I have no idea why I do things. But clearly, no rational person would make the decisions that I do.

Many of you have met me. Obviously, you that have done so can testify first hand that I am not a rational human being.

But Mama now loves me beyond words.

Maybe it was the anniversary of her Mother's death in 2010. Maybe the lakes are just too flooded to fish. I don't know what it was. But boy did I pull a big trigger.

Background:

Mama has spent 42 of our 43 years begging me to "go camping". She didn't know what she was asking, I thought. You got to park 'em, insure 'em, feed 'em, haul 'em, buy stuff for 'em, pull 'em, ad nauseum. Hampton Inns are cheaper. Cleaner. Not as good a breakfast, but GOOD.

Then we got that Popup in February. Sort of fell into my lap. Looking back, I might have paid too much for it, but only cause the 'book' says it ain't worth much, being a 2000 model. I didn't pay much total. And we finally got to use it 2 weeks ago (was it that long?). I sort of knew then what was going on. Mama was having a BALL! To be honest, I was too. Away from everything, birds chirping, big steaks on the grill, sleep when you want, smooch all day, sit in those zero-gravity chairs she bought and do nothing. I love doing nothing (not for long, but it's great for a while). I could see it coming.

The popup was, and is, fine. It didn't leak in the bad storms. It was comfortable. You need to cook outside mostly, and no bathroom, but we worked it out. It was great. We enjoyed it.

But boy........we had to work our old butts off to get it set up, cranked up (and down), haul stuff in and out, store stuff in every nook and cranny. Not a complaint, we did it, and it worked. But I knew she was gonna like it enough to want to do it an easier way. And she did. She starts looking at big ones.

And...........well, two things happened that made it possible and more desirable, and I can't get into it all here........but I will at some point. I guess I had an ulterior motive. But here I was......owing everyone on the planet big dollars, including the government, and looking at big campers. Was (am) I crazy? Yeah, probably. But again, there seemed to be a way, a path, and a new reason to get one. Again, more on that in a few weeks.

So we research the fool out of 'em.....online. We make charts, this, that........and decide on what we (she!!) wants most. Room for grandkids to sleep if we go there, or they come here. Light enough that we don't have to buy a new pickup. And we find several, and Monday we decided to go look at a few at several different dealerships. And at the last one, they have both of our top choices in stock. We look, and talk, and wiggle, and squirm............and we find out (no surprise to me) that we have the highest credit score they've ever seen (comes from owing a million dollars and making payments on time!!!), and we find the one of our dreams, and it's less than $200 a month financed.......and we might have the money to pay it off in a few months (more on that someday later), and we just said BAM!!! BAM!!!!!!

I lost my mind. WHOOSH. It went out the window.

We traded in the popup. We coulda sold it this time of year, but they offered a good tradein for it. And they're throwing in distribution hitch, sway bars, etc etc...... and we pick it up tomorrow!!

Forest River is the manufacturer. Grey Wolf line. Probably an 'entry' line but well appointed, has every single thing we want in a travel trailer, and is new. As of today its' insured, and the popup is cleaned out and hooked up and ready to go get this one tomorrow. We ALMOST bought another one, and asked several times if this model was available, and the guy kept saying "no, we don't have that one". We went back one last time and were looking at it, and I backed off to get a view of it in its entirety and looked behind me, and there was the model that we wanted and the guy said he didn't have. He ended up selling it to us for the same price............and that's where we are.

Cable guys are coming tomorrow to move the aerial cable TV cable up higher so I can get it in the driveway. It MIGHT FIT and still leave me room to get the boat in and out, that's a major issue and I won't know till tomorrow how that plays out. And I need to get an electrician to put me in a 30 amp circuit so I can hook it up in driveway when kids are here.....but at least it'll be here tomorrow.

Last thing I have to figure out is Direct TV for the trailer (and also for the farm house), in a 'carry out' version. I think I know how to do it, but still not sure, and can't find an 'expert' on it. I would have thought these Travel Trailer Dealers would know, but they don't.....at least the three we talked to. But I'll figure that out. Not going to miss the Cardinals while camping.

So, that's it. Truly lost my mind. But Mama is happier than a dead pig in the sunshine.

Here's a few pics we took of it on the lot.