Friday Teardrop Video
Today, instead of a photo, I thought I would put up a video of Stacie Tamaki and her Glampette who was featured on the Jennylynn Show a few months ago. Jennylynn Gleave is a Bay Area TV producer and host who interviews various leaders in the Northern California area.
January/February Issue of Cool Tears & Tiny Campers
The latest issue of Cool Tears & Tiny Campers is out on the virtual newstands now. This issue includes a story on tiny trailers and Model A cars, an interview with Dylan DeHoff of Little Guy Worldwide and a feature story of a 1966 half-dead teardrop brought back to life by Randy Higgins.
Tiny Meercat Trailer
While this tiny trailer is not a teardrop, the Little Guy Trailers distributor in San Diego, has done a really amazing job of restoring a vintage 1968-69 Eriba Puck trailer into a stylish and modern camper. The company decided to rename their project and are calling it the Meercat Trailer because of its diminutive size.
The original Eriba Puck trailers were lightweight European trailers built for two people and weighing in around 500-800 lbs. The Meercat is 900 lbs. and only 6-feet tall at the roof, but it luckily has a pop top for taller people. This steel tube framed trailer features a dining area that converts into a queen size bed, a two-burner stove, sink and an ice box, a closet and storage under the seating, a port-a-potty, stylish lighting, and a battery and connections for power and water.
The 100 percent American made trailer is now being built and sold by the San Diego company as a unique, restored design built around the size of the original Eriba.
Photos by Little Guy San Diego
The 100 percent American made trailer is now being built and sold by the San Diego company as a unique, restored design built around the size of the original Eriba.
Photos by Little Guy San Diego
Friday Teardrop Photo
The Sunflower pulled over at the side of Highway 93 near Rogerson, Idaho. My husband just had to get a photo of a thresher cutting grain by the side of the road.
When towing your teardrop trailer, there will be times when you have to pull over suddenly for impromptu photos, fruit stand stops or emergency situations. Pulling over on the side of the road while towing takes a little more finesse and planning than while driving a car.
When pulling over, scan ahead quickly for the best place. You don't want your teardrop tires or axle to hit a curb, large rocks or a ditch. This could damage the teardrop axle. The Sunflower is a few inches wider on each side than my car, so I have to keep an eye on the back mirror to make sure my fiberglass bumpers don't bump anything. Also be sure you have enough length to pull over completely. You don't want a piece of your trailer sticking out into the road.
More Teardrop Trailer Rentals
The teardrop trailer rental industry seems to be growing all the time, and I have some additions to my previous list of companies that offer teardrop rentals in the U.S. I was actually thinking of creating a map of teardrop trailer rental companies using Leaflet. I recently created a similar map for all the tribal courts in the country — so putting rental companies into a map should be a snap!
Hitch and Go Adventures (Houston, Texas)
Hitch and Go Adventures in Houston, Texas have three fiberglass teardrops for rent for only $50 per day (10 percent tax rate not included). They include chairs, shade canopies, folding tables, dishes and utensils, but no linens or blankets.
Miller Trailer Sales (Perkasie, PA)
Miller Trailer Sales in Pennsylvania has a "try before you buy" program for three of their rental trailers. If you rent a trailer and then decide to buy you own within 60 days, they will deduct the rental cost (up to $260) from your final purchase price.
Thomas RV Rentals (Charlotte, NC)
Along with their larger RV rentals, Thomas RV Rentals in North Carolina rents out a 4-foot wide Little Guy teardrop (April-October) for $65 a night or $390 a week. It includes a DVD/CD player, a 10x10 foot screened porch, heating and AC and a Coleman stove can be rented for an additional $5 a night.
TC Teardrops (Wausau, Wisconsin)
TC Teardrops in Wisconsin have a partnership with a local campground where you can test out one of their trailers before buying your own. The cost is $39 a night when used at the Indian Trails campground and $49 a night when used off site. It's only $299 for 7 days when the trailer is used off site.
