DORY!

The day long awaited finally arrived!! (albeit with me still recovering from a nasty stomach bug).

I was ok by the morning thankfully, and we made it out of the hotel and to the showroom to pick her up just fine. We delivered a gift that had seen 3,000 miles of road on it, so I hope it was still ok on arrival.

Anyone who has ordered from Safari Condo will know that this is a family based business with a true commitment to customer satisfaction. Their product is without parallel in the trailer world and they take every bit of their job very seriously. As such, their English speaking salesperson had spent so much of his time patiently answering my questions, he made the joke that he was my “Canadian boyfriend”. The label stuck and I sent him Valentine’s candy, much to his co-workers’ amusement. So by the time we got there for our delivery date, we were well known.

When we first laid eyes on Dory for real, we didn’t quite know how to handle the excitement. There may have been some flapping and bouncing. I can’t remember.

The lovely people at SC even put a sign on the outside reading “Hi Mum.” I was honestly overwhelmed.

You know how when something gets so amazing it just becomes sort of surreal? That’s how the rest of the day felt. So much kindness, care, meticulous attention paid to us to make sure we knew how to use every single thing on the trailer. I just can’t capture what a unique experience this has been. This ain’t no car dealership.

Then the truly special moment came. There was a very inside joke in the Facebook group where I had told people I would happily take photos of whatever they wanted to see inside the trailer, unless it was “weird” like “I’d like to see what Santa Claus sitting at the dinette would look like.” So Dominique (basically the CEO of manufacturing) told me there was a special guest coming. Who should come walking out but Denis in a full on Santa suit, ready to snap a shot! It’s nice to buy something big from a company with a heart (and sense of humor).

We spent most of the day there with training. Richard also took a break to make 12v espresso for a few people. We spent the night at the KOA down the street and really just tried to unpack and unwind from such a magical moment. We will be venturing out to do what trailers are meant to do – camping – soon. For now, we’re just over the moon with love for the people at Safari Condo and with our beautiful Dory.

Many travels to come!