Fifth Wheel

Fifth Wheel

I confess that I am a lot like my father. Not only do I look more and more like him as I gaze into the bathroom mirror every morning but I enjoy a lot of the things he enjoyed. I thought he was a little crazy when, after he retired, be bought a brand new one-ton pickup truck and a fifth wheel trailer. He spent some big money on this rig deciding he and my mom were going to travel. It only lasted a year or two.

When Judy and I moved back to Montana some years ago, I talked her into buying a pickup truck and a popup camper. After one summer I traded that one in for a hard side bumper pull trailer. That was the beginning of my search for the ultimate rig. Each trailer was bigger and a little more expensive. Ultimately my goal was to buy a Class A Diesel Pusher. I settled for a 25 foot fifth wheel.

The fifth wheel attaches to a hitch located in the truck bed. It is easier to hook up and easier to pull than the conventional bumper pull trailer. With a queen size bed, a shower and toilet, a stove, microwave, refrigerator and freezer, air conditioning, flat screen TV and surround sound music, I was ready to rough it in the great outdoors. I love modern conveniences when I camp.

No one told me that I needed to be careful when hooking and unhooking the fifth wheel. One day, getting ready for a camping trip, I started to attach the trailer to the truck. I backed up, got out to check something and accidently hit my head on the gooseneck of the trailer. I hit so hard that I was knocked to the ground and almost passed out. There I was spread eagled on the pavement; dazed, head throbbing, and seeing stars. The truck was running but I couldn’t move. It took awhile but I struggled to stand up only to hit my head again.

I remember what my son Tim tells me. He works at an RV dealer here in Bozeman. “Dad, the guys who can afford to buy these big rigs, shouldn’t be driving them. They’re too old!”