The El Camino and the Camper

Long ago in a suburb not too far away, my parents used to have a 1970 El Camino. This was a vehicle that put a truck bed on a car chassis, better known as a mistake.

Anyway, my mother found a place in Osseo that would custom build a camper. Being as this was a car chassis, the pseudo-truck bed was really small and when you threw in wheel wells, it was basically not existent.

The camper was a marvel of micro-engineering, costing who knows what. The shysters that sold this thing to my mother threw in a couple of cable jacks to facilitate getting this thing on and off the El Camino.

Remember it was truck masquerading as a car or maybe the other way around. So it would be unsightly to run around town with a camper bolted into the bed.

"If you ever lose your grip on the cable jacks [when you're taking the thing on and off] the handle will spin around and break your wrists," warned the shyster.

A real sweetheart!

We went camping every week end. I got proficient in loading and unloading the camper. It fell to me to make sure the cinder blocks got placed under the camper--real comforting feeling when 500 pounds of wood and plastic is dangling overhead.

My other task was to guide the El Camino under the camper. That meant I had to crank [using the cable jacks] the camper up higher than the bed, then guide the El Camino backwards under the camper.

I had dreams that one day the El Camino might hit a cable jack bring the camper crashing down.

My mother had this thing for dust so she kept the windows rolled up tight, and she never checked her mirrors, so guiding her left and right as she backed the El Camino towards the camper was a real challenge.

Finally, lowering the creature (I mean camper) was always interesting. Either the wheel wells were in the wrong place, or it was crooked, or it required a quick run followed by slamming on the brakes.

I have no idea what happened to that camper, but I hope it was something serious.