If you live in the US, when you hear the word homecoming, your mind probably doesn't immediately think Spring. Instead, you are probably transported to a chilly Autumn night and memories of high school football, tuxes, dresses, a dance, and your parents taking more photos than is humanly allowed.
However, this past weekend I had another sort of homecoming. Actually, it was a twofold homecoming. As you might guess from the opening photo, I headed off to my parents house this weekend to pick up our trailer that we store there and bring it home to our house for @mrsbozz and I to get it ready for the season.
Many years ago my parents used to have their own trailer and when they did my dad had a spot right next to the garage for them to store it. As I said, it's been a while now since they had a trailer of their own, so as soon as we take our last trip in the Fall and I get the trailer winterized, we park it in that same spot next to their garage for the long Michigan winter.
It usually only takes a couple of minutes for me to get it hooked up and pulled into the driveway. I had meant to get a shot of it before I had it all hooked up, but I forgot. In fact, I had it all hooked up and ready to go before my parents even realized I was there to get it!
I decided to take a short walk and get some photos for this post. Above you can see where the trailer usually sits. My dad put down those boards many years ago to keep the tires out of direct contact with the ground while it is being stored. You can also see that I tore up the yard a bit pulling it out. My hope was that the ground would still be frozen enough for me to get it home without too much damage. In the past I used to wait a little longer and when those April showers come around, it can really make the lawn a hot mess!
This is the back yard where I spent much of my time as a young person. It wasn't until my teens that the houses were back behind them like they are now. Before that it was all woods and open fields. It was a pretty awesome place to grow up and explore. In fact, before all the houses were there, it was basically wild nature all the way back to one of the major rivers that eventually ends up in town. When I was a kid our neighbor saw a bobcat in our "back 40".
We always called it the "back 40" even though it was nowhere close to 40 acres. Maybe one or two at the most. It was still a pretty awesome place to grow up. Back in the corner to the right there is a huge white pine tree that I used to climb and hang out in. If you look really closely, you also might notice that the back area tends to hold a lot of water. We used to have a big garden back there when I was very young, but the constant flooding caused it to be a bit of a pain.
Over to the left is where the doghouse used to sit and our dog Sparky called that her own until she got a tumor and we had to have her put to sleep.
Straight ahead used to be the site of my sandbox and a playhouse that my dad built himself over top of it. My sister and I spent many hours between those two spots playing as kids.
At one point we were going to get a pool and put it here, but things never really worked out for it and we ended up not. It's probably for the best to be honest. I would hate to think of my parents still needing to do all the upkeep on a pool at their ages. I used to play catch across this span of yard with my dad as a kid.
Although bringing the trailer home for the Summer means we are that much closer to camping, one of the things I don't like about having the trailer home is how much space it takes up in my driveway. Looking back now, I should have had the driveway widened a bit more when I had them repair the damage at the end of it and even things out. Even if I would have just had the section closer to the house widened so I could still park my truck next to the trailer.
Instead, I have to park the truck in front of it by the road, but it's really not that big of a deal. First world problems am I right? Now that she is home, @mrsbozz will prepare to do a deep Spring cleaning of her. Meanwhile, I will check the gas lines with a bottle of warm soapy water to make sure there are no leaks. I will also de-winterize the trailer by filling it with water and running all of the antifreeze out of the lines. Finally, I will pull each of the tires off and inspect them for irregular wear.
While the tires are off I will also pull each of the four wheel bearings apart, clean all the old grease off them, inspect them for irregular pits or grooves, re-grease them, and put them back together. It's messy job that I have posted about before, but it's something I do every year to hopefully keep myself from sitting on the side of the road broken down instead of sitting around a campfire at my campsite!
Believe it or not, that was just a small fraction of my weekend. Wait until you see the rest!
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Ah one of the things I am really looking forward to having is a trailer like that! I love going on road trips and having your own mini-hotel on wheels would be sweet. Granted it won't be able to fit a lot of kids, not that I have more than one, but it would be really nice to just pick it up and go. Depending on the area, finding safe parking for the night is always a bit of a concern but nothing a .45 can't handle! Lol.
I too got to spend a lot of time in the woods as a kid, that my son currently doesn't get to which bothers me. He's had a fantastic life so far, and gets to do a LOT of stuff most kids these days don't, but there's something about a little boy and the primal nature of the woods that really changes you! haha
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I see some beautiful memories you’ve created :). Great post!
Thank you!
Un paisaje realmente agradable, parecen imágenes de una película
That trailer is huge! It looks like a really nice one. Has it required a lot of maintenance?
It's great that your parents still live in the house you grew up in. It's a strange feeling when some new family is living in the place where you made all of those childhood memories. When I drive through my old neighborhood the past just comes rushing back but almost nothing looks the same.
I do my best to take care of it every year. It has had some issues that we had to send it in for. The roof was leaking due to the sealant dry rotting in the sun. It's a pretty common thing. We also had our inverter get fried. At 26 feet this is a pretty small one. Our friends is pushing 35 feet I think. My wife and I are both lucky that our parents still live in the same house. They aren't too far away from us either 15 minutes either way, so that makes it easy too.
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you had a fun and entertaining weekend then, that yard will be big enough for 2 or 3 siblings though, but i can tell you still enjoy your childhood with dad
Yes, it was a pretty good start to the weekend and everything went okay getting the trailer home. Now the real work begins!
well am looking forward reading about all of it 😊
I am sure, you will have a lot of fun coming up..
Lot's of grilling this past weekend!
What a great backyard! Reminds me a lot of where I grew up, the foothills were so close they were by backyard! It must feel good to be getting the mobile weekend residence ready for summer. I know they are a lot of work the get ready for the year, but you're right, it's better than breaking down!
That must bring back some great memories being there... What was once my backyard as a kid is covered with houses everywhere now! lol
I try to get over to my parents at least once or twice a month, but it's pretty rare that I take a stroll out in the backyard. I usually just go inside and sit with them to talk. Occasionally they need me to take care of something outside for them. Now I just need to find the time to get those things done on the trailer!
The caravan looks very beautiful and stylish. It is sure to attract attention wherever it moves. I also felt the feelings of longing and longing when you were telling me about your childhood memories when you were little in your garden. It was a very wonderful sharing. Health to your hands.
Thank you! It is a little bigger than the one we used to have, but it does a good job of keeping us dry and safe!
My daughter has a Scamp and a pickup. Between the two, she 'hogs' the driveway. Time to widen the driveway, I think.
Yeah, we have worked with it for the past several years, but I am always happy in the fall when I get my driveway back!
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