Hi All - For more'n 9 years now we've traveled, camped, attended gatherings, etc., with our little teardrop, & loved every minute, even the times when weather was less than ideal
. Had a great trip last August to Wyoming & the 'Walk the Winds' gathering but the weather/temps at 8,000' elevation put somewhat of a strain on our physical endurance. Then, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving an inattentive driver made a left turn across my lane of travel & I collided with him while driving my old Ford F-250 diesel P/U, totaling my old truck & pop-up cabover camper. Thus began a search for another, more suitable rig for our camping/traveling. I looked at small motorhomes (class C), small trailers, & pickups & campers. Last week we located a 2001 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe fiberglass trailer, in excellent condition, for a very reasonable price. We drove to Texas (Ft Worth area) to look at it & decided that it fit our requirements almost exactly so we concluded the deal & brought it home. We're still getting familiar with the Casita but so far we love it. Dunno if 17' can still be considered a 'tiny travel trailer' or not but compared to most 17-18' 'stick built' trailers/RVs, it is tiny. Best of all our Toyota Tacoma P/U tows it handily & even gets near the same fuel efficiency as with the TD, only losing less than 2mpg. I still get over 17mpg towing the Casita at 55mph, & the truck handles it with ease; the 4.0L V-6 has more than enough power for any situation I can imagine. Previous owners kept in in nice shape so there's not a lot to do except a few things that'll 'make it ours'. Hope we'll still be welcome at TNTT events but if not we'll still camp/travel & I'll no longer hafta put my pants on lying down
. This ain't the best pic in the world - made with my phone near sundown at rest area on I-30 eastbound near Mt Vernon, TX on our way home with the 'new' trailer...
) but it does sometimes get tiresome trying to stay warm'n dry in inclement weather. We'll still use the TD when it's pretty certain we can sit outside in shorts and/or short sleeves most of the day & evening. Otherwise we'll probably 'wuss out' & use the Casita. We've achieved an age where comfort is much more important than appearance. I don't hafta be a 'tuff guy' anymore (probably never was as tough as I thought, or tried to act 
) & the Casita will allow us to go & still have a place to retreat to when it ain't nice out.
