How I got here...

[Ramblin' Rec]

I've been a member for about a year now, even before I got my TrailManor, because I knew I would get one somehow someway someday. Let me explain:

I grew up camping with my family, culminating in a trip to Alaska with 2 parents and 4 teenagers in a van and popup. The popup was literally a tent trailer with 2 beds and a cabinet across the back where we kept our duffle bags. As an adult, I bought another popup, with a kitchen and dinette. Life changed, and that was over. A few years ago, hubby and I bought a couple-sized TT. We bought a Toyota 4Runner to tow it with. Which it did, but not really comfortably. The weight was fine, but the sail effect not so nice. We didn't want to drive a huge truck, so we sold the trailer. While I was checking out trailers to buy that could comfortably trail the 4Runner, I came upon a post in a popup forum that mentioned TrailManors.

The more I read about TrailManors, the more I liked them. Videos, very cool! Reading more, I found that the original factory was in Lake City, TN. You won't find that in your map app because they've changed the name to Rocky Top. But it's very close to where I grew up, in Oak Ridge, TN. The original designer/manufacturer was a Bill Hulsey, who supposedly worked at NASA before designing the trailer. Then, somewhere else, I read that the sales director at one time had been Keith Hulsey.

Well, I went to school with two Hulsey brothers, Dan and Keith. So I was getting suspicious. I described the TrailManor to a high school friend, without mentioning any names, and her response was "well, you know the Hulseys down the street built something like that." Confirmed! I don't know whether Bill Hulsey worked at NASA, but I do know he worked at Oak Ridge, probably at ORNL, as a materials scientist. Now I really knew I wanted it, because I knew I could trust an Oak Ridger to design something well. And as far as I can tell, he did.

We now own a 2720 that was apparently built on the cusp of 2019 and 2020. The build date is 2019, but the registration is 2020. It has the square-cornered entrance door and an electric slide. PPL sold it to us as "very good" condition, but I can't say I agree. This thing has been beat. How do you dent and scrape the paint of the inside wall at the foot of the bed? And it was apparently owned by a smoker; I've wiped black soot off of all the walls and surfaces, and the curtains are filthy. The bed tracks are destroyed and a curtain track ripped off the wall. Dings and dents and scrapes everywhere.
But nothing that can't be fixed, and then we'll have a trailer to love!

Thanks to Bill the moderator and all the fine folks who make this the nicest forum on the internet (that I've been to, anyway). I really appreciate knowing this knowledge base is here for me to draw upon. And hopefully I'll be able to contribute something worthwhile in the future.