Showing posts with label road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label road. Show all posts

100 Routes Across America

100 Routes Across America is a personal blog written and edited by freelance writer and blogger Shannon Entin. Her desire to experience more out of life while dealing with weight issues and a heart condition was the catalyst for starting this blog that features both routes and small town destinations across America. The blog is named after the U.S. Highways numbers 1 to 100.


The blog covers routes in the Eastern, Central and Western sections of the country as well as travel for enrichment and wellness, travel tips, reviews and itineraries. Most of the blog focuses on family travel, but also touches on the out of the way places that are worth visiting during a road trip. For some reason, I'm dying to take the teardrop to Wall Drug in South Dakota.



Photos by Shannon Entin

Friday Teardrop Photo


 For some reason, the photos of us stopped for a teardrop trailer lunch on the road are very popular. Personally, I do love stopping in a parking lot or a public rest stop for lunch out of the teardrop. The looks we get are priceless.

At this stop we are having turkey and cheese spread sandwiches on pita bread with grapes and water. Ahhh...the luxurious life of a teardropper.

Teardrop Trailer Road Emergencies

No matter how much you prepare, there may be a time when you have to deal with a teardrop trailer emergency on the road. Emergencies can come in many forms and while it's a little easier to anticipate what might happen with a much smaller trailer, they still need to be planned for and dealt with.


I received a blog comment from ML on a roadside emergency that happened while towing a teardrop trailer. The teardrop fell off the hitch and ML was fortunate enough to get some help from the local Jiffy Lube. The employees used a jack and some wood scraps to lift the teardrop back up onto the tow vehicle hitch and ML was able to get back on the road. However, many other emergencies can be avoided or remedied by keeping a few things in mind and carrying a few extra items in your car.

Flat Tires

A flat tire while towing can be one of the most common road emergencies. Of course, you can get a flat on both the trailer and the tow vehicle so be prepared to deal with two different types of emergencies. First of all, remember to bring a spare for both the trailer and the vehicle and visually check them every few months. Also be sure to have a jack that can be used on both as well as a lug nut wrench.

When you get a flat tire or blowout on a trailer, you will be able to feel the extra drag and the trailer may begin to sway. When this happens, slightly accelerate to level out and then slowly drive your way to safety. Get as far off the road as possible. Most states require that you travel in the right hand lane when towing, so pulling over during an emergency should be easier. Many insurance companies require that you don't remove or repair the tire yourself, so having roadside assistance is as important as having a spare.

To avoid having a flat, regularly check the tire pressure in all your tires and replace them every few years. When driving, keep an eye out for road debris, check your side mirrors regularly and stay below the speed limit.

My friends at the Long Long Honeymoon have a detailed and well documented video on how they survived a blowout on their Airstream Classic trailer—on the side of busy highway.


Hitch Issues

If you are a new teardropper, it takes a while to get used to using a hitch. When I hitch up the Sunflower, I have to be fully focused on what I'm doing or I'll forget something.

When hitching, you want to make sure the trailer coupling is completely over the ball on the hitch, the tongue lock is completely down, the safety pin is engaged and locked through the tongue lock, the safety chains are connected to the vehicle hitch (crossed so they don't drag on the ground) and the wiring harness is fully connected with the wiring kit on the trailer. You then want to drive forward a few yards to check the hitch connection and also have a partner check your running lights, brake lights and turn signals. To avoid hitch issues, regularly check all hitch components and don't exceed the weight limit on your hitch.



 Smoking Bearings

While on the road, you might see what looks like a smoking engine up ahead, but it turns out to be coming from a trailer. These are the trailer axle bearings burning out. A burned out axle can cause separation of a tire from the axle and a major road accident. Bearings prevent friction in the axle, but require regular greasing to reduce that friction. Machine shops recommend that you check the grease on the bearings every other year, but if you tow your trailer a lot, have them greased every year. Many RV or utility trailer manufacturers or sellers will perform this service.



Emergency Items
Here are a few items that you can carry in your tow vehicle or teardrop trailer that will help to put your mind at ease in case an emergency pops up.


Emergency Light Kit

We keep a 12-volt emergency tow light kit in our vehicle to use on the both the teardrop and our utility trailer. They cost around $30 and can be magnetic or attached via a harness.

