For the first time since owning our TAXA TigerMoth we had the oh so fun pleasure of moving. When we bought our habitat in the fall of 2019 we definitely did not take into consideration the fact that owning a small camper means needing to have a place to park and store said camper… whoops. It’s very much like buying a horse… which we’ve also never done.
We planned on moving at the end of May, and needed to make sure we found an apartment (in crazy congested L.A. County) that could accommodate our TigerMoth plus safely park our Subaru Outback. As you can imagine, this is not the easiest task, especially when adhering to a budget.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
One option included two outdoor parking spots in Hermosa Beach. This could have worked, but the added benefit of garage storage means not having to worry about where to keep our bikes and boards. We thought about keeping them on and in the TAXA. We concluded that doing that would allow opportunity for theft, and we wanted to keep our TigerMoth pristine and ready for adventure, not turn it into a storage locker.
NEXT.
For whatever reason, the majority of the garages in California’s beachy South Bay Area open out instead of rolling up. This takes away at least 6-inches of space. It also means you can’t park in front of the door and then have interior access. Only a little bit inconvenient… but we knew we could work with it.
We found a sick spot miraculously within our price range across from the beach in Redondo Beach. We eyeballed the garage door and vowed to make it work. “Worst case scenario we’ll have to take some air out of the tires,” we thought. We started by taking our Tepui awning off, which came off wonderfully easy. With the awning on, the TigerMoth is 7’11” and with it off you gain 5” of clearance. Perfecto.
Our trailer made the trek from Ventura to Redondo Beach. She was disappointed when we pulled up to a garage. “I thought we were going camping,” I could hear her whine. “Sorry, buddy… adulting first, camping soon.” She nodded in approval.
We backed it up to the door… would it fit? “It’s hard sayin’.”
We unhooked the Subie, as trying to back the habitat in seemed wayyy too risky. There was an eye hook screwed into the top of the door. That needed to come out for sure. The two of us pushed the trailer up a small incline, it’s going to be closeeee… With a dry weight of 1,360 pounds it was incredibly easy for two adults to maneuver. This was a blessing.
Sure enough, the TAXA TigerMoth fit by the width of my pointer finger. Barely. Amazing. We were in awe. This seriously would not be possible with any other camper with an equivalent amount of interior space. We’re so thankful to have a nice cozy new home for our TigerMoth.
