Memorial Day Shakedown Trip

Last weekend we took off in the Sunflower (with our Stargazers friends) for our first summer teardrop getaway. Our shady campsite at Rye Patch Reservoir was only a few hours from our home which makes for a good shakedown trip.

A shakedown trip is an opportunity to get all your camping mistakes out of the way. Having the teardrop trailer tucked away for the winter will make you a little rusty in the camping department—not matter how long you've been camping. During this trip we realized what we are missing, what needs repairing and what supplies we need to stock up on.

The trip was also a nice time to enjoy our teardrops after a long, cold winter. We hiked in flooded canyons and played some late night games. We still sleep like we're dead to the world and have a few new recipes under our belts. We also ran into another teardropper with a simple trailer named the Mini GetAway.

Tiny Yellow Teardrop Summer Tour

The Sunflower will soon be dusted off for some spring camping trips and the Official Tiny Yellow Teardrop Summer Tour. We will be taking off in July to visit Glacier National Park and then I will be continuing the summer adventures with trips around Montana and then down to Colorado Springs for the Tiny House Jamboree.

Held August 5-7, the Tiny House Jamboree will feature tiny houses and trailers, workshops and seminars, food, drink, entertainment and talks by Tiny House Blog owner Kent Griswold, Deek Diedrickson of Relax Shacks, Jay Shafer of Four Lights Houses and Dee Williams of Pad Tiny Houses.

Last year's event attracted over 40,000 people and I'm sure this year will attract even more. The Sunflower might be one of the tiniest things out there.

How to prepare for a teardrop trailer trip

We are still getting snowstorms in the mountains, but that doesn't mean we can't start planning for our summer and fall teardrop trips. Even though us teardroppers don't have to prepare as much as someone with a larger trailer, we still need to tick a few things off our checklist:

Where to go?

Now's the time to pick and choose where you want to travel. Do you want to explore a new part of the country or your own state? Why do you want to see a particular area? Asking these questions can help define what you want out of your travels which will save time, fuel and money in the long run.

Check out detailed maps or the Roadtrippers site for your locations and find trailer friendly roads, campgrounds and rest stops. As you are doing this, you might want to see if a teardrop rally is being held in the vicinity.

Prepare the trailer

This is also the time to check that everything on your teardrop is roadworthy. Check the tires, the lights, all bolts and connections and have the trailer bearings greased. This is also a good time to check that you have a full propane tank, a full water tank and that all stoves, refrigerators and other appliances are in good working order.

Stock up

If you have not already done a spring cleaning of the trailer, get that out of the way and then stock your teardrop with everything you will need for a season of trips. This can include the following:

• batteries for flashlights and headlamps
• extra canned or boxed food
• updated sheets, towels, clothing items
• fresh toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo
• broken items that need replacing

Photo by Little Guy Worldwide

Friday Teardrop Photo

Some wonderful camping details can be seen on this teardrop from the Vintage Camper Trailers Facebook page. Pink flamingos AND an Italian espresso maker.

Camp for Free with Hipcamp

The Tiny Yellow Teardrop has covered Hipcamp before and if you spent the summer exploring off the beaten path, the online camping and travel guide wants you to benefit. Hipcamp is offering a summer of free camping (and other prizes) for the winner of their Endless Summer photo contest.

All you need to do is choose one of your definitive summer camping photos (teardrops included), a thoughtful caption, upload it to your Hipcamp profile and link it to a national park or campground on Hipcamp. The contest is open until 10/26/15 and the winner will receive four weekends of free camping on Hipcamp Land Share listings, a two or four person tent from The North Face and a Goal Zero Lighthouse 250. Second place will win $200 Hipcamp credit, a two person tent from The North Face and a Goal Zero Lighthouse 250.

Those tents might help in case you need a guest house for your teardrop trailer. :-)


Photo by Hipcamp/Evan Kubena

Teardrops as Cheap Hotel Rooms

This summer we have gone to a few special dinners or events up at Lake Tahoe. While Tahoe is close to us, some of these events go into the evening and include wine and cocktails or physical activities that make us too tired to drive the 1 1/2 hours home.

We could book a hotel room, but during the busy summer season at the lake, this could cost us around $150 a night. A camping spot for the teardrop only runs between $25 and $40. A heckuva deal!

So what do you have to know about using your trailer as a cheap hotel room? Nothing much, but I find these tips have helped other campers who want to have fun in their own local area without paying out the nose.

