"It turns out all we needed was a little more of this." ~ How to Train Your Dragon

When we decided to trade in our 2021 Chev Silverado High Country 1 ton pickup truck for a 2008 Freightliner M2 Sport Chassis people thought we were a bit crazy.  To be honest, we were kind of thinking the same thing.  The Freightliner was big and black and beautiful and we decided that if we were going to haul our new home and six dogs around North America that we would sacrifice luxury for safety.  The Chev likely would have pulled the trailer quite easily, but in the long run it would have put a lot of wear and tear on it and, given the weight of the trailer and all its contents the stopping power of the Freightliner was much better.  Besides, this was what the Freightliner was designed for - to haul.  The back seat of the Chev was cramped and with Reba and the five littles there was very little room for comfort for them.  The back seat of the Freightliner easily accommodates all of the bodies and allows Reba to fully stretch out and relax.  In the end, it is a decision that we are glad we made.  It's not the most comfortable ride and can be tricky sometimes when running errands and exploring, but so far we have made do and managed just fine.  We need to be cautious where we park and what roads we drive on but with a little planning, a good GPS and Google Earth we can usually find an appropriate route.

It wasn't too long that we realized we couldn't call it "the truck" or "the Freightliner" any longer.  He (and we had decided it was a "he") would need a name.  It came to us with the name "Bonnie" decaled to the driver's side.  We weren't sure if this was the previous owner's name, the previous owner's wife's name, the previous owner's mistress' name or just a name the previous owner liked.  One thing we knew was that we weren't keen on the name "Bonnie".  Not that it's a bad name, it's not, but it held no significance for us other than the fact that it was the name of our barn cat.  We needed a different, more fitting name. One of our favorite animated movies is "How To Train Your Dragon" (anyone who hasn't seen it, I highly recommend sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and watching it).  The main dragon character is a Night Fury named Toothless.  Toothless is big, black and beautiful.  He is inquisitive, playful and intelligent and would stop at nothing to protect his Viking soul-mate, Hiccup.  Together Toothless and Hiccup soar through the sky on new adventures, discovering new and wonderful places and experiencing the freedom of adventure. As we looked at our new big, black, beautiful truck waiting patiently in our driveway to carry us across the country side, with its short, rounded and stubby nose, its almond shaped and slightly slanted headlights and the sheer size of it, "Toothless" seemed the perfect fit.  From that time on our new to us Freightliner M2 became affectionately known as Toothless.

What we hadn't really anticipated was the attention we would draw to ourselves driving Toothless.  The view from the cab is amazing and we sit well above other vehicles on the road (except for the REAL semis).  We knew he was unique and stood out in a crowd, we NEVER lose him in a crowded parking lot, but didn't expect to be the center of attention whenever we pulled in to places.  Whether it was our next campground, a gas station to fill up, the far end of the parking lot when picking up groceries, running errands, or just picking up pizza or an ice cream cone there was always one or two heads that turned our way.  We heard comments such as "I had to laugh when I saw you guys pull in here to get an ice cream cone!" and "You drove that thing all the way from Alberta?? And people thought I was crazy!!" to "Well, now my husband wants a truck like that."  When we book Hipcamps and private places to stay we always stress that we are BIG and heavy, we need a lot of room both from side-to-side and above us and solid ground.  Still, despite assuring us that they have plenty of room some people seem surprised when we arrive saying "Oh!  I didn't know you were THIS big".  At nearly every Hipcamp we have pulled in to the greeting has involved "You are, by far, the largest rig we have had here!  Do you mind if I take a picture?"

Another interesting social phenomenon is that most people associate a truck like Toothless as a male thing.  They are quite surprised when two women climb down out of the cab (then followed by umpteen dogs!).  I had gone in to the main office of a KOA to check in and when the gal at reception was explaining how to get to our site she said, "Just have your husband back up and he'll have to take this road behind us".  I replied, "He is me and I will do just that".  She apologized and said that she just assumed.  I told her that it was ok.  Besides, we were used to it and we had come to realize that. . . it's just a Toothless thing!