Pasadena Teardrop Rentals (Sierra Madre, California)
Prices: $250 for 3 nights. Handmade teardrops by Sierra Madre Teardrop Trailers
Hitch and Go Adventures (Houston, Texas)
Hitch and Go Adventures in Houston, Texas have three fiberglass teardrops for rent for only $50 per day (10 percent tax rate not included). They include chairs, shade canopies, folding tables, dishes and utensils, but no linens or blankets.
Miller Trailer Sales (Perkasie, PA)
Miller Trailer Sales in Pennsylvania has a "try before you buy" program for three of their rental trailers. If you rent a trailer and then decide to buy you own within 60 days, they will deduct the rental cost (up to $260) from your final purchase price.
Thomas RV Rentals (Charlotte, NC)
Along with their larger RV rentals, Thomas RV Rentals in North Carolina rents out a 4-foot wide Little Guy teardrop (April-October) for $65 a night or $390 a week. It includes a DVD/CD player, a 10x10 foot screened porch, heating and AC and a Coleman stove can be rented for an additional $5 a night.
TC Teardrops (Wausau, Wisconsin)
TC Teardrops in Wisconsin have a partnership with a local campground where you can test out one of their trailers before buying your own. The cost is $39 a night when used at the Indian Trails campground and $49 a night when used off site. It's only $299 for 7 days when the trailer is used off site.
Pasadena Teardrop Rentals (Sierra Madre, California)
Prices: $250 for 3 nights. Handmade teardrops by Sierra Madre Teardrop Trailers
How do your wash your clothes?
I recently got back from a three week trip to Europe and only took two sets of clothes in one small carry on piece of luggage. Traveling so lightly requires a lot of hand washing in various sinks in different countries and washing out items actually becomes a nightly ritual. The same holds true for teardrop camping. Because our teardrop trailer closets are so small, we carry very little clothing and on longer trips, we have to do a fair amount of hand washing along with taking our clothes to a laundry facility.
If we're traveling for a few weeks, we usually take our clothes to a laundry facility every week. However, I do try to wash out underwear, socks, dish towels, T-shirts and tank tops every night and hang them up to dry on our camping clothesline that is strung up between two trees. We keep the clothesline, the clothes pins and some packets of laundry soap in the storage area under the bed, but I will sometimes just wash with Dr. Bronner's soap or even just biodegradable dish soap. Washing usually takes place with water from a spigot or even a river or stream in our regular dishwashing containers. We dump our used water in a campground toilet or a utility sink and never on the ground.
The Scrubba Wash Bag is a little pricey at nearly $70, but this Australian designed washing bag with a built in washing board can probably be taken on any kind of trip...not just a teardrop camping trip. It's very portable and the design is so fun. The Scrubba also donates some of its proceeds to the World Vision Emergency and Preparedness Fund and the Charity:Water fund.
The portable 14 inch Laundry POD washes clothes like a salad spinner. It lets you do a small load of laundry with no electricity. It's designed to fit under sinks, so it could probably fit into a small storage area in a trailer.
The Wonder Wash is a little bit larger than the POD, but I have seen it being used by many tiny house dwellers. It may be too unwieldy for teardrop camping, but could work for people who camp in larger trailers.
If we're traveling for a few weeks, we usually take our clothes to a laundry facility every week. However, I do try to wash out underwear, socks, dish towels, T-shirts and tank tops every night and hang them up to dry on our camping clothesline that is strung up between two trees. We keep the clothesline, the clothes pins and some packets of laundry soap in the storage area under the bed, but I will sometimes just wash with Dr. Bronner's soap or even just biodegradable dish soap. Washing usually takes place with water from a spigot or even a river or stream in our regular dishwashing containers. We dump our used water in a campground toilet or a utility sink and never on the ground.
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This inexpensive clothesline allows you to hang up clothes without the use of pins. Just shove the edges of the clothes into the twisted sections of the bungee.
Since we usually camp in the desert, high desert or the mountains of the West, our clothes dry quickly in the sun and wind, so we can take them down and wear them again in just a few hours. Unlike some hyper-controlled or HOA areas where people live, it doesn't seem to be much of a faux pas to hang your clothes up outside on a clothesline at a campground. We have yet to run into a campground that doesn't let you hang up your clothes to dry.