1. Get your campsite early. As soon as we find out about each event, we book a nearby campsite. You can also look around for a nearby Walmart that allows camping or even a friend's driveway
2. We sometimes don't bring food. Just for these quick nights out, we won't even bring our cooler and will instead have dinner at our event and a quick breakfast at a local diner.
3. Make sure it's worth it. If your special event is less than an hour from your home and you won't be imbibing, then leave the trailer at home. The cost of a campsite or the gas for towing may make your mobile overnight accommodations too pricey.

Photo: I took the Sunflower to the Wanderlust festival as a place to take a nap during the day.

Teardrop Trailer Summer Cocktails

Camping is more fun with alcohol. Most of the time my husband and I like to enjoy a few beers or wine with our teardrop dinner, but every summer we get a hankerin' for some summer cocktails mixed in the back of the teardrop galley. Most teardrops don't have a lot of storage space, so unless you have a mobile bar from Neiman Marcus, your cocktails will have to be simple.

These are some of our favorite cocktails that require very few ingredients. Each are made with just one bottle of spirits, one mixer, some ice and a garnish—teardrop style.

Backwoods Bellini

This is a nice cocktail for breakfast or brunch and can be made with or without alcohol. Top it with a piece of peach or a strawberry.

2 ounces of peach nectar (Kerns is good)
Chilled sparkling wine or sparkling cider
Serve in a plastic wine or champagne glass

Tear-itas

Margaritas are a basic summer drink while camping. You can get a premixed bottle, but they tend to have too much sugar and additives so pack your own bottle of Cuervo. Use limes (they travel well) for garnish. Salt is optional.

1 cup Jose Cuervo silver tequila
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey or agave syrup

"Where the heck is the..." Screwdriver

Orange juice is not just for breakfast. This basic drink is perfect after a long day of doing nothing.

1 part vodka
2 parts orange juice
Top with orange wedge or rosemary sprig

Mountain Mojito

2 ounces light rum 
2 ounces club soda
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
limes

Place some lime juice, sugar and mint in a bowl and smash the mixture up with a wooden spoon. Add rum and club soda and stir. Top with a wedge of lime or a sprig of pine needles.

"Do you sleep in that thing?" Cocktail

This is the cocktail to serve to anyone who asks this question. It will give them a whole other idea about teardrops and teardroppers. Add a lemon twist for garnish.

1 1/2 ounce berry vodka (ThreeOlives makes one)

¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 ounce chilled sparkling wine

Mix the ingredients with ice and serve (without ice) in a plastic martini glass

Friday Teardrop Photo

 This summer went way too fast. It's already starting to get cold where we live, but we're hoping to do one last teardrop camp before the snow starts. In the meantime, I will dream of camping near a beach.

Friday Teardrop Photo

Geez...it's hot. Anyone for a margarita con lima?

The Sunflower galley acting as a bar and storage space during last summer's trip to Grand Teton National Park. Notice the cutting board? It's actually a plastic separator used for binder materials. I "borrowed" it from my previous job and it fits perfectly in the galley as a lime cutting board.

Co-Hosting on Teardrop Trailer Radio

Last Saturday, I co-hosted Brooke Folk's Teardrop Trailer Radio show again. We chatted about the International Redwood Gathering, Miss Piggy, summer teardrop camping plans and bears. Check it out on his TalkShoe radio station.

Friday Teardrop Photo

I'm sure my husband is not going to be too thrilled with the photo, but this is the Sunflower and our REI Alcove being used as a crash pad after a margarita party at a neighboring camp during Burning Man 2010. My husband had partaken of too many of the yummy drinks and decided to sleep right on the ground in the desert heat.

At Burning Man we need to keep our cooler up off the ground to preserve the ice as long as possible in the hot desert. The kitty litter boxes are makeshift gray water and trash receptacles since there are no dump stations or trash cans at the event. What you pack in, you have to pack out.

Friday Teardrop Photo

Because it's so flippin' cold in most of the country right now, I thought I would put up a little photo of summer. This is the Sunflower and the Stargazers teardrop trailer camping side-by-side at the Glory Hole Recreation Area in the Gold Country foothills of California. It must have been about 95 degrees out and shade shelters like our REI Alcove help to keep the sun off the galley area. The Stargazers' shelter was used over the top of the picnic table.

