Saturday, November 26, 2011

Settled In

We thought we had Mary Joan is Settled into her winter home. We made one more trip to New Hampshire the third week end of October. We found one state park that was still open, Pillsbury State Park. We visited the town of Henniker, NH, a quaint old New England town that is home to New England College.

We were in the throes of 'the grass is always greener' syndrome. We saw a real estate listing for what seemed to be our perfect retirement home. Alas, the grass was not so green as it appeared. After reassessing our current situation it didn't make sense to seek another residence. However, the exercise was worthwhile in that we recognize the benefits of living here.

Surprisingly,  we received a phone call from the Colonial Airstream, the dealer from whom we bought the Mary Joan. We had been in contact with them about the possibility of trading our Safari for another Airstream that had a floor plan more amenable to our needs. The two biggest issues are the corner bed that necessitated one of us to climb over the other to get into or out of bed. The other was the very cramped toilet/shower. Dave, the sales manager, told us they had just received a 2007 28' International Signature Series in trade. Unlike later models that have the bedroom in the front with a dinette on the front wall in place of the sofa, this unit has the traditional front sofa with the dinette opposite the galley. The extra two feet provided room for separate shower and toilet and a walk around queen sized bed in the rear of the trailer.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we drove to New Jersey to inspect the trailer. It is exactly what we were looking for. While the asking price was a little high, they offered us a very generous value for our trade.

All that is left is to arrange the drop off of our Safari and pick up the 'new' International.

Stay tuned for pictures and more details.