Wednesday, September 07, 2011

September Update

I had a really nice post about our summer vacation camping in Michigan, and then our new travel trailer but all that is pushed aside by some news that really caught Alan and I offside.

Alan was laid off effective this Friday. With the demise of the Michigan tax incentive for films shot here (thank you Governor Snyder, I knew that I didn't like you), the Grace and Wild film lab had a short future. Between tax incentives and digital photography, film is quickly going the way of the 8-track player and it took my husband (and several others) employment with it.

Now we knew that this might be coming, but we were hoping that it would hold off for at least a few years so that our house would be paid for. It's going to be tight, I'm going to have to hold off on extra spending, shoes, beads, etc. We should be okay, it's the period of uncertainity that we have until he finds new employment.

Big Sigh! But I have friends that I can vent to, bounce ideas off of and drink with. I will be okay - although the dogs are worried about the Milkbones....

Here's the post that I started to write about the new trailer: About 6 years ago, my husband and I were very excited that we could buy a small travel trailer - a 21MB Ameri-lite. We were really excited. It was self contained, it was everything that we ever wanted in a travel trailer. At least, for the first few years. We made a few modifications - we took out the dinette benches because the storage under them was under utilized. Alan found a recliner chair that was RV sized on line and bought that to replace one bench, and my beading spot was in an office chair that we bought at Ikea (who doesn't love Ikea). Taking the benches out allowed for more room to move, but not much.

It's still a nice trailer - but Alan wanted...more. He wanted more space, he wanted a couch and a slide. When we went camping in July, he saw what he wanted. It was a hybrid travel trailer. A hybrid is a cross between the traditional hard sided travel trailer and a pop-up trailer (with canvas ends). After our vacation, he started haunting CraigsList to see what he could find. And he found it.

He found a 23 foot Surveyor hybrid TT that fit all our needs:

We could tow with our current truck
It had a slide (or wall what do go out) with a couch
It had a queen size bed for us, and a double for guests.
In bad weather, we could fit more than 2-3 persons inside - probably about 6 now.

Maiden camping voyage is this weekend and we can hardly wait!!

2 comments:

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Bad news about the layoff. During our 40 years together, we have lived through it a couple of times. My daughter, who is an RV electrician has too...currently living with us since the 2 year layoff/divorce forced her out of her home.

But, if you are lucky, your hubby will find something. Maybe not what he wants. I sure hope so. Good luck. I speak from experience..its definitely a time to pull together.

Have a great maiden trip!!

flyingbeader said...

Oh man! I'm so sorry to hear about Alan's job. I've been through this so many times with Chris. We decided to just let him be retired & I'd stay full time.

Gotta come up sometime so we can have some time to drink, laugh, bead & play.

hugs to both of you