The Roadmaster Came Home Today

Last night we received a text from the Jim, the owner of the Roadmaster Predator trailer we are purchasing.  It said, “the generator is purring like a kitten and the batteries are charged.”  Early this morning we dropped Emmi at Nat’s and headed to Billings.  Later in the morning we were so glad Emmi stayed with Nat–cue shark music!

Jim and Tracey live in a neighborhood in what is known as the Billings Heights.  The trailer was sitting at the curb outside their house.  The Cowboy headed to Billings with a truck load of parts–new tires and rims, air compressor, air wrench, three ton floor jack and a multitude of other tools–thank goodness!  In order to install the tires we needed to move the trailer away from the curb.  First problem–the electric trailer jack would not raise the trailer high enough to fit on the hitch ball of our truck.  Cowboy hardware store to the rescue–we had an extra tall hydraulic bottle jack (which came with the first RV we ever purchased from an elderly friend (now deceased) of Nat’s) which the Cowboy used to raise the front of the trailer enough for me to put extra blocks under the wood block all ready in place.  First problem solved.

Next problem–

Never a good sign to see the hood raised.  Seems we lost our power steering hose and fitting as we were pulling the rig away from the curb.  Jim took the Cowboy to the closest auto parts store and they had the parts–Jim was amazed.  Hey–it’s a 1997 truck which someone other than a rocket scientist can work on and parts are readily available.  The Cowboy installed the part in short order and we were back in business.

So you can see why leaving Emmi with Nat was a good idea–it was 94 degrees in Billings today–she would have been way too hot!

Four hours after we had arrived–New rims and tires, a little trim of the fender skirt (tires were larger than the original ones) power steering fixed and we were headed to Costco which was a mad house on the Saturday before July 4th!!

The Cowboy wanted a toyhauler which was not as tall as most you see.  We drove to Lander, WY last Saturday to look at a 5th wheel toyhauler and my goodness that thing was tall!  The Cowboy had fixated on these cargo trailer like toyhaulers–not tall, heavier axles and large fresh water tank capacity–100 gallons.  Most have tiny windows and I would say, “nope” when he would find one on Craigslist.  This one was listed probably six weeks ago and we even emailed back and forth with the owners.  For some reason we never got around to seeing it.  Last Sunday it popped up on Craigslist with a great reduced price and we went to see it.  The trailer is something we both feel we can enjoy–it’s not a Country Coach but it’s not bad!  The decals are all peeling and will need to be replaced, the flooring in the garage/living area is damaged and we will probably end up replacing all the flooring.  But other than that–it’s in fairly good shape for a 2006.

I like the colors–blacks and tans.  It needs a good cleaning inside and out–we are excited and looking forward to our first trip!