Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Moving into the Trailer - What We Have Learned

So, we’ve lived in our new home for just over a week. What have we learned?

The first lesson I learned was that, while this trailer is nicely larger than Rosie, our motorhome, not every part of it is larger.

The living room and bedroom slide-out extensions aren’t as tall as the rest of it, and they also aren’t as tall as I am! The first day daughter Deb was here to help, I slammed my head into the edge of the slide-out! Deb went rushing for an icepack!

Here’s the living room. The folding chairs are actually place markers for La-Z-Boy chairs we have ordered. The little table harks back to my childhood, and the clock is one we made for my parents 40th wedding anniversary.

We’ve also learned that, while this trailer looks to be in mint condition, 11 years of age and 5 years of very little use actually take a toll on things. The spray hose at the kitchen sink had a leak (easily repaired), there seems to be a leak between the kitchen counter and the edge of the sink. Haven’t found that yet, but being careful with water helps. There also seems to be a leak around the toilet seal, very small, but worrisome.

The dining room is simple - we'll be putting a small computer desk against the wall - it's supposed to arrive today, some assembly required!

And the kitchen:

The refrigerator is wonderful! Quite a bit larger than Rosie’s, so there is room for ice cube trays in addition to the icemaker. And, the icemaker is faster than Rosie’s, so since we moved in, we haven’t had to buy bagged ice at all, and we were buying that at least every other day. In addition, we have purchased an extra shelf for the fridge

Odd little things have shown up. There is a triangular open-faced cabinet at the end of the kitchen cabinets which is designed as an entertainment center. The wall between this cabinet and the under-sink cabinet looks normal, but the center of it is actually a large hole, covered with wood grain contact paper! Odd!

On another cabinet wall, the previous owner had hung a small framed picture. Behind that picture is another hole where her wall phone had been mounted! Odd!

Are we complaining? No, we love this place! It’s just right for our needs at this time of our lives, and all we have to do is deal with a few little trivialities. Like one of the kitchen drawer supports is too short, and hangs loose at the far end. That had to be from the time of manufacture, and no one noticed? No one fixed it?

The microwave oven is a delight and in perfect shape. However, it doesn’t have a “Keep Warm” setting like we are used to having in Rosie’s kitchen.

We have lots of storage in this trailer, but it’s in different places than we are accustomed to, so we have a learning curve. We’ve been told that, as long as we keep learning, we keep living, so I think we just added a few years to … Our Life on Wheels.

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like it's all coming together for you! So glad you're sharing your experiences with us.

    Donna Daniel

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tour and pics of your new trailer home. It looks pretty nice and is bound to be more comfortable once you get some of the new furniture in. Doesn't sound like there are any major things to fix either so that's good. Good luck with the new home.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting observations about the differences between living in an RV and a park trailer. Glad you'll be enjoying extra space and some new ways of conducting your lives! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your new kitchen is nice and roomy!!!!

    It's always a joy to have a new learning curve to get used to. We had that kind of stuff to get used to in our new house when we moved in.

    Good times!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow-you've done a lot of work on the place! You must have found homes for all of your stuff. Everything looks really nice. The next picture I'd like to see is one of your new recliners!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks beautiful to us. I know you will enjoy it after you get all the "bugs" worked out.
    Hugs.........Pat and Mike

    ReplyDelete
  7. When is the next update coming? It's been a week!!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete

Here's your chance to tell us what you think!