Sunday arrives and my husband and I prepare for our 4.5 hour journey to central Nebraska by gathering up our camping supplies. We pack our linens, pillows, food, drinks, along with our handy dandy tool box packed for emergencies just like these.
We leave at 1:00 and arrive right on schedule at 5:30. Anticipation mounts as we introduce ourselves to the owner. Pleasantries aside, he escorts us to the backyard where he keeps his pride and joy.
My thoughts are going a mile a minute. I really wanted to know if it had wings. I didn't ask the owner on the phone because I felt a little silly asking and it really wouldn't be a deal breaker, but I really, really wanted it to have little Shasta wings. As soon as I lay my eyes on her I noticed there were no wings. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed, but glee soon returned as the owner started showing us around. The first thing I noticed (after I realized there were no wings) was that it was not a Shasta Compact at all, but a Shasta 1400 instead. I was a little confused by this because the ad said it was a 1973 13 foot camper.
Wow! What a difference two feet can make. For those of you who don't know much about little vintage travel trailers, let me take a moment to explain.
The trailer or shell of a Shasta Compact is approximately 6.5' x 10. ' The 13' mentioned in the ad are the measurements from bumper to tongue. So a Shasta 1400 trailer measures approximately 7.5' x 12' and the over all length from the bumper to tongue is 16'. Just a little confusing so I hope this clears things up for some and doesn't confuse you any further.
Well anyway, we had only really been concentrating our search for a vintage Shasta Compact or a vintage Scotty Compact. This is because we only have a 6 cylinder vehicle to tow around any little travel trailer we might happen to purchase. I knew that our 6 cylinder could handle pulling a slightly larger travel trailer, the question was did we want too.
Well as soon as my husband stepped inside he was sold. The little bit of extra weight we would be towing was no longer a concern. You see, my husband is 6.5 and the extra square footage we would be getting with the 1400 out weighed any concerns he had about any extra weight we would be towing.
The trailer looked to be in pretty good shape, but did have some water damage in one corner and on the ceiling where the little sky light is, which seems to be the norm for most of these vintage travel trailers. The owner also disclosed this over the phone so there was no surprise there.
It did not come with the original fridge, but the stove was original and looked as it had never been used. Actually he said he had never used the oven but the stove top was used often. He could not say one way or the other if the oven worked because he had never had any reason to fire it up. He also was throwing in a microwave oven and a little George foreman grill! YAY!
He also threw in a TV antenna that looked right out of the 50's and a converter box that allowed you to pick up local channels. Not sure what all that is about, but hey it was free. He also threw in a stabilizer bar used in the towing process, again I know nothing about it but did not hesitate to accept it graciously with a smile and a thank you.
We took her camping, that night and didn't even have to pay for electricity. As it turns out, the owners wife worked for the electric company and informed us that there was a trailer park less than 5 miles away that was free to camp at. I will give you more info about this later.
We leave at 1:00 and arrive right on schedule at 5:30. Anticipation mounts as we introduce ourselves to the owner. Pleasantries aside, he escorts us to the backyard where he keeps his pride and joy.
My thoughts are going a mile a minute. I really wanted to know if it had wings. I didn't ask the owner on the phone because I felt a little silly asking and it really wouldn't be a deal breaker, but I really, really wanted it to have little Shasta wings. As soon as I lay my eyes on her I noticed there were no wings. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed, but glee soon returned as the owner started showing us around. The first thing I noticed (after I realized there were no wings) was that it was not a Shasta Compact at all, but a Shasta 1400 instead. I was a little confused by this because the ad said it was a 1973 13 foot camper.
Wow! What a difference two feet can make. For those of you who don't know much about little vintage travel trailers, let me take a moment to explain.
The trailer or shell of a Shasta Compact is approximately 6.5' x 10. ' The 13' mentioned in the ad are the measurements from bumper to tongue. So a Shasta 1400 trailer measures approximately 7.5' x 12' and the over all length from the bumper to tongue is 16'. Just a little confusing so I hope this clears things up for some and doesn't confuse you any further.
Well anyway, we had only really been concentrating our search for a vintage Shasta Compact or a vintage Scotty Compact. This is because we only have a 6 cylinder vehicle to tow around any little travel trailer we might happen to purchase. I knew that our 6 cylinder could handle pulling a slightly larger travel trailer, the question was did we want too.
Well as soon as my husband stepped inside he was sold. The little bit of extra weight we would be towing was no longer a concern. You see, my husband is 6.5 and the extra square footage we would be getting with the 1400 out weighed any concerns he had about any extra weight we would be towing.
The trailer looked to be in pretty good shape, but did have some water damage in one corner and on the ceiling where the little sky light is, which seems to be the norm for most of these vintage travel trailers. The owner also disclosed this over the phone so there was no surprise there.
It did not come with the original fridge, but the stove was original and looked as it had never been used. Actually he said he had never used the oven but the stove top was used often. He could not say one way or the other if the oven worked because he had never had any reason to fire it up. He also was throwing in a microwave oven and a little George foreman grill! YAY!
He also threw in a TV antenna that looked right out of the 50's and a converter box that allowed you to pick up local channels. Not sure what all that is about, but hey it was free. He also threw in a stabilizer bar used in the towing process, again I know nothing about it but did not hesitate to accept it graciously with a smile and a thank you.
We took her camping, that night and didn't even have to pay for electricity. As it turns out, the owners wife worked for the electric company and informed us that there was a trailer park less than 5 miles away that was free to camp at. I will give you more info about this later.
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