If we ever need to dry some clothes while on the road (like our swimsuits after bathing in a hot spring), we leave the clothes on the teardrop trailer bed and then drive with the teardrop windows up, letting the wind and sun come in through the screens as we tow the trailer down the road.
* Several Tiny Yellow Teardrop readers responded to this post with some ingenious ideas for washing clothes on the road. Thank you NetDep and AnetaCuse!
The Wonder Wash is a little bit larger than the POD, but I have seen it being used by many tiny house dwellers. It may be too unwieldy for teardrop camping, but could work for people who camp in larger trailers.
Friday Teardrop Photo
NetDep's Teardrop Awning
NetDep is a reader of the Tiny Yellow Teardrop blog and recently sent me some photos of his 6x10 Little Guy Silver Shadow teardrop trailer. Right away, I and several other readers, noticed the cool awning that he had over one of his trailer doors and I asked him more about where he got it.
NetDep ordered his Silver Shadow with a Rough Rider off-road frame and also had the factory install a roof rack. A local auto shop,that has done some custom work on the trailer, ordered an ARB awning and attached it to the rack. The ARB is a retractable awning that fits onto any vehicle or trailer roof rack and can be stored away in a roof-top bag while driving. They are designed for harsh sun and are waterproof and UV protected. The awning and telescoping legs are stored away in a PVC bag and then deployed and installed in just a few minutes. Optional mosquito netting is available for the ARB.
"I could not be happier," NetDep said. "ARB is an awesome manufacturer of all things Expedition and the camp chairs I use are also ARB and I love them. My favorite ARB dealer is Sierra Expeditions."
His rugged, off-road Silver Shadow was custom ordered from Little Guy and contains a sink and stove but no refrigerator since he uses a Yeti cooler for storing food. Other additions include a solar panel with plug-in and an upgraded
entertainment package. He also wanted the color and the tires to match his 2011 black Toyota Tacoma.
Friday Teardrop Photo
Burning Man has made the announcement for its 2014 theme and ticket sales, so I thought I would put up a photo of the Sunflower and my car all loaded up for the 2013 event. The sky looks really gray and nasty and that was from last summer's Yosemite fire that dumped smoke right into our area. The "Man" symbol on the hatch was made with blue painter's tape.
Featured Teardrop: Le Splash
Since I've been in the City of Light for several days now, I'm continuing on with my French teardrop theme and featuring a teardrop trailer by the UK company Camp-Runner. Their Le Splash teardrop trailer is an unusual and sleek design that features a back door and no galley. This very lightweight trailer only weighs 573 lbs and can be towed with a motorcycle or a Smart Car.
The fiberglass Le Splash is being offered as an outdoor sports enthusiast's trailer and contains a mattress, clothes storage, a stargazer window, 3-speed fan and a 220/12V charger/converter. It has a roof rack for surfing or skiing equipment and a front rack to store bicycles.
Camp-Runner offers several lightweight teardrop trailers for the European market including the Alpina by Little Guy and the Mediterane. The Cargo is an open model that's used for transporting sporting goods.
Photos by Camp-Runner
The fiberglass Le Splash is being offered as an outdoor sports enthusiast's trailer and contains a mattress, clothes storage, a stargazer window, 3-speed fan and a 220/12V charger/converter. It has a roof rack for surfing or skiing equipment and a front rack to store bicycles.
Camp-Runner offers several lightweight teardrop trailers for the European market including the Alpina by Little Guy and the Mediterane. The Cargo is an open model that's used for transporting sporting goods.
Friday Teardrop Photo
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. I've been visiting family in Denmark for the holidays and traveling in Paris for a while. I've been keeping my eye out for any European teardrop trailers, but so far, they all seem to be tucked away for the winter.
However, I did see this stylish trailer being used as a display for the design firm, DecorMaison. Wouldn't a Parisian themed teardrop be fun? Some Tour de Eiffel salt and pepper shakers and some Montmartre inspired curtains? Oui, c'est bon!
