Allow myself to introduce... myself

[freddyb]

Hello all, freddyb here from Michigan. I have been lurking for a while and using the excellent resources, pictures, and posted experiences here on the forums to convince my better half that a teardrop or tiny travel trailer is just what we need to take our camping adventures to the next level. We have a 2-month-old and our first little vacation with her up to the in-laws' cottage had our car packed to max capacity without any camping gear included, and that was all it took to tip the scales.

GREEN LIGHT was given to purchase a used, ready-to-be-used-some-more (read: no projects!) trailer. Our built-in bookshelf project took my father and me a year to finish (happy wedding AND first year anniversary!) and we're not going through that again. Sold her NX250 that wasn't getting much use lately to free up some space and some moolah. Ordered a hitch for her Forester and installed it last night. I'll be taking a look at other tow-vehicle prep topics educating myself on what more needs to be done there.

Keeping a lookout for a trailer with a 5' interior width and a hatchback galley. Interested in creative ways to teardrop with bicycles, guitars, and babies. Creating a "baby shelf" sleeping solution seems like it would be easy and convenient, so I'll be looking for more examples of those.

Pictures of stuff

the hitch


NX250, you will be missed


bookshelves


dog


bicycle


some chicken


The beginning!

[Elizabeth C.]

Welcome Freddyb from Michigan. Love the photos! Chicken looks yummy.

[glenpinpat]

Welcome! Just came back from Michigan. Camped at Ionia state recreation area and bought parts for my second built. Check out vintage technologies ( I just got doors from them) they sell parts, kits and whole trailers. Patrick

[freddyb]

Picked up teardrop number one the other day. Didn't meet a lot of the criteria we laid out beforehand, but took a look and decided it'll be a great first camper. The price was right too.

To do:
-new spare tire
-remove rear rack and box
-new mattress setup
-add a small bunk for the kid

I'll be looking at the construction of these LG trailers to figure out the best way to attach stuff to the walls inside.

[Java Jack]

You best be careful...with that camo design, you might lose your camper in the forest and not be able to find it LOL.

Have fun, looking forward to see lots of camping pics and what you learn along the way about TD camping.

[freddyb]

Making some progress on upgrades.
Adding galley area and a cot for the baby.









Sewing canvas and mesh for the cot are next.
Alsoneed to make up a divider to block off the galley area.



And look at these turkeys.

[Redneck Teepee]

Another couple months and the turkeys around here are fair game! A little tougher to bag in the fall season, but the early or spring season when they are mating, they practically jump in your game bag, an exaggeration of course but definitely easier.


And of course welcome aboard Freddie

[freddyb]

I was happily surprised by how small the trailer seems sitting in the driveway. Should have no problem storing it in the garage this winter.




Of course when I was making my last long rip on the table saw, at an angle for the top of the "wall", I blew out a knot. Set in place, the sun quite rudely found a way to highlight this blunder.




The cot area turned out okay. I'll probably make some more tweaks. Sewing turned out to be more complex than I figured. My wonderful wife gave me a hand with the trickier bits.






I also installed some electrical doodads. Drilling a big hole in the side of the camper was fun.



Still need to put in some wood panel sliders to separate the galley from the cabin area. Then I'll probably give the wood a few coats of poly. Still hoping to wrap things up and get one camping weekend in before the weather turns cold.

[honeask]

Welcome Freddyb, Perfection rarely presents itself so we have to take what we get and make it perfect. Glad that it didn't let it stop you. This might be perfect for quite a while or at least let you figure out exactly what you will need in the future. Y'all have fun.