Teardrop Trailer Trip to Benton Hot Springs and Boundary Peak

For the Labor Day Weekend, we took off for the very edge of the California/Nevada border and had a semi-relaxing few days at Benton Hot Springs. Highway 120 on the way to Benton (from beautiful Mono Lake) is an excellent highway for towing. It's free of any traffic, has some great boondocking spots, and a few roller coaster ride hills.

One day was spent attempting to hike to the top of the tallest mountain in Nevada—Boundary Peak. At 13,147 feet, it is actually more difficult to get to than many tall peaks in the area. You first have to drive an old dirt mining road up several thousand feet just to reach the trailhead. The steep trail then goes up to about 10,500 feet before it reaches a tallus field. This tallus field is where I had to bail out. With one step forward, I would slip about three feet back. My friends continued on, but also had to quit the hike when the trail got too sketchy and dangerous. Maybe that's why the mountain only has a few hundred visitors a year, and a small fraction of them ever reach the top.

The rest of our time was spent relaxing in the private hot pool of our Benton campsite. Benton Hot Springs sites each have their own pool constantly filled with natural, hot water.

His and Hers Minimalist Teardrop Trailer Dopp Kits

Our teardrop trailer dopp kit used to be a single box where we kept shared toiletry items. My husband and I finally realized that we would always be yelling back and forth between campground showers as to who had the soap, toothpaste, bath scrubby, etc. So, I decided to get us each our own his and hers dopp kits.

The blue and pink color coding has nothing to with our gender, but I just happen to like hot pink (matches my camping jacket) and he likes blue. I picked up two soft-sided toiletry bags from Amazon that fit perfectly on top of each other inside our clothes cabinet. The brand is Yeiotsy, but I don't think this particular type is available anymore. You can pick up something similar.

In addition to getting new kits, we got rid of our traditional towels and went with lightweight sports towels which dry a lot quicker. They are also color coded to match the kits...of course. :-) The kits fit a variety of toiletries, a bath scrubby, and first aid supplies. The towels are so small that they also fit inside each kit.

Escaping the Heat: Teardrop Trip to the Mountains

With the soaring summer heat, we decided to take off for the weekend to one of our favorite places in the Sierra Nevada. Forest camping, kayaking, swimming, and sitting around the campfire were the only plans—until the smoke from the northern California fires started to encroach the area. Strength and blessings to the firefighters and residents affected by the fires.

Grand Canyon and Desert Southwest Teardrop Trip

A few weeks ago we were finally able to shake the snow off the Sunflower and head into the Southwest for some desert camping, whitewater rafting, and a stunning hike out of the Grand Canyon.

Our primary goal on this particular trip was a motorized river rafting trip down the Colorado River through the upper portion of the Grand Canyon. For certain this is an item on many bucket lists, so were were so excited to finally do it. We booked a four-day trip with Hatch River Expeditions out of Marble Canyon, Arizona with a hike out of the canyon on the infamous Bright Angel trail up to the South Rim of the canyon.

Our trip began with a drive down the Extraterrestrial Highway and a few nights in Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas. The oldest and largest state park in Nevada is a gem. Full of red sandstone, petroglyphs, great hiking and storm skies, this place is now one of my favorite places to camp. The teardrop attracted a lot of attention from the primarily European RVers traveling through the American Southwest.

When we arrived in northern Arizona (through a snowstorm near the North Rim), we were able to park the teardrop and our vehicle near the river raft headquarters and then we started on our adventure. The trip consisted of two large rafts, three guides, about 20 passengers, camping on riverside beaches, delicious food, and freezing cold rapids. It was a blast and recommended for anyone who loves the the outdoors and doesn't mind roughing it a bit.

The hike out of the Grand Canyon is not for beginners. We were happy we had already backpacked Mount Whitney because the Bright Angel Trail is hot and a lot tougher than we thought it would be. While the hike was just over eight miles and very beautiful, the steep terrain and log steps made the relatively short hike take a long time. We started at 5:30 in the morning and got to the top at around 1:00 pm. I drank over six liters of water—incredible since the temperature never got over 70 degrees.

On our trip back home we stopped at another bucket list location: Cathedral Gorge State Park. This odd and haunting place in Nevada near the Utah border has eerie formations created from erosion eating away at bentonite clay pillars. Several of these formations create narrow caves that you can explore. The farther you go in, the cooler it gets since the desert sun can't penetrate the interior.

Sunflower makes an appearance in the Spokesman-Review

When I opened up our local paper this morning, my bright yellow teardrop trailer was staring back at me. It turns out that a stock photo my husband took of us camping in the Desatoya mountains of Nevada was used as the main photo in an article on adventure camping. A nice surprise to go with my coffee.

The article was originally posted in the Statesman-Review of Spokane, Wash. and has been picked up by other AP newspapers, including the Reno Gazette-Journal. The article discusses the popularity of RV growth among younger people and their desires for more adventurous camping. A teardrop is great for that, kids!

You can read the entire article here:

A Little Trip to Little Guy Trailers

I recently returned from San Diego, Calif. where I visited Little Guy Trailers. This company focuses on campers and trailers less than 2,800 lb. and has their own camper design—the MeerKat. The company has a wide range of tiny campers and trailers to choose from, all in one place. They include the nüCamp RV T@B and T@G, Little Guy teardrop trailers like the MyPod and the Silver Shadow, Serro Scotty trailers, and the new Ascape by Aliner. Little Guy Trailers also has the beautiful T@B 400.

What's so great about this company is that you can get a better idea about which tiny camper works for you. Sometimes photos and videos don't do the space or amenities any justice and you need to visit each trailer individually and compare. The staff are more than happy to offer you tours of each type of trailer and give you the pros and cons of each.

Little Guy Trailer's own MeerKat could be a nice alternative to a teardrop trailer. The 900 lb. camper has a popup canvas roof, dinette that converts into a bed, cabinets and a basic kitchen. The kitchen is meant to be more for camping than RVing and features a one-burner propane stove and a sink with a pump that works with any container you want to use.

Learn more about Little Guy Trailers on their website or in my article for Tiny House Magazine. Watch my video to see a quick tour of the company.