Why I Bought a Vintage Winnebago
So, sometimes things land in your life that you didn’t know you wanted, but they are exactly what you need. That’s what happened to me this summer when I bought a vintage Winnebago!
My grandfather was an RV salesman in his younger years. My mother tells stories of camping many weekends as a kid, and I remember him being a seasonal RVer for most of my life (see photo below… I’m the baby. Those other awesome folks are my parents, and we’re at my grandpa’s camper).
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A few years ago, he and his wife bought a 1984 Winnebago Minnie Winnie so that they could drive across the country to visit her family. It was a perfect little RV for the two of them and they drove it from New York to Montana and back twice.
When my grandfather died earlier this year, I didn’t think about the RV. I guess I assumed that he had sold it when they finished their last trip, or maybe that he’d parked it at an RV park or something. Honestly I didn’t give it any thought at all, until a few months after the funeral when I saw someone on Facebook offering to buy it from my grandfather’s wife.
Um – No way!, I thought. My grandpa had spent so much time and effort on this RV, I wasn’t going to let some random person buy it. Also, how cool and fun would it be for me to fix up and use a vintage RV?
So this is how I came to buy a vintage Winnebago. I spent the summer working on it, tearing things out, adding things in, and fixing some issues. Honestly, it was therapeutic for me. I learned how to use power tools. I used parts of my brain that normally don’t get much use, and I got dusty and dirty and sweaty.
I cried when I thought that I had taken on more than I could handle, that I was somehow letting my grandpa down. I laughed when I thought this was a ridiculous purchase. I basked in pride when every single person who saw my new rig thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Emotions were all over the place with this thing, but in the end, I’m really pleased with the fixes I made. We were able to take it out for a weekend camping trip before the weather got too cold, and the kids had such a fun time.
Best. Unseen Purchase. Ever.
Did you find this post because you also have a vintage RV that you’re using/updating/renovating?? I’d love to chat! Leave a comment!
I still have a ways to go with this baby so I’m always looking for new ideas.
