Friday Teardrop Photo

I received this photo from Gary Hardy, a teardrop trailer owner in Australia. During an outing to the Little Desert National Park in Victoria, Gary's wife nearly had to share the camp shower with a local emu. Gary was inspired by my teardrop trailer shower post and the couple now have their own nifty shower setup—complete with a prep table.

Friday Teardrop Photo

 

Taking a nap in the Sunflower at the Lone Pine Campground the day after hiking Mount Whitney.

I usually like to read or take a nap in the teardrop with the doors open for a fresh breeze. In fact, if we are camping in a warm (and safe) place—we'll sometimes sleep with the doors open all night.

Dutch Oven Burn Party

Because I was out setting fires, I totally blew last Friday's Teardrop Photo.

In the high desert, this time of the year is burn season. This means our county gives us seven days to gather up and burn downed tree branches, yard waste, leaves and pine needles and dead sagebrush. It tends to really pile up over the winter, and burn season is a time of celebration and major yard cleanup in order to keep a defensible space against wildfires.

 Of course, this type of hard work doesn't get done without the incentive of having a party. Since burning can be hard and dangerous work, you need help. Each year, we get together with our neighbors to burn collective waste, and celebrate afterwards with a coal fired Dutch oven breakfast.

 

Teardrop trailers and Dutch ovens go hand in hand, so it's nice to be able to break out the Dutch ovens from winter storage and season them up before taking them on the road. We usually make a Mountain Man breakfast, which comes from Outdoor Cast Iron Cooking's channel and

cornbread or cornbread pudding with bacon and sausages. Of course, we always have hot coffee and Mimosas with orange juice and champagne.

 

Teardrop Trailer Food

When teardrop camping, we have a tendency to bring along the same types of food. This is really because we have limited storage space and usually we want to spend our time outside hiking, kayaking or enjoying other outdoor sports. We don't want to spend our time figuring out new recipes. So we have gotten into the habit of bringing along our favorite things every time we head into the hills.

Most of our dinners are cooked in a dutch oven which goes hand-in-hand with teardrop camping, and which I will cover in a future post. However, a lot of our meals are also cooked over the propane stove or over the campfire, and because we've been out and about all day our favorite foods and drinks tend to be high in calories.

Our camping standbys are:

Breakfast

Bagels (toasted on the stove or over the fire) and cream cheese
Grapefruit
Orange juice
Eggs (sometimes mixed with cheese or sweet peppers)
Bacon
Toast
Tortillas
Pancake mix and syrup
Coffee

Lunch (usually eaten on a trail or on a kayak beach)

Tortillas (we love quesadillas with turkey or ham)
Bread and cold cuts
Tunafish salad
Pickles 
Apples and oranges
Cheese

Happy Hour 

Tortilla chips and salsa
Olives
Hummus and veggies
Crackers and goat cheese
 
Alcohol

Pre-mixed margaritas (and a few limes)
Beer with twist caps
Wine with twist caps

Dinner

Various dutch oven meals (stews or pizza are our favorites)
Steak
BBQ Chicken
Steamed veggies in aluminum foil on the fire
Grilled veggies 

Desserts

Jiffy Pop popcorn
Roasted Marshmallows or S'mores
Hot Chocolate
Dutch oven brownies or upside down pineapple/peach cake


No matter what we bring, it always tastes much better out in the fresh air.

What would I have instead of a teardrop?

Even though I camp in and love my teardrop trailer, I also enjoy checking out other types of camping trailers. I think the design, space efficiency and personalization of other trailers says a lot about the people who own them. When given the chance, I will go up to a random owner of a small fiberglass trailer or an Airstream and ask if I can peak inside. Rather than getting kidnapped, I make a new friend.

So what would I have if I didn't have a teardrop trailer? Here are my top six picks for an alternative camping trailer or vehicle (if money was no object):

Airstream Sport 16

This quintessential camping trailer would be the height of camping luxury. I would not want one of the larger Airstream trailers because I would need a truck to tow it, but one of the smaller new or vintage trailers would be just fine, thank you. I would specifically want the Airstream Sport 16 foot with that tiny wet bath, dinette and an actual closet.

