Four years ago when we purchased this glorious 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with its 12 valve Cummins engine, I said I’d never sell her. We christened her “Darlene”. When we finally found the perfect Four Wheel Camper Grandby and it slid oh-so-perfectly into the bed of Darlene, I reiterated to Beth that we were never selling our rig, and that we would pass this beautiful beast onto our children and revel them with tales of our life on the road.
But life happens. After two years of living in Darlene and traveling the country we found ourselves on the opposite coast from where we set out, happily settled in Eugene Oregon. Now that we have running hot water, a flushing toilet, and an oven we aren’t quite sure we want to live that nomadic life for a while. We want to embed ourselves here, learn the area, save some money, start the next adventure, follow the next dream.
We honestly thought Darlene would just be our family truck & camper, and that we’d drive her till the wheels fell off. But a series of financial setbacks and some soul-searching led us to realize that she just isn’t the ideal truck for us anymore. We, bear with me, might need more of a family-friendly daily driver. No, we’re not expecting kids just yet, but the discussion is on the table...and getting 14-17mpg just isn’t cutting it when you’re 30 and struggling to pay off debt and build savings while switching careers and earning paltry entry-level pay in a new career. Throw getting married and potentially starting a family into the mix. Yeah, we might need something a bit smaller and more “city friendly”. Honestly if we were still traveling the country, we’d stick with her. If we made more money we’d stick with her. If we had more time off to take longer vacations we’d stick with her. But unfortunately the sad reality is she just is too much truck and camper for us, and so Darlene is now for sale. I re-found my love and passion for motorcycles, and riding a motorcycle to work is far more exciting than driving what used to be my home. Not to mention getting 45-55mpg is waaaaaaaay better.
If you’ve followed our adventures, you probably already know Darlene. If you haven’t followed our adventures, or want to see some honest history of this rig, just pop on over to Traveling-trio.com, instagram.com/traveling.trioor facebook.com/that.traveling.trio - we have nothing to hide. We’ve met many of you on our travels, or probably hung out with/know someone you know.
Let’s get the quick facts out of the way here for those of you who are already tired of reading:
But life happens. After two years of living in Darlene and traveling the country we found ourselves on the opposite coast from where we set out, happily settled in Eugene Oregon. Now that we have running hot water, a flushing toilet, and an oven we aren’t quite sure we want to live that nomadic life for a while. We want to embed ourselves here, learn the area, save some money, start the next adventure, follow the next dream.
We honestly thought Darlene would just be our family truck & camper, and that we’d drive her till the wheels fell off. But a series of financial setbacks and some soul-searching led us to realize that she just isn’t the ideal truck for us anymore. We, bear with me, might need more of a family-friendly daily driver. No, we’re not expecting kids just yet, but the discussion is on the table...and getting 14-17mpg just isn’t cutting it when you’re 30 and struggling to pay off debt and build savings while switching careers and earning paltry entry-level pay in a new career. Throw getting married and potentially starting a family into the mix. Yeah, we might need something a bit smaller and more “city friendly”. Honestly if we were still traveling the country, we’d stick with her. If we made more money we’d stick with her. If we had more time off to take longer vacations we’d stick with her. But unfortunately the sad reality is she just is too much truck and camper for us, and so Darlene is now for sale. I re-found my love and passion for motorcycles, and riding a motorcycle to work is far more exciting than driving what used to be my home. Not to mention getting 45-55mpg is waaaaaaaay better.
If you’ve followed our adventures, you probably already know Darlene. If you haven’t followed our adventures, or want to see some honest history of this rig, just pop on over to Traveling-trio.com, instagram.com/traveling.trioor facebook.com/that.traveling.trio - we have nothing to hide. We’ve met many of you on our travels, or probably hung out with/know someone you know.
Let’s get the quick facts out of the way here for those of you who are already tired of reading:
- 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 with a 12v Cummins at 238,657 which might go up because every now and then I don’t ride my motorcycle. For you CA residents, I’m pretty sure she’s SMOG-exempt, and you don’t have to buy DEF! We bought her at 190k from a sheriff-turned-farmer who had apparently purchased it from the original owner (or that’s what we were told). We basically drove across the country 5 times and then up and down the West coast and all over California so the miles added up, but most of them were highway miles if that matters to you.
- 2007 Four Wheel Camper “Grandby” shell model that has been modified inside to be more than just a shell. It has a couch, solar panels, Dometic fridge, Thetford potty, and some other goodies outlined below.
- Eugene, OR is where she lives. If you wanna do a fly and ride, I’ll pick you up in her and you can crash in the front yard for the night before you head on your way. If you’re located somewhat nearby and can commit to a down-payment and pay for fuel, I’d even consider driving to you, within reason and availability of my schedule.
- Clean and clear Oregon title in my name.
- $22,000 is what we’re asking. If you don’t think that’s fair then make an offer. We’re not in a rush or a bind. We know what this rig is worth and we have a folder of receipts and documents to back it up. We’re open to talks. We’re also open to potential trades for something smaller and slightly more fuel-efficient. For a list of potential trades look below.**
- She is turn-key ready minus two things that I’ll elaborate on below, but you’ll need a jack and a new thermistor for the fridge.
- Truck and camper are sold together. We’re not separating them unless NOBODY makes an offer, for like, a year or something. I told you, we’re not in a rush. The truck was specifically set up and balanced within her suspension to hold the weight of the camper, including our gear, so separating them would just be inhumane. They were made for each other. If you want to separate them later, that’s your business, but we’re gonna let them stick together for now.
- Additional photos can be found here:https://photos.app.goo.gl/NkqYUAZV9R7j4qpj2
I’ll probably upload more as I have time, so check them out. We included old photos of before the big upgrades of tires/suspension so you can see where she came from. - Contact us via PM or email: TravelingTrio88@gmail.com