Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

i can't believe that i have missed the last few postings! i must really have a real life.

catherine and twins, that is wonderful! i love that you got it to a campable stage and went camping. on top of that you reserved your spot for the super moon to boot.
now the only advise i can give you, is to continue on those details. do not do like i did: once mine was campable that is it, i stopped working on it. its in the second season of camping and no real progress so far.

i am so happy for you.

Well, that’s yet Another Foamie that’s hit the road and been camping ....

Bravo!!! Catherine and Twins... That is so awesome. To know you went camping with your kids, in a trailer that you built is great. As a former scout leader I am thrilled to see another family involved in Scouting. BTW (for your eyes only, not the twins) the camping stuff is just a great cover for teaching them great values and learning to be leaders. I have great memories of being a Scout and a Scout leader but more importantly I think I turned out as a good human being because of Scouting. Keep your son in it for as long as possible. Only 1 in 9 kids who start make it to Eagle Scout but I think they all learn valuable skills. Job Well Done!!

I second Mel's comments on Scouting. This weekend is camp free. My son and I camped each of the previous three weekends all for Scouting activities. Cubs are a bunch of fun, but when he gets old enough to join a Boy Scout troop, you will get to have even more fun watching him become more independant. You will be so proud when you watch him teach a younger Scout how to cook something in a dutch oven.

Bill

A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

We could use more of this in the world.

Scout Law

KCStudly wrote:A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

We could use more of this in the world.

Scout Law

I learned that over 40 years ago and I still use it as my personal measuring stick in life. Didn't think much about it at the time, but as I got and keep getting older it continues to make more sense... Wish our political leaders would all learn to live by the Scout Law!

" Wish our political leaders would all learn to live by the Scout Law!” .... something the Rich kids (1%) never had to think about ... everything being done for them , no contact with the “commoners” ...

I have met may of those 1% you talk about and they do work hard and have earned their wealth. Not everyone who is rich is the way you paint them. That is also true of the 99%. Not all of them wish to work and can't. Allowing someone, anyone, to lable people the way this issue has is the real crime. They are saying look at them -- they are not like us, they are different, they are lazy ... Historically, this sort of thing has always led to trouble. Look at the American Indians, the Jews and disabled in WWII, the Kurds and the various people labled "not like us" in the world. Please don't get sucked into that realm.

True Dat !!! We all are from the same planet !!! All descended from (fill in your belief here) ... and therefore are brothers (and sisters) ... for which we are Grateful !! Peace , Love , and Contentment to All !!! And something to nibble on with your ice water in the evening !!!

Well, after battling the Motor Vehicle Department all summer, I finally got the trailer licensed in September, and we slowly started working on it again. The side benches are foam, of course, for the weight savings. The table top is wood, but I haven't figured out how to mount it so it has a table height and a bed height. So for now my cot is going to be in the aisle at night, and the skinny kids can sleep on the 18" wide benches on either side.

Here we are. First the camper with the side benches and the table on a Coleman stove rack.


And with the table stowed forward and the cot in the center aisle.


And finally, with the kids showing they fit.


We live in northern New Mexico, and we make a trip to Carlsbad, in southern NM, almost every year. My mom and I started it when the kids were 5 to distract them from the fact that everyone else in their pre-school class was starting kindergarten but they missed the cut-off date by 20 days. So we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The next year they wanted to show their Grandpa the caverns, so we took my step-dad and went again. But we were going at the wrong time of year to see the bats (Mexican Brown bats migrate south for the winter), so we had to go back in the summer the next year. And by then it was a TRADITION as far as the kids were concerned, and we try to go every year. We missed 2007, dear daughter tells me. Last year we went after Thanksgiving and took a boat ride on the Pecos River (in Carlsbad) at night to see the Christmas lights display. We also made a day trip to Bottomless Lakes State Park, where we saw lots of people camping in late November. Hmmmm, camping in November, and the forecast for next weekend is days in the high 70s and nights in the 50s (and here at home it will be windy, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s, yikes).

Sooooo, now the plan is to take to camper down to Carlsbad this weekend, camp at BLSP, and then make our usual pilgrimage to the caverns. We may even go out of our way on the way back and hit the White Sands National Monument. The kids and I all have Monday off, so it's a 3-day weekend for us!

Have fun and take lots of pictures!

Sounds like a fun trip.

As far as the table goes, you could use 2 RV table pedestals like these:

The conical bases are screwed to the tabletop and to the floor. The leg is just a piece of pipe.
If you went with two of those legs, you could have a pair of 'table-height' tubes and a pair of tubes that hold it at the same height as the benches. They're cheap, too.

Or you could put cleats on the inside edges of the benches, but since your benches are foam it might be tougher to make them strong enough.

Catherine+twins wrote:...after battling the Motor Vehicle Department all summer...

What was the issue with DMV?

Nothing that couldn't have been solved by registering it in Maine. But I kept trying to solve the problem "locally." You see, when I bought the trailer (in Albuquerque, 2 hours from Los Alamos) the salesman wrote a U instead of a V in the 100-diget-long VIN number, and then just wrote OVER the U instead of starting over. The receipt did not match the Certificate of Origin at that point, but I didn't realize it until MONTHS LATER when I tried to license it. REJECTED. Called Harbor Freight in Albuq to get it fixed (hey, a 2 hour drive, one way, is a pain in the butt, so I was trying not to waste the time). Nope, they weren't interested in making it right, in fact the manager was quite rude about it. The faint hope was that I could bring in the faulty receipt and correct Certificate of Origin and IF it really didn't match he would "see what we can do." I mean, what was it going to take to write out a new receipt on one of their letterhead? I was ready to photo-shop one, but had a little concern about my security clearance if I got caught.

I did try "selling" the trailer to my step-dad and getting him to license it, as the original sales receipt wouldn't be needed, and the new one would match the Certificate of Origin. Nope. I needed to title it first, and PAY THE SALES TAX ON THE ORIGINAL TRANSACTION, before I could sell it to someone else (who would then pay sales tax on the new transaction....).

Meanwhile, life was rushing along, with DS's Cub Scouts, DD's gymnastics, and both of their soccer keeping us from getting a whole lot done OTHER THAN scouts, gymnastics, soccer, and me working 48 hours a week. Finally this fall we were back in Albuq and dropped in at HF. An assistant manager listened politely to my story and promptly wrote me a new receipt. This guy is going to go far! (if there is any justice in the world.)

Went back to the MVD--sales receipt, check, certificate of origin, check, oh, it's a Harbor Freight trailer? We've had a lot of trouble with these HF trailers. You'll need to fill out these two forms certifying that you assembled it and the lights and reflectors are all correctly installed. At least they didn't make me come back the next week for an inspection! Anyway, an hour and $58 later I had a permanent plate FINALLY and I don't have to sneak around to local campgrounds in our own mountains for our fun!

So it could have been taken care of sooner. It was just the hassle factor that I kept tripping over.