My Mother In Law's Pride and Joy

This weekend we spent up in northern Ontario cleaning up my mother in law's trailer site of 23 years. It wasn't planned, but because of circumstances beyond our control, she has been forced out of the trailer park and we had 30 days to clear out her trailer and my sister in law's trailer too. Of course we're likely not going to tell my mother in law... she would forget anyway and there's little gained in upsetting her, is there?

So what do you do with a 1960's camping trailer? Sure, in it's day it was the be all and end all, but remember... that was over 40 years ago!
It took 4 good strong men to get the tip out tipped back in because over the years as it sprang leaks, various helpful souls caulked it and gasketed it until it was stuck right in place!
My sister in law had spent two days emptying the cupboards and cleaning it. ( She gave the 'stuff' to charity.) She gave away the wooden deck that my ex- brother in law and friend took days and days to build. (Many beers later...) The outdoor furniture; I don't know who got that. The pots and pans rode down the road still in their storage spots. The new owners will enjoy those.
We unhooked the water hose and electrical extension cord. We cut off the underside pipe from the toilet. (Thank heavens she had drained the thing!) We pulled all the decorations away from around the outside; A collection of rocks, bric a brac and plants the old woman had collected over the years. It was all bundled up and given away or burnt. Some went to the trash bins up at the 'top' of the park.
The guys cranked on the leg of the hitch and got her up high enough to take the cement blocks out from under it. (The tires held enough air after all these years!) I backed up to the old girl with our one ton truck and the men finally freed up the hitch enough to connect it to the ball. They cranked her down and Dick pulled her out of the spot she had sat for 23 years. Just like that.
We used a portable compressor and put a shot of new air in each of the old cracked tires and they all held. Then after a final walk around, in Dick and I got our faithful truck and pulled her out of the park and down the road. My sister in law had made arrangements for the local mini storage to park it there and we could put a for sale sign on it.

It was three miles from the camp and the old Mallard pulled like she'd been born to run!

Wheel in. Crank her leg down. Flop out the tip out. Shut the doors and back to the park. We raked and cleaned the site.

My mother in law maybe didn't have the most fun of anybody in her life. She maybe didn't travel a lot. She wasn't the most worldly woman. But she used to have this trailer to run to. Every Friday night she would drive herself up there until we wouldn't let her drive anymore. The my sister in law would take her after that. She would spent the entire summer there, by herself, with family coming on weekends. She bought it herself. She picked out the park herself. It was her. Simple as that.
She loved the soft pink tones and all the plates and cutlery matched, bought specifically for this trailer. She would weed the flowers, (she had none at home.) Every day she would walk down to the lake the park abuts and watch the children. She loved to sit on her chaise and read Danielle Steel novels and keep her eye on everybody. She would run into the small town for groceries and to church on Sundays of course.

It's over now. How can that be? In two days we closed that door, never to be reopened.

Think on that please, because right tonight, I cannot.