Meet Shirley Scamp - Our newest addition

Shirley Scamp

2014 13' Scamp

Our new-to-us adventure vessel

It all happened so fast. We made the decision we wanted a fiberglass trailer. Any type would do, as long as it was in great condition. We took our last camping trip in our beloved Ruby Teardrop and had listed her for sale on Sunday when we got home, cleaned her all up and got took pictures.

 Thinking it would take a week or two to sell and most likely months to locate a new trailer, I set up Craigslist alerts for a Boler, Trillium, Scamp, Eco, Armadillo, Happier Camper, Bigfoot, Burro and Parkliner Trailers. We were searching anywhere within about a days drive; Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and California.

Then it happened... Just a few hours after we listed Ruby...

I got an alert from Craigslist. 

Wait, what? In Nevada? Near Reno? That's not even very far from us. We had just been talking to someone that had a trillium we were considering driving to Idaho for and this one was practically in our backyard. We looked at all the pictures and within an hour of them posting the ad, I had made arrangements to go the following day to pick it up. We never intended to have two trailers at the same time, but the Universe (Frank's will) had other plans. 

Here is what was posted on Craigslist:

We were shocked to find one so quickly and so close to home and the sellers were shocked to have interest so fast. We negotiated a great price and were all set to go and get it tomorrow after work. 

I took Val (the Dodge Ram truck) in for an oil change in the morning as I had been ignoring the "change the oil" alerts for a week or so and while I was at Jiffy Lube, they informed me my radiator had a leak. Ugh. This was horrible timing. Could we just fill it and take a few gallons of fluid with us in case it all leaked out and drive to Reno? Chris quickly said "NO". Ok, voice of reason. I get it. I'm just excited and in a hurry to go and get our little dream trailer. We needed an alternate vehicle with a hitch. We found that Enterprise rents trucks with a hitch and they had some available in Folsom. Woohoo. We are back on. 

And then I received a voicemail from the seller... He had another buyer. One that was going to pay him full price (we had negotiated the quick sale, lower price) and he said he was going to take that offer. Thanks anyway. Wait, what? Oh no you're not. I was first in line. I called him back and plead our case that we had been first to respond and he needed to at least give us an opportunity to also pay full price as we were both meeting his time frame of 5pm that day. He agreed to go ahead with our sale at the new "full" price. I wasn't thrilled we now had to pay full price, but even at that price, it was still a great deal, the other price was just an awesome deal. 

I had to transfer money from one account into another account, then figure out a way to retrieve that much cash from a local bank as my USAA bank is based in Texas. No local branches.... 3 banks and 3 ATM withdrawals later, we had our funds all gathered. One more obstacle tackled. 

We rented a truck, a massive overkill truck. A Ford F-250 turbo diesel that was about 6 feet off the ground. This thing was made for pulling a massive trailer and we are picking up a little 1,000 pound mini. Overkill to say the least... But, we were glad we could even pick it up as we've had several obstacles put in our path. If Frank's will would let us, we were determined to get our Scamp today. 

We previously thought we were buying an older Boler in Yuba City and had tried to name it before we even had it hitched to the truck. Bad idea. Never name something until it's actually yours. That sale didn't happen due to damage to the frame. Disappointed, but everything happens for a reason. We learned not to name it unless it's yours and don't count on a sale until it's actually hitched to the truck. We are always learning... 

So, we make the drive to Verdi, located just outside of Reno, Nevada. We arrive early and the sellers are not quite home from their afternoon appointments. We ran over to the casino area to grab a bite to eat and everything was casino enclosed, which also meant cigarette smoke laden. The only thing we could find was a Cabella's and they had an amazing deli inside with ENORMOUS and delicious sandwiches. We filled our nervous bellies and just like clockwork, the sellers called to say they were home. We quickly made our way over and sitting in the driveway was this beauty...

The pictures here don't do this trailer justice. They have only had it out 3-4 times locally at camping spots near their home and then it has been in their oversized garage. It's hardly even seen the sun and it's absolutely pristine. From these photos, I thought it had some sun damage and was already discoloring. The photos don't show that it's shiny and glowing like it just came off the showroom floor. 

The sellers gave us a tour, told us all about their adventures and showed us how everything worked. 

Here you can get a little better glimpse of the shiny exterior. She's a beauty. 

 While getting a moment alone while viewing the interior, Chris turns to me and says, "Just hand them the money, this is an amazing deal because it's absolutely pristine and like new" HaHa

WE'LL TAKE IT - CONSIDER IT SOLD!! 

She's all original inside. 

No customizations to speak of, but many upgrades from the standard version. 

We quickly went and filled out the paperwork, exchanged money and some pleasantries and this little Scamp is ours! 

Kitchen.

They have never used the sink or the stove. They cook outside. The wife said they didn't want to get the stove dirty and never used it. 

These cabinets and lights are upgrades. 

The closet. Comes fully stocked with stove, lantern, chairs and propane. They literally just left everything in it. 

Even a porta potty that had never been used. Don't think we will use this, but you never know when a long road trip calls for a bathroom break. 

This model has a large dinette with a full size bed in the rear and a bunk bed setup in the front. They never used the bunk bed and we probably won't either. We may modify this and remove the bunk option all together, but we will figure that out after we use it a few times. 

After maneuvering this tiny gal onto the ginormous F-250, we got it out of their slanted driveway and stopped to check that everything was hooked up and ready for the travel home. I should have taken a picture with the massive truck. It looked pretty hilarious. 

And now that she is hitched to the truck, let the naming begin. We spent the next 2 hours doing through name after name. Ginger, Scarlett and then there was Shirley. That one really stuck. 

While touring with the sellers, we asked if they had ever named her. They said they had named their cars, one was Duke, the other I can't remember and they also named their enormous garage area Shirley. He said it was easier to reference the garage area as Shirley rather than "the large garage on the West end of the house". I totally get it. We name everything. We had many other names in mind, but Shirley really seemed to stick. And it also pays homage to her original owners. We thank them for taking such good care of her and for allowing us to have her. 

Her name is Shirley. 

She's a beauty and now she's ours. We are beyond excited... 

Shirley Scamp adventures have just begun...