Thanks to the all for the kind welcome, and a special hello to you VA folks - hope to see you around!
Spent the night at the Charlottesville KOA just south of town - perfect evening on Saturday night. All went well...especially the two things I was worried about:
1) getting the kid to sleep
2) backing the teardrop down the driveway after the trip. (we have a TIGHT, STEEP driveway and the carport is a 90 degree right at the bottom). Took about 6 tries, but it done with only a few sharp words between me and my wife.
All went great, considering I'd never towed anything before, nor had I ever set it up. The tear was comfortable, even warm, in 40 degree temps (windows open, fan running on low). Only funny thing was we were DWARFED by all of the mega-rigs all around us at the KOA - it was a home football weekend for UVA. No matter, it was perfect. Setup time was all of 8 minutes - back up, chock wheels, unhook, pop the back, and plug in! My wife made the bed while I unloaded, and we were done. Can't argue with that. We were sitting by the campfire in no time flat.
Philip, the trailer was home built by a gentleman in Troy, VA. He made it for his own use, and was upgrading to a motorhome. I found it on Craigslist - I feel that I lucked out. It's very well built, and well-thought out and he clearly had thought it through and done his research. It's got all the things that I'd want, and nothing extra. The only mods I'll do is some preventative weather proofing and rust cleanup on the trailer body. OK...maybe I'll not be able to resist painting some stripes on it...
I'll post pics to the main site as soon as I figure out how to get these photos off of my phone!!
-Raj