Duct tape

Veteran and survival expert Mykal Hawke has said in the past, "Duct tape could save your life." It may also save your teardrop trailer...or your kayak.

Last year, we were coming back from kayaking at a lake in California. A thunderstorm was rolling in and the heavy mountain winds tore one of our kayaks and part of the kayak rack from the top of our Kia Sportage. The kayak went flying down the highway in a big, orange blur. Fortunately, our fellow teardrop friends were driving behind us and managed to slow down the minimal traffic and pull the kayak to the side of the road. We used our giant roll of duct tape to hold down the rack and get the kayak back to camp—with barely a scratch.

Having duct tape in your car at all times can help with minor repairs to broken or busted doors, windows, hatches, ice chests and other plastic or metal items.

Bungee cords

Our friends and owners of the Stargazers teardrop, were camping at Benton Hot Springs when a wind storm decided to show up. Their teardrop hatch had been left open and a strong gust of wind flipped it backwards across the roof and busted the hinge that runs along the top of the trailer. To get home (without the entire contents of their trailer falling all over the road) they duct taped and bungee corded the hatch down and drove extra slow.

Other items...

These small items don't take up much room, but can give you more peace of mind: extra hitch safety pins, road flares, flashlights, screwdrivers and wrenches, First Aid kit, two-way radios.



Photos by The Williams Family, ecustomhitch.com, How Stuff Works and Sears.

The Five Best Music Albums for a Road Trip

One of my favorite things to do when we head out on the road for a teardrop trailer trip is to create a road trip playlist, or download a great music album to listen to full blast on the stereo. There are certain songs that just sound really good when you're speeding down a lonely desert highway. Here are five of my favorites.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DD3P48/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B004DD3P48&link_code=as3&tag=felidesi-20

Into the Wild

The movie soundtrack by Eddie Vedder not only profiles the singer's dusky, raw voice, but reflects the amazing outdoor scenes from the film. The movie, about Christopher McCandless's wanderings and fateful trip to Alaska, can be summarized in the best song on the album: "Hard Sun".


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0084DTWQI/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B0084DTWQI&link_code=as3&tag=felidesi-20

The Greatest: The Number Ones by Johnny Cash

If you are into vintage style when it comes to your teardrop trailer, you would have to love Johnny Cash. The Number Ones album covers his greatest songs including "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" and "Ring of Fire".


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000I07P/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B00000I07P&link_code=as3&tag=felidesi-20

Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi

The boys from New Jersey are still going strong, but their 1986 album, Slippery When Wet, is the epitome of a road trip album. You can't help but turn up the volume when songs like "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Raise Your Hands" come up. Just don't run off the road while headbanging.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000669JL/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B0000669JL&link_code=as3&tag=felidesi-20

Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers

After some rock and country, it's time to chill out with some reggae. The undisputed king of reggae's greatest hits includes the beautiful "Three Little Birds", "One Love" and "Redemption Song". Listen to this album with the windows down and a warm breeze blowing.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JJ6D/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B00005JJ6D&link_code=as3&tag=felidesi-20


The Best of Jefferson Airplane

I just noticed that this list leans toward male performers, so I had to throw in Jefferson Airplane and the amazing vocals of Grace Slick (as well as the excellent guitars) in the Best of Jefferson Airplane album. From the instrumentals in "Embryonic Journey" to the trippy lyrics in "White Rabbit", this album will both calm and energize you. This album is for those teardroppers who love to decorate their trailer in tie-dye.

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.

Friday Teardrop Photo



Sorry for the late Friday teardrop photo. I've been in the process of leaving my full time job to go into business for myself, and yesterday I gave notice at my job of nearly 12 years. I'm excited that I'll have more creative and personal freedom, but also feel a little nervous to head down a different road. I'll hopefully have more time to go teardrop camping and more time to spend with friends and family. Like this photo (taken in Idaho on last summer's trip), I'm heading into unknown territory, but I'm excited about what adventures lie ahead.

GPS or Map?

