Greetings from the WET! Coast of Oregon

[accrete]

( >> There is an updated goings on post #4 December 2015 : )

Hi all. I've enjoyed reading tntt forums over the past couple years and finally registered today as my wife and i now have plans to convert a cargo-trailer for off-grid camping adventures in tow behind our 2010 Chevy AWD 1500 van conversion.

We live full time in a 38ft mobile suite 5th wheel with all the regular treats one would find in a stick-home. We chose the lifestyle as we like small cozy practical places and this was a nice step from our brick and motor ~1800sq foot home. If i'm not reading here at tntt, i'm typically over at the sportsmobile forum, expedition portal, or the tinyhouse blog site.

We go out about every third or fourth week in our van from spring thaw to fall freeze and play along the rivers in the pacific northwest...my wife gold pans and i usually read or RC rock crawl...but mainly to enjoy the beautiful outdoors together.

I have a build thread at the sportsmobile forum for our van conversion. I am currently looking at purchasing an 18'+5'Vnose fiberglass snowmobile trailer from Fiber Tech Services and doing the interior work with my wife.

Thanks for the fun forum, it has been enlightening and enjoyable to read all these months.
Thom

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Hi Thom and welcome to the forum.
I enjoy camping along the southern coast of Oregon, especially the Brookings area. Have you ever camped along the Winchuck River? Love the Harris Beach campground also.
If your wife wants to gold pan around here, it can be done about an hour east along the Trinity River. The Weaverville area is rich with gold mining history and places to pan. Summer is winding down, but fall is fantastic and our weather is pretty nice through October. Enjoy your autumn excursions.
Joanie
The Teardrop Nanny

[pappaw]

speaking of Brookings, my daughter and her family live there, we will be out there to visit shortly, and hope to move there someday.

Cheers

[accrete]

UPDATE ... : ) December 2015 !

A total ramble on my part, I just didn't feel the need to start a new thread just to blog a bit on our life with a tiny trailer ; )

OK, sooooo.... way back in 2012 I finally registered here as my wife and I were finally really, really, gonna find and purchase another small TT.
Well I mentioned at another thread in a January 2013 post that we ordered a to-be-built Parkliner 15ft fiberglass trailer (there is a full blown build thread at the FCRV forum _here for those interested_.) We received it in April of 2013 and had two really enjoyable years of adventures.

Our van and Parkliner, summer of 2014:


Thoughts on the Parkliner: Beautifully crafted and had a fun time, BUT, it was to much trailer for our needs. WHAT you say? Well, we were then, and now, sleeping on our van conversion (linked in the OP). It is still our preferred resting place in the evenings. And we found sitting or cooking inside the PL not to our liking when the great outdoors were just feet away...even on a rainy day we would prefer hanging out under the Fiama awning lounging or cooking. It's just our style in our soggy Pacific Northwest. We never slept in it. And eventually we realized the street/pavement loving Parkliner was putting a damper on our adventures/style as we longed to go offroad.

Sooooo... fast forward to fall of 2015.
I put out a feeler to see if there was an interest in anyone purchasing our Parkliner (they had closed shop in ~June 2015 so ours was already a classic TT). By the third day we had a buyer. We were happy, They were happy.

Now that we were unshackled to pavement only adventures and will focus once again on off-road adventures in our tow vehicle/van (a new pic as it now has a lift and larger tires)


... I set about searching for something more our style. I think I found it in a little off-road-capable teardrop from a firm in Oregon. My wife and I visited the shop in Eugene (oregontrailer.net) and spent some time with the owners and are in the process of nailing down the options and such on the model they call "Teradrop" pictured below from their site.



So time will tell if this little gem or something like it is a good fit for us. Though honestly, arriving at this decision, came after two years in the 2009 Aliner, then another two in the 2013 Parkliner, and believing that having the kitchen outside is the way to go for us. I'm just not sure if we want to drag something behind us yet again. Maybe the best thing for us to do for this next season is chill out, take a breath, and pitch the kitchen under the van's fiama and enjoy the scenery!

One thing I've learned in this buying/selling. In both cases (Aliner & Parkliner) after the cash exchanged hands the rigs ended up costing ~$80 to ~$100 a month during the time we had them... and for my wife and I that is cheap entertainment! and worth every penny and lesson learned.

I'll update how things are rolling along... as they roll ; )

YMMV,
Thom

[Vedette]

Oh......you will love the TEARDROP WORLD!
Get that rig and start camping with us.
Also,get your passports and come to Canand in September.
We will take you on a Teardrop Crawl you will never forget!
Hopefully Loren & Claudia will chime in here....as you would love their TD!
And they attended our first Fall Crawl this past September.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi