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<< Previous   of   Next >> Dan Bates / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Steve Miller peers inside his 1967 Ford camper at his Tulalip home on Sunday. A large alder tree that fell during an Oct. 30 windstorm damaged the truck and an above-ground swimming pool nearby.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Storm dents Tulalip couple's retirement plan By Bill Sheets Herald Writer TULALIP — Steve and Mary Miller were planning to rehab their vintage Ford camper and take some trips as part of their retirement. They also looked forward to continuing to use their above-ground, backyard pool for another 15 years or so. Now, neither looks very likely after a 95-foot-tall alder tree fell on both the camper and the pool during a storm Oct. 30. The worst part is that they recently switched homeowners’ insurance companies to take advantage of a discount, Steve Miller said. Their new policy doesn’t cover the camper, and the company hasn’t said yet whether it will pay for damage to the pool. “The trouble is, we assumed, which we shouldn’t do, of course,” said Steve Miller, 66. The couple bought the pool for $2,500 and had it installed for another $3,000 about 10 years ago, not counting the pump and filter, the Millers said. It was made to last 25 years, Steve Miller said. “I’ve taught so many kids to swim in there,” he said. “We had baptisms in it.” The pool is 24 feet in diameter and stands about 3 feet above the ground. The top of the tree mashed it to the ground on one side. “That pool meant a lot to us,” Miller said. The Millers were in their bedroom, right next to the camper and the tree, on the afternoon of Oct. 30 when they heard a strange rending sound, he said. Then Steve Miller looked out and saw the tree on its way down. When it hit, “it felt like a bomb,” he said. The couple didn’t keep auto insurance on the powder blue and white 1967 Ford F-350 Camper Special because they haven’t been driving it lately. The trunk of the tree mashed the upper, forward part of the camper, the windshield and the hood. It was one of the first vehicles built as a self-contained motor home, as opposed to a pickup with a camper shell or detached trailer, according to Miller. “It was a real conversation piece wherever we went,” he said. “It’s unique.” They bought it used about 15 years ago and drove it a lot for several years, he said. Miller said his son and brother-in-law each lived in the camper for a time. The couple, living on a fixed, limited income, liked the security of having a fall-back place to stay “if everything falls apart,” he said. Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Tree? The tree pictured appears to be a Fir tree, not an alder. Clarence Gilbert | Nov 10, 2009 11:06 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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