Home Built Designs and Original TD Gathering

[irgod32]

I would like to start a Home built tiny trailer gathering in Central California in the Santa Cruz mountains in May of 2017. I have a campsite in mind but I wouldn't know how to organize one. Any suggestions?
I've been to a few gathering and I seem to enjoy what builders come up with as far as design. Some tiny trailers are so creative, and it would be fun to see how many different ideas are taken from the original Teardrop Trailers. I really enjoy the creativity people have and to have a Home Built Tiny Trailer Gathering specifically just for Home-Built Trailers would be interesting.
Let me know if anyone has an idea on how to start a Gathering

[robfisher]

Somewhere I heard once that if you build it they will come. Just start. Pick a date. Pick a place. And make an announcement. It really is that easy to get people talking about a gathering. Your concept is great. You can do this. I say go for it!

[pohukai]

Mimic those that are successful and if you can attend the Lake Perris gathering March 24-27, 2016. In the past, there have been 100+ trailers attending Lake Perris. I can't speak for the organizer, but the may be fine with you handing out flyers, having a poster or maybe even making an announcement during Saturday's pot-luck dinner.

A simple web page with basic information about the venue and an announcement in this forum (you'll need to check the rules) is probably fine, too.

http://teardroptime.weebly.com/

[irgod32]

Great ideas guys!
I will start looking into a place and start with their ok then I will make announcements

[robfisher]

Good Luck. You can do this. For the first year keep it simple. Since you are targeting the home built club remember that generally speaking home builders aren't afraid of much. They will tackle most anything. After all they chose to build their own trailer didn't they. What I'm saying is they aren't so much into rules, so the simpler you keep it, the less rules to follow, the more people will be interested. Keep the fees as low as you can. As to picking a date, try to find out what else is going on within the general time frame and try to pick an open date. That may be the hardest part of the whole event. Go for it.

[irgod32]

Good Luck. You can do this. For the first year keep it simple. Since you are targeting the home built club remember that generally speaking home builders aren't afraid of much. They will tackle most anything. After all they chose to build their own trailer didn't they. What I'm saying is they aren't so much into rules, so the simpler you keep it, the less rules to follow, the more people will be interested. Keep the fees as low as you can. As to picking a date, try to find out what else is going on within the general time frame and try to pick an open date. That may be the hardest part of the whole event. Go for it.

To start with, Fee's will be whatever the campsite would be. As far as a date, yes that will be a hard part. I get what you mean as far as home-built trailers. I went to the TD Gathering at Shasta Lake last year. I had seen many home builds that had "interesting" ideas. One in particular caught my eye but not in a good way. It was a funky shape and had a pop up top. I really wasn't too interested in seeing it at first but since we were there for 3 days, I walked up to the woman who build this trailer. After listening to her story and the reason for her design, I was truly impressed on the ideas she put into her trailer. Never again will I judge a trailer by it's cover, this woman put some really cool ideas into her camper.

So I'm hoping to have a similar experience on a "home build camping trailer/TD gathering 2017". I enjoy seeing the creativity people can have with their home built campers, it's truly like personal art work. I also enjoy how talented people can be replicating an old Benroy or Kit Trailer and make it look so close to the original Teardrop Trailers. So we'll see how it plays out
Anyhow, thanks again for the suggestion and your confidence that I can do this

[Woodbutcher]

I am a co director of the Land of Lincoln Chapter of Tear Jerkers. We have 4-5 gatherings a year in our state. We try to find a central location in a larger camp ground that takes reservations. We look for a loop with a bath/shower house and a water spigot . If it has a shelter for group meals, even better. Like Rob said check to see what other gatherings are within a couple hours of your chosen spot. Do not chose the same weekend someone else has selected. Competition splits the group up. Reserve your site and post it with the loop and the range of sites you want to keep the group to. Now the seeds are planted. Wait and watch it grow. If you are a promoter, list things to do in the park and the surrounding area that people might be interested in doing. Fishing, kayaking, hiking, antiquing, wineries, etc. Then ask everyone to post what site they reserved and what days. Keep a running list on your thread of who is coming. Decide what you want to do for meals. Our gatherings are usually 3 days. Some who work can only come Friday and Saturday nights. We do Cooks night out for those who show up on Thursday. We find a local Restaurant and just go get a sandwich and a beer and visit. Friday night we do a Meet and Greet. Everyone brings some type of finger food or appetizer and a beverage. We eat and visit around the fire and exchange lies. Saturday we do a group Breakfast and dinner. Sunday you are on your own.Some do not like so much scheduled and that is fine. No one has to come to all of it. At a minimum a Saturday night pot luck is the norm. If everyone is a stranger a group bonfire and meals is the fastest way to get everyone comfortable with each other. Teardrop people are the most open friendly people you will meet. By the end of the gathering you will feel you knew these guys for a long time. The second gathering is easier. People now have met and will want to get together again. Do Not feel bad if there are only a few the first time. The best gatherings are the smaller more intimate ones. While large gatherings are fun to they are a much different atmosphere. We did not know what we were doing when we started either, and most people are grateful that someone will put a gathering together that all they have to do is show up. Good luck and if I can help, let me know.


