Why did I need a truck camper?
What was I thinking! My family and friends probably thought I was crazy. I already had a nice Class A RV and my objective was to divest myself of things, not acquire more, in preparation for some long term RV travel . It was the fall of 2012. Winter was setting in, I still hadn't sold my house and I would be spending one more winter in Washington State. Without something to keep me occupied I was sure to go into hibernation mode and I didn't want to do that. So, restoring a camper seemed like the thing to do. Staying on target isn't my strong point anyway.
OK, it wasn't that simple. I had a 1989 Chevy Silverado 4x4 fully restored truck for sale and this brother of my neighbor wanted to buy it but he wanted to trade his 1992 Ford F250 2wd in on it as part of the deal. I really didn't want a trade and the Ford was cosmetically a disaster. But then again, I figured I could flip the trade and make a couple of bucks on it. Why not? Like I said, it was coming on winter and I needed something to do. Didn't seem like a good time to put the house up for sale either. Maybe it would be best to wait it out through the winter and hope the real estate market would get a little stronger the next summer.
After the trade though, I got to thinking. The Ford, although needing a lot of cleaning seemed mechanically sound. It might be nice to keep it here in Washington for transportation in case I wanted to come back here for visits in the summer. Yea, that was the ticket... and if I did that, why not acquire a slide in camper in case I wanted to take some short trips during the beautiful NW summers. I'm always open to new experiences and new adventures. Why not try truck camping. I might like it.
I began my search for campers. I watched Craig's List and found what I thought might work near Portland, Oregon.
The gentleman who had it for sale was an older man who bought the Shadow Cruiser new in 1994 and at the same time bought a new Chevy 3/4 ton Silverado to haul it around. Tragically, his wife became ill and had to be in an assisted living facility and he had little time to keep up with the truck or the camper and that was why he wanted to sell. . Both needed some TLC. The camper had developed a leak around the escape hatch and that would need repair. Cosmetically, it too needed a lot of attention. The bones of the camper were solid though and all the main components functioned as they should have.
I guess you could call me an environmentalist in a way. I hate to see things thrown away or neglected. It seems so wasteful. The thought of giving new life to the camper was exciting. I love these type of projects and looked forward to getting to work. I wound up purchasing both the truck and the camper from him and that began my winter of restoration.
This is the Chevy and camper the day I brought it home.