The latest Apple Maps flaw which sent drivers along the Fairbanks International Airport taxiway and across a runway might have people questioning their GPS units. We've had our own issues with GPS units when visitors to our home get directed to take a rugged, dirt country road behind our house when there is a perfectly (and well mapped) paved road in front of the house.


So should you trust GPS units and map apps or is the good old paper map the way to go? When we are traveling with our teardrop trailer, when we need to be even more vigilant, we like to use both.

GPS units are useful for finding the quickest route or an alternate route in case of traffic jams or road construction. They are also very useful in more urban areas when looking for specific streets, stores, restaurants and laundry facilities. However, a GPS unit is NOT a map. Don't blindly rely on just a GPS when foraying into unknown territory. A GPS only gives you a very narrow view of the entire location, you need a paper map to see the entire area and plan your trip according to what roads you want to go down and what you might want to see along the way.

Map = big picture
GPS = fine details

One of my favorite blogs, the Long Long Honeymoon, covers this concept nicely in a video. In addition, an article by the Boston Globe confirms that primarily using GPS units to get around affects our brain's ability to assemble a mental picture of where we've been.

Photo by Barbara Gobbi



Featured Teardrop: The Blonde Coyote's Rattler

I originally wrote about the Blonde Coyote (aka Mary Caperton Morton) and her teardrop, Rattler, on the Tiny House Blog, but I wanted to catch up with her and her teardrop travels around the country. Mary is a freelance writer and professional housesitter who lives full-time out of her 5 by 10 foot teardrop trailer and travels around the country shooting excellent photos to add to her blog.


Mary purchased Rattler for $4,000 from an “octogenarian craftsman” in Nebraska who builds one teardrop trailer a year. The 550 lb. trailer has a full-sized bed with a memory foam mattress and storage space underneath, a fold-up table, two feet of floor space, drawers, cabinets and counter space. Outside, in the back, is a slide out kitchen/galley area with plenty of storage space for pots, pans and food and a propane burner for cooking. The trailer is insulated and has a large skylight above the bed.



She became obsessed with teardrop trailers after seeing her first one at Guadalupe National Park. The owners gave her a tour and she bought her own trailer a month later. On a photo tour post of her blog she writes:

"Before I bought the Teardrop I lived out of my car between housesitting jobs for seven years. Everything I owned, including my two dogs, fit neatly in my 2-door Volkswagon and then the Subaru (aka “The Raven”). So while the Teardrop looks tiny, it was a major space upgrade for me! Still, I’m ruthless about getting rid of anything and everything extra and I save tons of money by not buying things I don’t need. When you live in less than 50 square feet, it’s kind of amazing to walk through a big box store and realize that whole sections of consumer culture no longer apply to your life."

I don’t have a lot of stuff in the Teardrop, but everything I do have is meaningful to me." Every postcard on the wall reminds me of something, some one or some place. My main impetus for getting the Teardrop was to have a space of my own, without having to settle down. Every morning I open my eyes to this rolling work of art and fall a little more in love with life on the road."







RoadTrippers

Nearly everyone I've met who owns a teardrop trailer, loves to travel the open road. We love to see new towns and cities, take backroads to (nearly) undiscovered natural lands, and pull over to check out a local landmark or a roadside diner. Actually, one of the best parts of a road trip is planning it: poring over maps and photos and looking for those unmarked roads to the next destination.



Now there's a new website and app called RoadTrippers that maps out your road trip and the sights, restaurants, hotels and unusual stops along your route. The interactive software shows you the quickest route to your destination which you can then drag and move around to adjust where you want to go. It will even give you the time to complete the route, the distance and the possible cost of fuel.


You can then search for places along your route including Offbeat Attractions, Tourist Info, Tours, Film & TV, Family and Amusement Parks and Folk Art and Photo Ops. You can also pinpoint accommodations, shopping, restaurants, nature and sports. You can add each of these markers to your trip and save it for future reference. The site also offers guides on everything from UNESCO sites to the best beaches and a blog that features towns with weird names and underrated national parks.

RoadTrippers' little intro video also features a cute van loaded with gear and towing what looks suspiciously like a lime-green teardrop trailer.

Featured Teardrop Trailer: Vistabule

The Vistabule teardrop trailer by Bert Taylor makes great use of its accessibility to the outdoors with large skylights and windows, a few portholes and even the ability to turn the bed area into a dining room. The Minnesota made teardrop trailer is actually being called the "Airstream Teardrop" because of its style, shape and features.


