Trailers and Hills Don't Mix

So finally everyone was feeling fine and well rested after a night of camping nearby the hospital. We were excited to get to Bellingham located just south of the Canadian border. I had researched some real estate and had some listings written down for us to drive by. The drive in was gorgeous with a narrow road with a forested cliff immediately to our right with a 2-inch shoulder and then the Sound to our left with breath taking views.

An upscale neighborhood with craftsman style homes overlooked the water, all ascending along the hillside. Yards were uniquely landscaped and well kept. We were diggin’ it. We looked crazy driving our camper all over their stylish neighborhood. Our van and camper had not seen a wash or a speck of rain since the Midwest, some 1,700 miles ago and we had every bug from Minnesota on west all it.

Some homes were for sale and Sean would jump out and grab a flyer. I am sure the neighbors that saw us were praying, “Oh no! Please, no please, do not buy this house!”
Sean had not cut his hair in a long time nor shaved. I wasn’t any better.

We took a drive down to the marina but it had a lot of industry. Not the place for strolling. I mapped out the properties I had found and we took a drive to see the areas. The first four we saw had too much inconsistency of pride of ownership. If we were to sell in the future, we could face the danger of having the nicest house on the block. In real estate, that is not a good thing. So, we had one last property to look at but it was high on the hillside.

The drive was rather straightforward and it led to a neighborhood less congested with nice views. The voice prompt on our GPS said to make a right turn with our destination 500ft on the right. Sean slowed to take the right but the road ahead looked as if it were a dead end with no turnaround for towing a camper. He drove to the next right hand turn as our road was now ending and was not a turn around. This road was a gradual incline for about 400ft but then made a very steep incline the rest of the way. It was narrow and no homes bordered it.

Now, I have to make a note to all of you that Sean is excellent at driving through small roads, busy towns and scenic narrow roads with no shoulder. He is not, and he agrees, that backing up a trailer is something he is good at. He avoids it if he can.

So avoid he did, and within a split second of thinking it through, he drove up that road that made its steady and ever increasing ascent. Careful not to harm the engine, he climbed the road slowly. The wheels started to slip. They skipped and skidded. I looked back at the children. Their eyes huge with fright. Sean slipped it into first gear. The van tugged upward through the wooded road. A car was parked at the top of the hill. The road ended with little clearance. A deep ditch followed each side.

I looked over to our left and saw a grassy road that was closed with a metal gate. There was no place to turn around and it was impossible to drive in reverse all the distance Sean brought us. The road was just too steep and the ditches posed too much of a danger.

We were stuck and I knew I was going to have to drive us out of there.