We went for a walk through the campground to check out all the other sites. As we walked through the field with the trailer sites I got really excited. It was a Scamp! I had never seen one in person and Patrick didn't even know what he was looking at. The shiny egg-like trailer stood out immediately among the typical garish RVs covered in abstract decals. It was so simple and charming with just enough room to fit the essentials. I told Patrick that I would really like to have a Scamp one day.
Moving forward 5 and a half years and many camping trips later we were sitting on the couch watching travel videos on a Sunday night as we usually did. We had been talking more and more about getting a camper, since our bodies were starting to feel the impact of tent camping more each year. The thought of having a bed and a heater were becoming more appealing.
I pulled out my laptop and scanned through craigslist as I often did, but this time a listing caught my attention. It was a new listing for a 16 foot scamp trailer and it was just a few hours away...AND it was in our budget. I showed Patrick the listing and we thought about it for a minute, then we sent out an E-mail asking if it was still up for sale.
After many years of watching videos about trailers we knew that when the good ones go up for sale they do not last long. Very often by the time you see a listing it is already sold.
We got a response- It was still for sale and we made an appointment for Tuesday to drive up. I went to work the next day and rearranged my work schedule so that I could leave early on Tuesday (Patrick's day off) so we could go up and see it. I was so nervous that someone would buy it before we could get up there that I told Patrick to go up without me to see it, but he had no experience with campers and wasn't sure what to look for. When I got home from work we immediately started the over 2 hour drive up north to see the Scamp.
When we arrived we met a very nice retired couple that had purchased the Scamp new from the factory in 2012. They spent several years traveling around with it before they decided to upgrade to a slightly larger 18' Escape. They were now selling their well loved Scamp. They took the time to walk us through the trailer and show us the features and some of the custom touches that they had added to it. They told us stories of some of the places they had visited with it and how much they enjoyed having it. Patrick and I tried to hide our enthusiasm as the camper looked great, but it was at the very top of our budget. We had a long drive home and some thinking to do so we told them we wanted to sleep on it and we would e-mail them in the morning.
Patrick and I stopped to get food on the way home and we wrote a pro/con list. I asked Patrick what he would name the camper (if we got it) and he immediately said "Doris". That was the name of his grandmother, who passed away the previous year.
That night we spent some time talking about the possibilities and then went to sleep. When we woke up the next morning we looked at each other and both said "I want it!" so we talked about how much money we felt comfortable offering and I sent out an e-mail before heading in to work. I checked my e-mail several times that day anxiously waiting for a reply...and then finally it came...our offer was accepted! We scheduled the pick up date for the following Tuesday and scheduled the Jeep to have a brake controller installed for ease of towing.
The following week we made the over 2 hour drive up north and handed over the certified checks. The title was signed over and they helped us to hitch up the Scamp and handed us the keys! It felt almost unreal as we drove away with the Scamp following behind us. Almost 6 years ago we were walking through a field saying one day we will get a Scamp of our own to travel with and finally our patience payed off!
