | | | | We did manage to get the trailer back home |
| more than leveling it from front to rear with the | | | | safely and other than some remnants of a |
| tongue jack and turning the LP gas supply on, and | | | | hungry black bears paw prints on the side of the |
| then we settled in for the first night. We figured | | | | trailer it was still in one piece. That nearly |
| since it was cold out we didn't need to use the | | | | disastrous weekend hunting trip, in freezing cold |
| refrigerator, so we left our groceries in the Blazer. | | | | weather, spent in the small Shasta travel trailer, is |
| The furnace was the old style that you had to | | | | when I got bit by the RV bug. Who would have |
| light manually. Soon after I got it to light it | | | | thought that twenty-eight years later I would be |
| warmed the entire trailer up. For dinner we | | | | working in the Industry that I have such a passion |
| heated up some pork and beans on the range top | | | | for? We just finished our seventh video and |
| and ate them out of the pan because we forgot | | | | guess what the title is? "RV Towing, Weights, |
| to bring plates. Afterwards we played some cards | | | | Hitch Work & Backing", I guess I didn't want |
| and then turned in for a good nights sleep. The | | | | other people to make the same mistakes I made. |
| next morning I went to the Blazer to get some | | | | Happy Camping, |
| bacon and eggs for breakfast. The eggs were | | | | Mark |
| frozen solid. We fried some bacon and later that | | | | Copyright 2006 by Mark J. |
| morning we used the frozen eggs as targets to | | | | |