Camper, sweet camper
Hey! We've got ourselves a camper. Well, not exactly. Actually, I saw the camper on the "free stuff" section of CraigsList Eugene. One of the reasons that it was free was that it didn't have the "camper jacks" on the 4 corners that let you load it only a pickup. Since the jacks are usually more expensive than the camper is worth, this could be a problem. I wasn't feeling optimistic after seeing high prices locally and on eBay, finding none at local wrecking yards, and getting no response on the Eugene Free Recycle list. But, I found a fellow at a wrecking yard who had a son who had a camper that had jacks I could buy cheap (with an indication that only 2 may be reliable). After pestering this fellow for a week, I was able to get the jacks.
So, I spent some time with Glenn (the fellow trying to get rid of the camper) today trying to install the jacks and load the camper on my truck. You can see in the pictures that we started with one of the jacks ripping off the side of the camper and the camper crashing to the ground and got to the point where we the camper was high off the ground and we were very nervous. Happily, after a very arduous process, it was loaded and I got it off of Glenn's property, which was good news for him. I really enjoyed and appreciated Glenn's help today and I'm not just saying that because he provided invaluable help today. We could belong to the same "progressive, liberal techies living in the country with toddlers" club, if there was such a thing. I honestly hope to see him and his family again.
Now, on to the other reason that it was free... Glenn doesn't own the camper. It was abandoned on his property by a former tenant. This means that in order to get a title, the owner has to be determined by a letter to the DMV, legal notice has to be provided to the former tenant and camper owner, a possessory lien has to be entered and foreclosed, and the camper has to then be "disposed of" in compliance with the law. Good thing I love the law. My hope is that I will be able to end up with title to the camper at the end of this process, but at least I will end up reimbursed for "reasonable charges for removal and storage" of the camper which, at this point, will certainly be more than the camper is worth.
I certainly hope that we end up with the camper. It would be a boon to our vacation plans and don't you agree that it makes a striking combination with the "yellow truck"?
Now the only trick will be to never take it back off the truck. Once it's on it's on. Once it's off, it may stay that way.
Comment by Brandon — 01/14/2005 10:39 AM
[...] credit union" web sites that I've been thinking about for years Order parts for fixing up the camper and more... However, I realized that taking two weeks off of work just [...]
Pingback by Following Edge » 2 weeks — 03/25/2005 8:14 PM
[...] hts outside of work. Additionally, the "yellow truck" (whose aesthetic you can appreciate here) broke down. I had it parked next to the "little house" and was loading roofing m [...]
Pingback by Following Edge » Friday the Thirteenth — 05/13/2005 8:30 PM
[...] haven't figured out how cheap I am from my description of my in-car GPS navigation system, camper, bar stools, and DVD player? If you haven't figured it out yet... here's how it [...]
Pingback by Following Edge » Thank you, Xin Fu (or Welcome to my cheap world) — 05/26/2005 10:41 PM
[...] It all started when we decided that we'll never take the time not have half the skills to remake our old camper in nifty old camper style. Especially given that, at 6, Lauren is now more ready for camping trips and given that we're attending a family reunion at a campground this Summer, I started to look for a camper that we could start using right away and that would last us 10 years. After 10 years, I figure Lauren will be too old to want to talk to us, much less stay in a camper with us. [...]
Pingback by Following Edge » January? Time for a camper trip! — 01/26/2007 8:29 PM