What makes the Vistabule different from other teardrop trailers is that your feet don't hide under the backside of the galley. Instead you have a floor to ceiling headboard for stashing all your clothing and gear. In the headboard there is a pass through opening that provides a clear line of sight from your car’s rear view mirror to whatever is happening behind you when driving. The doors are wide for lounging half in and half out, and they have convenient fold up tables that double as privacy covers at night. One of the best things about this cab forward concept, though, is the semi-automatic sofa mechanism. By simply sliding a small catch, the bed magically rises to create a comfortable sofa.



The trailer comes with the following:
  • Large vista windows
  • Extra wide doors
  • Queen size sofa bed
  • Under the bed storage
  • Popup table
  • Privacy screens / swing up tables
  • Clothing storage
  • 2 burner cook top
  • Sink with running water
  • Grey water holding tank
  • 3 speed fan with 2 air vents
  • Storage for dishes, food and gear
  • Lighting and electronics charging
They are pricey though. The Basic Package is $9,450 and includes: wide vista front window, rear hatch window, two doors with stationary, galley dome light, two interior dome lights, two porch lights, single speed ceiling fan, two ventilators at the foot of the bed, heavy duty torsion axle, steel fenders (Painted), 14” white wheels, economy deep cycle battery, plug-in for shore power, two 110v outlets, two 12v charging plug-ins, galley kitchen counter with storage beneath.

The $12,895 The Standard Package adds to the Basic Package with two porthole windows, pull out two burner cook top, 10 lb. low profile propane tank, Fantastic 3 speed ceiling fan (upgrade), pull down picture window shade, two fold-up tables/privacy covers, two porthole privacy covers, heavy duty 12v deep cycle gel battery (upgrade), battery charger, two reading lights, sink, faucet and sprayer, water pump, fresh water tank, queen size mattress, sofa bed fold-up apparatus for couch mode, collapsible coffee table, under floor storage bins, carpet board inserts, dishes cabinet with wine bottle insert, paper towel cabinet.

The $13,995 The Deluxe Package includes the features of the first two packages as well as a gray water tank, door windows w/screens, porthole windows w/Screens, Two leveling jacks, 14” aluminum alloy wheels (upgrade), xxterior side table for cooler and electric brakes.

 









Five Tips for Towing a Teardrop Trailer

If you are thinking of purchasing or building a teardrop trailer, but you've never towed anything before, taking your new camper on the road may feel daunting. Because these miniscule trailers are so light, you'll tend to forget that you are towing it, which can get you into trouble on the road.  In all, you just need a bit of practice before taking off on that first camping trip. Here are a few tips I've learned over the years from towing a teardrop trailer.


1. Slow down: I'm a pretty slow driver anyway, but even if you are a faster driver, slow down and stick to the right lane. Other drivers will appreciate it, you'll get better gas mileage, you'll be more prepared to react, and you can appreciate the scenery more.

2. Be ready to brake: Even if your teardrop is really light, don't forget that you have an extra 800 to 1,200 lbs behind you. It will take you longer to come to a full stop and since most teardrops don't require their own braking systems, you and your vehicle are in charge of coming to a complete stop.

3. Watch those curbs and bumps: While coming out of a driveway, or around a corner, watch those sidewalk curbs, planters and other bumpy things that can damage your teardrop tires or even cause axle damage. The tire fenders on my teardrop stick out and I have to really watch it if I go through a tight entrance or even a fast food drive-thru (yes, you can take your teardrop through a Taco Bell).

4. Honey, we spilled the salt: No matter how well you pack your teardrop, things are going to go flying as you motor down the highway. We've had the lid pop off our coffee and send grounds spilling over the rest of our food, the items on the inside shelves usually end up in the bed and clothes in the cupboards will tumble out when we open the doors. Each campsite stop usually requires a bit of cleaning up.

5. Check, check and double check: At nearly every rest stop, we check and re-check the tow hitch, the chains, the tires, the locks on the hatch and the windows, the electrical connections and the teardrop lights and signals. You can never be too careful.