You say to introduce ourselves, so here goes! I'm Marianne, my husband is Jim. We live in St. Louis County in the municipality of Hazelwood. We're not far from the MO river, sitting above the river bottoms. I speak of the 'bottoms' often, if you're wondering what I'm talking about. It's my refuge from civilization when I can't get away. I've been camping as long as I can remember. My husband isn't the most avid camper, especially not 'boondocking' like I tend to do. Gosh, I've been doing something cool & didn't know I was part of the crowd! LOL
We're beginning our search for a teardrop. If we don't happen to find one, a friend we also do biz with is willing to build one for us. I've got him excited about doing this as a part time biz. Stay tuned, he does great work. It's not easy to find a teardrop in our area. Some people that used to live down the street had a Lil Guy & that's where I got the idea to have one. It's not much different than sleeping in the back of a station wagon or van. I've camped in many different ways over the years, even a tri-fold lounge chair & sleeping bag on the side of the river on float trips to a trailer with a/c & electric. Lately, I've used my custom van as my "Mom's hide-away". It's getting older now & my hubby isn't a big fan of that arrangement - no a/c when sleeping. His idea of roughing it is bad room service at the Hilton! He was not exposed to all this until he met me. Now with almost 25 yrs under our belt, kids almost grown & gone, we have time to ourselves again. Yeah!
Float trips are defined here as floating down a river, creek or other stream in any way you choose. Many canoe or raft down. Some use inner tubes. I'm pretty sure I know where the term "redneck yacht club" came from! Pretty much anything goes if it floats. Missouri has many beautiful streams, especially in the southern part. The Ozark streams are pristine, crystal clear & mostly spring fed. Some are so heavily so, the water is cool all summer long! That's a good thing, as the heat & humidity here can be stifling, even to us born & raised here! Anyway, if you haven't been here, you should. Need any tips, you now have a good reference to go to. You know, if you want to know where the really cool stuff is, ask a local! Besides the beauty here, by gosh, we're just downright friendly people! Go to a Cardinals game & you'll see!
Somewhere in the forum I heard someone say a gal "could talk the legs off a picnic table". I've never been accused of such thing!

Work: He's in the airplane industry (you'll figure that out by where we live) & I'm an RN, hoping to get back to working soon, after some years of playing patient. This getting older stuff ain't for sissies, that's for sure! We're in our early 50's, btw.
And now you know! Hope I didn't rattle on too much! Now where's that hammer? I've got a picnic table that needs some legs!
Marianne