I could say that it is Winnie’s story, but really it is when our stories merge. She lived on Betty Welsh Road in York, ME. I’m unsure how long she had been in that location, but she has NH road plates with a sticker from 1977.
I believe her long-time owner was Frank J. Moulton, II. I also think he lived in Winnie in the 1980s and possibly into the 1990s. I know he bought the house on Betty Welsh Road in August of 1992, so Winnie might have been stationary since then.
The house and property sold in December 2022, and Winnie found her way to the Facebook Marketplace. The listing had her as free. Initially, the listing said 1969 Vintage RoadCruiser Camper Winnebago Travel Trailer. I wrote to the person giving Winnie away and asked if she knew Winnie’s weight and size. The seller didn’t know but said I was welcome to meet her. This was March 3, 2023.
At that point, I joined a lot of Winnebago and vintage camper Facebook groups. I shared the listing photo with all those Facebook groups to learn more about Winnie and see if restoring her would be a good idea. Everyone said no. Not one person thought it was a good idea. Most people were concerned about her axle or the moisture on her frame.
I understood their concerns and started researching vintage camper garages and dealerships. Then, I started calling people. One call leads me to another call. Eventually, I named this my scavenger hunt. Most people said the camper was too old to work on. I learned that most RV garages or even Winnebago dealerships will only work on trailers that are 20 years old or younger. Winnie is 58 and doesn’t fit in that category. At this point, everyone recommended that I speak to Jim, who owns Maine Vintage Campers. After a great phone conversation with Jim, he suggested I look at the fixer-upper campers he had on his lot. He said no pressure to buy anything, but it might be a good comparison.
On a rainy Saturday, my mom and I went for an afternoon trip to tour campers. We started with Jim. We chatted with him for a bit and saw his shop. Then, we went out to tour two campers. One was a Yellowstone, and the other was a Branstrator. Both were in bad shape. However, the Yellowstone was the better of the two. We chatted with Jim a little more. He told us of his camping adventures and how he picks his projects. We thanked him and were off to lunch to debate the options. I wasn’t in love with either camper. Nothing stood out to me. I loved the original blue appliances in the Yellowstone but didn’t like how small the bed area was. There wasn’t an option to enlarge it because of the bathroom. It was a nice layout, though. It had a permanent bed and table area. There was no need to turn the table into a bed. I didn’t like anything about the Branstrator. I believe it was renovated in the 1980s, and all the original details were gone.
Lunch was lovely, though. We went to Alisson’s Restaurant in Kennebunkport, ME. We sat upstairs in their bar area, with all windows and funky lighting. Their prices were high for being off-season, but their broccoli and cheddar soup was perfect on a cold rainy day. Yum!
Then, we met Winnie. When we pulled into the driveway, I thought Winnie would be in the field, but it turned out that she was right behind the garage and in front of the house. She was in better shape than the other two that we just saw. She had more original features and felt roomier. Although, all the campers we toured were similar in size. So I can’t say that I fell in love with Winnie right away, but it was more that I felt bad for her. She would probably get crushed and discarded if I didn't move her. The other two campers were at a vintage camper garage, which I assumed would fix the campers, but Winnie wasn’t in the same situation. It then became Mission Save Winnie.