Our First TD camping trip!

[Backroads4me]

Though we had "Solitude" in our possession for the last 3 months, Bob and my work schedules prevented us from taking her out for her maiden voyage until now. We did garage camp a couple of nights in it a few weeks ago. Now that Bob is officially retired (lucky dog!), and my weekend is in the middle of the week, we're gonna go mid-week camping, a lot! Which we've found to be quieter, and easier to get a good site (away from people) in the parks or areas we like to frequent.

Anyway, for the first trip we decided to drive to Hartman Creek State Park, a park 20 miles from home, but one we don't really care for. While there's maybe 5 excellent, secluded sites we prefer, and maybe 20 sites that are OK, the rest of the campground sites are way too open and close together. Too much like being in a Walmart parking lot, with a few more trees. Everyone I know, and most of the town goes to that one, and the likelihood of running into coworkers and people we know is too great in the middle of the summer.

The campground was basically empty and we got a great site:



This site has a split rail fence and a deep ravine behind it (no neighbors there!) and you couldn't see your neighbors from the sides. Not very level, seems to be going downhill both ways. Across the road was a campsite, with what sounded like a lot of kids, one of which wailed, ranted and apparently misbehaved until the sun went down. The toddlers kept running out into the street and we were waiting for the sound of screeching brakes at any minute. When my family went camping when I was a kid, I can remember my mom telling us we were to use our "quiet voices"----and she damn well meant it!

[Backroads4me]

Bob hasn't hauled a trailer much, and though I have pulled a horse trailer and a UHaul before, we both need more practice backing "Solitude" (I usually had help backing the horse trailer in, in the old days). So we cheated, put our Harbor Freight trailer dolly in the back of the truck, got the TD in the site the best we could, then moved her were we wanted her. We'll be practicing a lot more at home.

[Backroads4me]

Photos of the galley and the Camp Chef Everest stove I bought (Bob's vintage Coleman needs repair). Galley is a work in progress, we moved some shelving and I'll be fine tuning the placement and storage of stuff. While I was in camp, I added the DOT reflective tape and fender reflectors----I want those folks driving with cell phones in their ears to see us. The TCteardrops galley door used to be offered in an unpainted version, but I wanted mine painted, and my fendors black, otherwise there was too much "gray" against the asphalt of the road. Increased visibility for those behind me.

[Backroads4me]

Inside "Solitude":

[Backroads4me]

I haven't had the time to sew up the changing/Luggable Loo yet, so I rigged up a temporary one with one half of the sides for the First Up. Bob's homemade loo worked great, I was happy to have it. Lined it with a trash bag, used cedar shavings and it was so handy. I'll be using it only for night time pee breaks (old lady bladder), and the TD fender makes a handy "disabled bar" (I have bad knees).

[Backroads4me]

All in all, a successful first outing. We did stop at the Cat certified, trucker's scale on the way out of town and found the loaded trailer weighed in at 1300 pounds. I used my trailer weight scale and the tongue weighed in at 200 pounds. (If I calculated right, 5 pounds over the recommended max of 15%). The downside--- gas mileage was 16.5 miles per gallon for Bob's truck---it's usually a lot better without the trailer.

We'll be fine tuning everything and it's off to our next camping trip.

[nevadatear]

Sounds like you had a grwat first outing! Thanks for the info about the everest stove, too!

[Mary C]

Great, impressive now for the camping list of what to take and not take. Glad you had a great time.

Mary C.

[S. Heisley]

Congratulations on your first successful adventure with your new teardrop; hopefully, with many yet to come!
Thanks for sharing.

[Todah Tear]

Deb,

The camper looks great! Was the trailer dolly easy to use on a non-smooth surface?

Todah

[PKCSPT]

Looks like you had a great time. I too camp mid week, shhh can't tell anyone how peaceful it is or everyone will start going..

[nuyork212]

Bob hasn't hauled a trailer much, and though I have pulled a horse trailer and a UHaul before, we both need more practice backing "Solitude" (I usually had help backing the horse trailer in, in the old days). So we cheated, put our Harbor Freight trailer dolly in the back of the truck, got the TD in the site the best we could, then moved her were we wanted her. We'll be practicing a lot more at home.

How do u like the Dolly?

[nuyork212]

What was the very first thing you bought for your tear drop?

Bedding? TV ? ETc

[Backroads4me]

Thanks everyone, for the kind words.

To answer Todah Tear and NuYork 212: IMO, that dolly is the best thing since sliced bread (as far as moving "Solitude" around where we want her). Bought it online, on sale ($49.99) with $6.99 shipping from Harbor Freight. There is a Harbor Freight store 50 miles up the road (Wausau, Wi--where we picked up our TCTeardrop), but by the time we realized this would be a convenient thing to have and could drive to Wausau for one---the weather was snowy bad, time was short and we figured we'd eat up that shipping charge total in gasoline, anyway.

With the dolly, the trailer is easy to move in and out of the garage (even for me!). Out at the campsite (and on a slight downslope), it wasn't bad either. We have a secluded spot amongst the trees in our backyard and plan on using the dolly to push/pull the trailer in there. Unless we had EXCELLENT backing skills, using the truck wouldn't be a good option due to a somewhat sharp turn and a tree that needs to be avoided along the way. We plan on doing some backyard camping between "on the road trips".

NuYork212-----I've been keeping receipts for EVERYTHING! teardrop related, keeping a list and as soon as I get a block of time, I'm going to add up everything. Besides the initial cost of the trailer itself, I bet it's going to be one big chunk of money. Anyway, the very first things I bought were décor oriented----the 3 inside galley door signs and the frame for the Route 66 sign montage I made for the cab interior (pictured below). I had the Route 66 sign in a closet for close to 20 years-----finally did something with it!

[Backroads4me]

I forgot to mention: We had our very first "Oh, wow, is that one of those teardrop campers?" questions from the general public----at the gas station located in the trucker's plaza/weigh station. Lady getting gasoline next to us seemed excited to see the TD, she mentioned she and her husband had talked about getting or building one.

Then, at Hartman, we noticed, and later visited with the owner of, a small Retro Ride teardrop. Lady traveling alone, had traveled all over the U.S. (she wasn't aware of this website, I told her she should stop here for a visit!). Later that evening she, and her friends who were camping in a site next to her, came over and looked our trailer over. It was fun comparing features and notes with another teardropper

Regarding some of my earlier comments (here and in other threads) about "getting away from people"-----I hope it didn't sound like Bob and I are antisocial, reclusive types. We're friendly, are social with folks with similar hobbies, have no problems starting conversations or just plain talking to people, etc. Bob recently retired after 28 years working for a school district and I'm on my 23rd year of working for one of the world's biggest "big box" retailers, both of us amongst hordes of people each and every day. When we want to get away from crying, misbehaving kids, demanding customers and people in general, WE WANT TO GET FAR AWAY!!!

Doesn't mean that a fellow teardropper, or someone interested in them can't stop by our site to ask questions or chat about them. If anyone here sees us in their travels, for gosh shakes, stop on by and say hello!