The Fifth WheelI promise that very soon I will be finished boring you with stories of our family camping trips. I just have a few left to tell. And this is a short one. (Also, please disregard the bathing beauty in this picture.)
The pickup camper served us well for many years, but for quite some time Dad had a hankering to buy a fifth wheel trailer. In 1976 that dream became a reality. If I thought that the old camper was fascinating with its tiny appliances, this yacht on wheels had a full bathroom with a shower. It even had an oven, which I don't recall we ever baked in. We used it mostly for storage.
Several weeks after returning from one trip with the fifth wheel, Mom was looking for one of her cake pans. It dawned on her that she had left it in the trailer in the oven while we were traveling. Ever the helpful daughter, I scampered out to the camper to retrieve it. Well, not only had Mom forgotten the cake pan in the oven, she had forgotten that there was still rhubarb cake in it. Ooh, it had gotten just a little bit moldy. Not only was it moldy, but the acid from the rhubarb had actually eaten holes in the metal cake pan.
I kid you not. I'm thinking if rhubarb eats up metal, what does it do to your innards? But it seems to me it does have laxative properties, so that probably is not a problem.
The pickup camper served us well for many years, but for quite some time Dad had a hankering to buy a fifth wheel trailer. In 1976 that dream became a reality. If I thought that the old camper was fascinating with its tiny appliances, this yacht on wheels had a full bathroom with a shower. It even had an oven, which I don't recall we ever baked in. We used it mostly for storage.
Several weeks after returning from one trip with the fifth wheel, Mom was looking for one of her cake pans. It dawned on her that she had left it in the trailer in the oven while we were traveling. Ever the helpful daughter, I scampered out to the camper to retrieve it. Well, not only had Mom forgotten the cake pan in the oven, she had forgotten that there was still rhubarb cake in it. Ooh, it had gotten just a little bit moldy. Not only was it moldy, but the acid from the rhubarb had actually eaten holes in the metal cake pan.
I kid you not. I'm thinking if rhubarb eats up metal, what does it do to your innards? But it seems to me it does have laxative properties, so that probably is not a problem.
2 comments:
Neat storie my dad bought the yacht on wheels from your dad in the early to mid eightys for the same reasons.our family had outgrown the pickup camper. i have many great childhood memarys of our camping trips. As the years past us kids got older and mom got more sick,so the yacht spent more time sitting empty unused in the shed.The year was 2002 as life gos on and we all get older so did myself and my friends. we buy homes, get married, have kids and buy campers to get away on the weekends. this is were the yacht was put back into sevice and the dream became my reality, not more than an hour befor i read your storie i arrived home from a few days camping with friends. The yacht is still in exellent shape no one would guess that is 34 years old other than the orange carpet and counter tops,i use it at least 4 to 5 times a year and for the record the stove has still never been used for anything other than putting things in a safe spot and forgetting were you put it
One of the doctors I work with would call this the circle of life. Amazing how things just keep going around. It's all about family, isn't it? So glad someone is still enjoying the fifth wheel. We are back to using a popup trailer actually, but it seems to be working for us for now. Easier to store too.
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