We were lucky to get this large RV campsite on a busy weekend and were able to squeeze the two teardrops and our two cars into the space. However, some campgrounds only allow a certain number of vehicles to be parked in one space, and sometimes they consider a teardrop trailer an extra vehicle. We had to convince the camp host that we were not a roving gang of trailers just looking for a place to crash and told him that we preferred to camp in the same spot as our friends so that we could share supplies and equipment.

If you're going to be camping with additional teardrops, check with your chosen campground before you make a reservation. Sometimes they will make you reserve two campsites next to each other rather than allowing you to share...no matter how small your trailer is.

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.

How do you stay cool?

Now that summer is on its way, one of the questions I get about teardrop camping is how we stay cool while sleeping in what is essentially a large coffin on wheels. We usually go camping up in the mountains or on the coast so we don't have too many issues with staying cool, but I'm sure it's an issue for teardroppers who go camping in the more hot and humid areas of the country.

When camping in the summer, my husband and I only have a soft fleece sheet and another soft blanket to stay warm when it gets cooler in the early morning hours. These are easily kicked off if it gets too warm.

We also sleep with our windows open and the screens down. This allows for a little more airflow. We do have a fan at the foot of the teardrop, but rarely use it since it draws power from the battery and we tend to camp at spots without hook-ups. If we are camping in the middle of nowhere where we won't be bothered, we will sometimes just sleep with the doors wide open.

Many teardroppers stay cool while sleeping with a Fantastic Fan or other roof fan which vents warm air out out of the sleeping area. Other teardroppers use a 12 volt portable fan. These can be purchased online from Teardrop Trailer Parts.

For really warm locations, an AC unit is a must. Many teardrops including the Nest Egg trailer have air conditioning units included or as an option. If you are installing your own air conditioner, Kuffel Creek has a good article on what units will work best in a small trailer. These types of air conditioners that reduce humidity will need to be run from a hook-up at a campground or from a generator.

Here are two good video examples of two different ways on how to use a regular 120 AC unit mounted on the side of the teardrop and facing into the sleeping area through an open window:


 

Top photo by lyalls.net

Camping Takes Practice

At the beginning of the camping season, my husband and I seem to have to learn everything all over again. Over the winter, we get a little complacent when it comes to preparing for summer and fall camping and our first trip out into the wilderness is usually an experiment and an example of what not to do.

Camping actually takes some practice. You don't go out on your first camping trip as completely prepared, expert campers. Even if you are an expert camper. You make mistakes (like forgetting the propane tank connectors!), lose things, break things and forget things. Items coming out of winter storage are sometimes broken or need replacing and the teardrop trailer will sometimes need some repairs or updates.

On our first trip out this year, we had to make a stop at the big box store to pick up some of our favorite foods and coffee we had forgotten to pack, and we also decided to stock the teardrop sleeping area with some extra lamp batteries and extra headphones for the iPad. With each trip, we will be more prepared, but we will also find additional items that we could probably use on our trips.

Make your first camping trip of the season an easy trip close to your home, preferably close to a town. This will allow you to work out the kinks and run into a store for supplies. Also, be sure to bring a small notepad or your iPhone or iPod for making lists on what you will need to get or bring on your next camping trip. By the time summer is at its height, you will be an expert teardropper.

Photo by Laura Gilmore/Flickr

Friday Teardrop Photo

A typical camping weekend. Taken at Twin Lakes near Bridgeport, California.

Big Summer Teardrop Trip

This August the Sunflower will be heading up to Yellowstone on her first trip through Idaho and into Wyoming. We actually snagged a spot at the Madison Campground near West Yellowstone and will be camping there for about a week with two of our friends from Florida. We will also be spending a night or two in Grand Teton National Park.

I would love to hear where other teardroppers will be going for their summer camping trips and in the meantime, I do get a kick out of watching the Yellowstone videos by Airstream owners, Sean and Kristy:

Camping in the Sunflower

We have camped in a multitude of places with the Sunflower. Some of our favorite spots have been in Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah. The Eastern Sierras, the Nevada desert, Death Valley, Lake Tahoe, the California Coast, southern Utah and Crater Lake have ranked as having some of the best campgrounds around...and the spots fit a teardrop trailer perfectly.

Ocean Cove, California

Hickison Petroglyphs State Park, Nevada

Twin Lakes, California

Twin Lakes, California

Crater Lake, Oregon

Lower Blue Lake, California