Test Driving

Going to test-drive a car, I realized over the weekend, is a lot like going to an animal shelter with only a vague desire to leave with a new pet. Christina and I left home at 11 AM to look at new Subarus and go to the grocery store but didn’t leave the dealership until five. We left behind my old Tacoma, my first car and mobile bedroom of seven years.

            I traded in the OG Tacoma for the other car most reliably found at the crag trailhead. And damn, all of you still driving trucks really ought to thing about the change. There were things about my truck that I loved, but when I really think about it, I just liked having a bed in the back. The bed though, it wasn’t very comfortable and I couldn’t sit up without my head being cocked drastically to the side. Sounds trivial, but as the weeks back there piled on all I wanted to do was sit up straight. Packing two people in the back of the truck made things even worse.

            I was just slightly too tall to sleep parallel in the truck. My feet pushed against the back window and even on warm nights turned to blocks of ice by morning. And added condensation of another’s breath, even with windows open, turned the bed to a swamp.

            These are tiny problems. There is a reason why some absurd percentage of rock climbers own Toyotas, but with gas at nearly four dollars nationally, I’m glad to trade 19 mpg for nearly 30.  And here’s my plan as far as cragside luxury:

An example of a teardrop trailer

            I’ve been scouring Craigslist for months to find a good trailer and I’m pretty sure I’ve found the most ideal. Since the Big Bang of travel trailers, insect-sized teardrops have been towed behind small cars and crouched in the forests and deserts of America without attracting great attention. These trailers, at a weight of around 800 pounds, don’t affect gas mileage by all that much and can be as posh or minimal as you want. Kitchen, cabinetry, heat, some of these things even come with flip-down TVs. And generally running at prices from 2000 to 4000 dollars, these trailers are pretty cheap as far as the market goes.

            Now, If you were actually living in one of these trailers, you might hate your life by month two. The kitchen is located outside where those unbelievable desert winds can steal so much heat it takes an hour to boil water. And these trailers lack many of the things you come to depend on in daily life, like tables and chairs or a place unexposed to the elements to stand up. These trailers though, and I’m convinced of this even though I’ve never even been in one, are perfect for someone who goes on several shorter climbing trips every year.

            So that’s my plan. Find a good, inexpensive teardrop trailer and keep it ready to go at a moments notice so when the impulse strikes, all I have to do is hook it up and drive off into the desert or mountains and recline in comfort.