VW Westfalia Vanagon (1985 with Poptop)

There's something so secretive and self-sustaining about a VW van. You can discreetly park them anywhere, haul a nice load of food and water and still have some room to stand up. Every time I see a Westfalia in a campground, I can't keep my eyes off of them. I chose the 1985 because of the more plush interior and an optional automatic transmission.

Thor or Little Guy T@B

I've been in love with the T@B ever since I saw it at an RV show about ten years ago. They are limited when it comes to a bathroom and water storage, but for their size and weight, you can fit a lot into them. They are cute and colorful with everything you need to stay warm and comfortable while camping. The T@B used to be made by Thor Industries, but is now being manufactured by Little Guy.

Sportsmobile 4x4

My husband really likes the Sportsmobile 4x4 van and every person I've met who owns one are so cool and friendly. This is the type of camping vehicle you want if you intend to head out into the deserts of Baja or Nevada. They are tough and expensive, but can hold up to about a week's worth of food and water. It's the ultimate bug out vehicle.

Trillium 1300

The fiberglass Trillium was originally built in the 1970s and it making a comeback. The best version of this lightweight trailer is made by the Trillium RV company in southern California. They have a 4,500 lb. trailer with a wet bath and a 1,300 lb. trailer without a wet bath. The 1,300 would be easier to tow, but the 4,500 would be nice for longer trips.

Knaus Schwalbennest (Swallow's Nest)

This tiny speck of German ingenuity had me at willkommen. The Schwalbennest was built the first time in the 1960s and was briefly brought back by the Knaus company for their 50th anniversary. If I had had enough time and money to jump on a plane to Germany and hire a shipping company to bring one back to the U.S. for me, I would have it in my hot little hands now.

Ten Best Teardrop Galleys

A few months ago, I was showing my teardrop for the first time to my friend Pedro. He had no idea the trailer had a kitchen in the back, and when I opened up the hatch, he nearly fell over. There is something brilliant and beautiful about a teardrop trailer galley, and they are great examples of smart design and fresh air cooking. This list contains the 10 best teardrop galleys I've run into over the past few years. Many of them are great examples of space-saving ideas, ingenuity, craftsmanship and design.

 

The Little Guy Silver Shadow is a manufactured, stock teardrop, but their 5x10 model has a really nice galley with a sink and roll-out stove. It's nearly similar in design to my galley with a small drawer and the useful top shelf which keeps cups and other items from flying out while going down the road.

 

This is a 1947 Kenskill teardrop featured on the Old Trailer.com website. I really love the way the utensils and the paper towels have been integrated into the older cabinets.

 

This teardrop by Mini Tears is meant to be towed behind a Mini Cooper. The fold-out table, roll-out ice chest holder and rolling cabinet covers give this galley some great details.

 

Big Woody Campers build some of the most beautiful trailers on the road today and their ultimate teardrop galley contains a double sink, a small fridge and a space for your TV.

 

This is a simple, but really well organized galley by Camp ADK. This couple's website is one of the first ones I came across while searching for my first teardrop trailer. I really love that they built the galley around the size of a 5 gallon water tank. 

 

This is a great example of a way to add on extra work space to a galley. Sunset magazine featured this teardrop trailer in an article about glamping.

 

This is one of my favorite teardrops from the Douglas Keister book, "Teardrops & Tiny Trailers".

It was built by Douglas Hoder.

 

This galley has always been one of my favorites. The use of tile and color makes it look so different from other teardrops I've seen.  It was built by Melody Lucero with a Desert Teardrop plan.

 

This Moby1 galley has a place for everything. The design is really smart and well done for such a tiny area.

 

This is one of my favorite galleys on the TNTTT (Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers) forum. It's a Camp-Inn trailer that has been customized for a real camp chef. Check out that copper kettle!