Time really flies by, doesn't it? On June 9th, 2009, ten years ago to this very day, my life changed forever. I went from being a neglected little travel trailer on my way to be crushed at the scrapyard, to being brought here to safety and happiness at my new home at the Green Acres Garage. It's been an incredible ten years, and I will be eternally grateful to my best friend Gary for saving me from certain death. I told this story when I created my blog many years ago, but for those of you not familiar with my history, here's a look back. I really don't remember much about my younger years. I'm sure that somebody once loved me early on in my life. We probably went camping and had fun, and those are days I wish I could recollect. What I recall clearly are the many years of neglect I withstood after those initial happy days faded away. I sat for years without going anywhere. I had a little care, but not much. My original aqua and white colors were eventually covered over with dark blue spray paint and hideous brushed on latex house paint. My roof was slathered with multiple layers of a rubberized coating designed to keep my interior cooler. Although ugly, this was likely one of the better things that my previous owner did to me. The coating sealed the seams on my roof, and kept me water tight during all those years of being outside in all kinds of weather. Most vintage trailers like me develop leaks around the roof seams, and in turn, their wooden "bones" under their skins get wet and rot. Those nasty looking roof coatings saved me from most of the structural damage that uncoated trailers endure. But, with a little bit of good there was also lots of bad. A friend of my former owner lived in me for a long time with a dog. He was a HEAVY smoker. I'm lucky I didn't die from second hand smoke. It wasn't fun. There was a time when somebody vandalized me too. They broke out some of my windows and beat up their frames with a baseball bat, and kicked dents in my door. That was the last straw. My former owner didn't care enough about me to fix me, and gave me to a guy that was doing some work for him, in lieu of payment for the work. That guy was going to take me to the scrapyard if I didn't sell first. An ad was created, and I was advertised on Craigslist. Gary saw the ad just a few minutes after it was posted, and called to buy me sight unseen. But he was told that I was already sold, on the condition that the person that was going to buy me could fit me into their garage. This presumed buyer lived in a gated community where trailers weren't allowed in their yards. If I wouldn't fit inside their garage, then they couldn't buy me. They had to measure me to see if I would fit. Gary was bummed that he missed out on buying me, and left my temporary owner his phone number and a promise to purchase if the deal fell through with other buyer. The next morning I got measured, and I was too tall to fit inside the garage at the gated community guy's house. This was the luckiest thing that had happened to me in years. So, Gary got the call to come and get me. I was on the opposite side of Florida from where Gary lived. The next morning, I met Gary and Dodge for the first time. After the measly sum of $250 was paid, Gary hitched me up to Dodge and off we went. Our first stop was at Gary's sister's house, not far away from where Gary had purchased me. His sister made the comment that my body shape resembled a 1950's Toastmaster toaster that their family had many years ago. With that being said, Gary got the idea of naming me Toaster. And the rest, as they say, is history. We headed across Florida on our way to St. Augustine. Gary was nervous that my weathered tires wouldn't make the trip, but they surprisingly held up and got me to my new home safely. I really don't know why Gary initially liked me so much. I wasn't good looking, I was beat up, and my interior was BEYOND disgusting. My seat cushions were filthy, stained, and embedded with dog hair. There was dog poop and urine on my floor, and my walls were stained brown from nicotine. I had a repulsive smell that would make anybody sick. I was afraid he would decide that I was going to be too much work, and I'd end up at the scrapyard after all. Gary wouldn't touch anything in me without latex gloves on for several weeks, but little by little, he made me better. He cleaned and scrubbed and cleaned some more. He threw out those disgusting seat cushions, and tore out my damaged cabinets. Before long, I was almost completed empty inside. Other than some lingering cigarette smells, I wasn't too bad. Although my roof area wasn't damaged because of all that mopped on cool coat, there was considerable water damage and rot around and below my rear window. Gary rebuilt my rear wall, and found replacements for my heavily damaged windows. He spent all summer and into the fall working on me. My interior was carefully planned and built with care. By then, I knew I was here to stay. The original plan was for me to be the rolling motel for Gary and his three buddies to sleep in at car shows. So, I was fitted with full-time beds front and back, and bunk beds in the center left side. On the door side, Gary built me some beautiful kitchen cabinets with stainless steel covered doors, and a stainless steel countertop. A sink and faucet was installed, then a microwave oven, a small flatscreen TV, and a DVD player. My freshly painted white ceiling and walls with black trim was accented with red tiled flooring. My wheel bearings were cleaned and repacked, and I was re-wired from one end to the other. Oh, and I got new tires to replace those scary ones that I rode to my new home on. By November of 2009, I was ready to go on my first camping trip with Gary and his friends. And boy, was that FUN!!! I wouldn't get my exterior worked on until the summer of 2010, and that was a monumental task in itself. Gary spent 246 hours removing all those layers of paint and mopped on roof coatings. My roof seams were covered with Eternabond sealant tape to prevent leaks, and ten years later, I haven't leaked a drop. Although Gary originally planned on re-painting me in my original aqua and white factory colors, he liked the way I looked being bare metal. And after finding some red trim pieces online, and seeing how well the silver and red looked together, my new color scheme was decided on. As you all know, we've been to a lot of places and seen some beautiful parts of the Country since I became a member of Gary's family. We've visited nine states in addition to our home state of Florida, and we plan to visit many more. These ten years have definitely been the best of my life. I no longer have to worry about being sold for scrap or being neglected. I have a wonderful home inside the Green Acres Garage. I'm appreciated and I'm loved, and being where I am today is better than winning the lottery. Some things were meant to be, and this fairytale story is one of them.
