DFO 812-813 July, 1979

1. THE LARGE U-SHAPED SALON-DINETTES make very nice big beds that can easily sleep three adults very comfortably—for you boys who have two wives!—Or we have nothing against you girls having two hubbies!—I used to sleep with one wife on each side & three above, but I'm getting a bit old for that now!—Ha! It's particularly good in cold weather to keep you warm! But it can get a wee bit too hot sleeping between two hot–blooded sexy women in hot weather‚ I warn you! You can get pretty hot in more ways than one, & they get hot too! At least it's handy to take turns that way, one at night & one in the morning—or both night & day! Of course, if your prefer to sleep with only one up front in the bed for two, then you can sleep three or four children on that huge bed in the rear!

2. SOME TRAILERS THAT SIZE ALSO HAVE A SMALL TWO-BUNK BEDROOM with two single bunks one above the other in a little private side room, just barely big enough to squeeze into & turn around & dress & undress in, with a closet or two as well, which is very convenient for your older children or full-sized single adults, childcare helpers or whatever. Some also have a bunk-room like that plus a little dinette to one side‚ which makes into a single bed which can sleep one more full–sized adult.

3. SO THAT TYPE OF BUNK-BEDROOM CAN EVEN SLEEP THREE FULL-SIZED ADULTS, or one childcare worker & two large children, or four or five small ones, while the front bedroom sleeps at least two, like you & your monogamous wife. Then there are also these collapsible canvas bunks that you can buy to fit right over either or both beds, the double &/or the triple. They are like a canvas pad or stretcher which rests on removable legs which stand on the seats or seat-frames behind the cushions of the beds, & thus make two more extra bunks above each bed‚ or at least one extra bunk above each of your big beds, so you can sleep a total of 10 adults or less & more kids‚ if you have that many people!

4. BUT I WOULDN'T ADVISE TRYING TO LIVE VERY LONG WITH THAT MANY PEOPLE IN THAT SMALL A SPACE, no matter how many you can sleep in that space! It's not good trailer travel & trailer life, I warn you ahead of time right now! The size of the trailer is not determined only by the amount of people you can sleep in it. You might be able to sleep six or eight or 10 or more people in it‚ but you're going to find that it'd be pretty hard living so many people in that small a space, except in dire emergency!

5. IF THEY'RE MOSTLY YOUR OWN CHILDREN & DON'T TAKE UP MUCH ROOM‚ OK. But if they're mostly adults, you're sure going to get in each other's hair & step on each other's toes! Trying to live that many people in that small a space, especially with so little floor space, you even get into traffic problems, traffic jams just going back & forth! With so many people having to squeeze by each other to get from one end to another & going in all different directions, it could be very difficult!—I know—we've done it! 12 in the Ark!—But only in emergencies!

6. ONE OF THE LIFE-SAVERS OF THE TRAILER OR CAMPER IS AN AWNING OR A CABANA! I don't know what they call them in Europe, but it's like a little extra canvas house or tent that you attach to the side of your trailer or camper, & it doubles your living space & even your sleeping space, if you have extra cots that can go out under the awning. It's a great advantage & makes trailer life extremely livable!

7. AN AWNING OR CABANA ALSO GIVES YOU EXTRA SHADE, which is important in hot climates when you want to try to keep cool!—A trailer can get awfully hot in a hot climate if you're not in the shade & the sun is beating down on you in that small a space! Even if all the windows can open, you are still pretty hot! So if you can sit outside in the breeze underneath an awning in the shade, even in a hot climate, you can be fairly comfortable.

8. MOST OF THE AWNINGS THAT THEY SELL NOW WITH THESE MODERN TRAILERS ARE CABANA-TYPE, which not only have an awning overhead but canvas sides as well, & can be completely enclosed at night or in cold weather. They have three canvas walls, & the other wall is the front wall of your trailer with its front door. So as you step out the front door of your trailer you're in your cabana, which is pitched like a tent right beside your trailer & attached to it, firmly staked to the ground & roped & tied down with its poles just like a tent.

9. SUCH A CABANA MAKES YOUR TRAILER VERY LIVABLE, especially if you managed to park your trailer in one of those spaces which seem to be very rare in Europe but very common in the States, a space that has a concrete patio or paved slab right in front of the trailer. You can pitch you awning or your cabana right over this concrete slab or patio, & you've got a nice dry floor for your cabana that is above ground level, sheds water & doesn't soak up & get wet & muddy.

10. YOU CAN EVEN SLEEP EXTRA PEOPLE OUT THERE if you have to, which we have often done in the past‚ under the awning of our trailer or the cruiser. It's someplace to get out of each other's hair & out of each other's way & outside where it's cooler & roomier, & relax. I noticed most of the people living in trailers & campers that I've looked at this Summer in various camps, were sitting out at their little table with their little chairs under their awning in their cabana, relaxing or eating their meals outdoors where it was much cooler & prettier & freer in the wide-open spaces.

11. THEY EVEN HAVE CABANAS NOW WITH PRETTY PLASTIC WINDOWS made in the sides so they're not as dark as they used to be—beautiful plastic windows that let in lots of light but shut out the vision of passers-by. You can see out & let the light in at the same time. Whereas they used to be completely enclosed in canvas, with no windows—dark even in the daytime! You had to roll up your side flaps if you wanted any light or air, & in case of rain you might get wet.

12. BUT THESE MODERN CABANAS YOU CAN HAVE COMPLETELY ENCLOSED & EVEN HEATED, completely sheltered from the rain & from the cold, just like having another room next to your trailer! In fact, you've got more room in your cabana than you have in your trailer, because you have beds & tables & stoves & cupboards & closets & heaters & refrigerators & everything else inside your trailer which you don't have underneath your cabana, except for maybe a few chairs & a table.

13. THAT'S WHERE YOUR NICE COMPACT SMALL FOLDING LAWN-CHAIRS & TABLE COME IN HANDY! You place them out underneath your awning or in your cabana, & sit out there & enjoy the beautiful outdoors & fresh air!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family