The Sunflower's New Sink Setup

After going to my most recent teardrop trailer gathering, I realized we needed to come up with a different sink setup. The Sunflower does not have a built in sink, but we do use a few portable plastic sinks to do dishes, wash hands and faces, etc. However, whenever we want hot or just warm water, we have to constantly be heating up water on our Coleman stove.

A friend of mine had the brilliant idea to use an air or vacuum pot. It's one of those hot beverage dispensers you see at convenience stores or cafés. They are also used to keep coffee and tea hot at special events. She fills the dispenser with hot water in the morning and has hot to warm water all day long that is dispensed into a plastic sink pan for washing. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this?

However, I had to have my air pot match the bright, yellow Sunflower. I found a vintage Japanese Peacock brand vacuum dispenser on eBay and snapped it up for less than $10. Not only is it yellow and orange striped, but it has TWO dispensers so I can dispense either two hot or hot/cold or even cold/cold water when I want. To make it even more streamlined, I put the pot with the sinks on a small collapsible table that can also hold our five gallon Aquatainer. This system will most likely be used the most when we don't have access to a picnic table.

We still use our folding table and the galley for cooking and food prep, but having a separate area for "water" will be handy when camping.

Friday Teardrop Photo

The Sunflower is getting a much needed bath.

Featured Teardrop: DewDropN

William Warren is a reader of the Tiny Yellow Teardrop blog and sent me some photos of his wonderful build: the DewDropN. During his build, he lurked on a few websites while trying to decide what he wanted to build. He worked on and off for about a year on his trailer and still considers it a work in progresss. He purchased all of his trim, hinges and latches from Grant Whipp of Li'l Bear Tag Alongs.

"There were some frustrations and I stumbled along at times but whenever I hit a problem I would stop and think about it or just sleep on it and do some more research and boom there would be the answer," William said. "Sleeping on a problem is actually very good life advice I think."

Bedding for the Tear has been a journey too.

"We tried 4 inch pads and an air bed which was more comfortable than the pads but it did eventually let us down one night," he added. "So, I finally found a memory foam mattress that fits and it is awesome!"

William has always wanted to build a Benroy teardrop and may take that on as his next project.

Photos courtesy of William Warren

Friday Teardrop Photo

This was the teardrop last weekend with her E-Z UP shelter and her two new wind walls. It's nice to have the walls to enclose the cooking and galley area. Just like a cozy room.

Nevada Teardrop Camping: Unionville Gathering

Last week I took off for the middle of the Nevada desert with the Stargazers to attend the Twain and Tears teardrop gathering in the tiny hamlet of Unionville. It was hot, but the area had just received several inches of rain, turning the desert into a green paradise.

Unionville currently has about 20 residents and was the site of a mining boom between 1863 and 1870 and had over 1,500 residents. For a short time Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, tried his luck here. Canyon springs and rushing creeks make this area of the desert lush and full of wildlife. During this trip we saw antelope, wild donkeys, deer, marmots and chukar.

We chatted and ate with other teardroppers, went fossil hunting in the foothills, explored the rugged and muddy backroads, and hiked the canyons around the former mining towns that used to dominate the absolute middle of the middle of nowhere.

Photos by Christina Nellemann

Friday Teardrop Photo

This photo is not of a teardrop trailer, but of our car packed up for a typical teardrop camping trip. We like to keep the teardrop bed free of dirty camping items like chairs and tables, so we travel with them in the back of the car.

I also like to have items tightly packed and organized so they don't fly around while en route. Here we have our folding table, two Alps folding chairs, a 10x10 E-Z Up shelter, a five gallon container of water (desert camping), a small outdoor rug and our "tool box" which holds bungee cords and straps, a small hatchet/hammer combo, metal stakes and some hand wipes.

Everything is a little dusty from past camping trips.

Cool Tears and Tiny Trailers, May-June 2015

The latest issue of Cool Tears and Tiny Trailers is now available online and in print. This issue has a new editor as well as two artists' turquoise handmade teardrop and how to design a teardrop using SketchUp.