Steve

[ae6black]

While I built my own TD, I kind of like looking at the production models as well. Sometimes I can learn from how they did things as well. If I was closer I'd like to come to get some fresh ideas for a future build. However, I'd hate to slight any others that bought a manufactured unit.

Art

[irgod32]

While I built my own TD, I kind of like looking at the production models as well. Sometimes I can learn from how they did things as well. If I was closer I'd like to come to get some fresh ideas for a future build. However, I'd hate to slight any others that bought a manufactured unit.

Art

Hey Art,
Don't get me wrong. I'm not excluding commercial TD at all which is why I labeled this thread "Home Built Designs and Original TD Gathering". I do love the quality that some of these commercial productions produce so I wouldn't exclude them at all. And I agree, I can get ideas from these production models as well. I hope what I'm saying in this thread is that people can be creative and it truly is interesting to see what they add to their designs. Some add a tiny loft for their toddler, others have great ideas for the galley. Some make their designs look like boxes but when you talk to them, you can see why he designed it that way. I'm just wanting to get together a gathering of creative minds. Who knows, someone somewhere will design the future models of tiny trailers. It could be you!
Robert

[irgod32]

I am a co director of the Land of Lincoln Chapter of Tear Jerkers. We have 4-5 gatherings a year in our state. We try to find a central location in a larger camp ground that takes reservations. We look for a loop with a bath/shower house and a water spigot . If it has a shelter for group meals, even better. Like Rob said check to see what other gatherings are within a couple hours of your chosen spot. Do not chose the same weekend someone else has selected. Competition splits the group up. Reserve your site and post it with the loop and the range of sites you want to keep the group to. Now the seeds are planted. Wait and watch it grow. If you are a promoter, list things to do in the park and the surrounding area that people might be interested in doing. Fishing, kayaking, hiking, antiquing, wineries, etc. Then ask everyone to post what site they reserved and what days. Keep a running list on your thread of who is coming. Decide what you want to do for meals. Our gatherings are usually 3 days. Some who work can only come Friday and Saturday nights. We do Cooks night out for those who show up on Thursday. We find a local Restaurant and just go get a sandwich and a beer and visit. Friday night we do a Meet and Greet. Everyone brings some type of finger food or appetizer and a beverage. We eat and visit around the fire and exchange lies. Saturday we do a group Breakfast and dinner. Sunday you are on your own.Some do not like so much scheduled and that is fine. No one has to come to all of it. At a minimum a Saturday night pot luck is the norm. If everyone is a stranger a group bonfire and meals is the fastest way to get everyone comfortable with each other. Teardrop people are the most open friendly people you will meet. By the end of the gathering you will feel you knew these guys for a long time. The second gathering is easier. People now have met and will want to get together again. Do Not feel bad if there are only a few the first time. The best gatherings are the smaller more intimate ones. While large gatherings are fun to they are a much different atmosphere. We did not know what we were doing when we started either, and most people are grateful that someone will put a gathering together that all they have to do is show up. Good luck and if I can help, let me know.


Steve

Hey Woodbutcher,
Thanks for the tips, I truly appreciate your guidance. I will try my best to research all I can and do my best to organize this gathering.
Thanks again for your help,
Robert

[S. Heisley]

Robert,

If you host a gathering next year, I will do my best to attend.

[irgod32]

Robert,

If you host a gathering next year, I will do my best to attend.

Wow, that's great! This is getting exciting! Do you have a home built trailer?

[Alan_H]

... May of 1017. ..

I found this amusing... The year will be the hardest part to pull off... lol

[irgod32]

... May of 1017. ..

I found this amusing... The year will be the hardest part to pull off... lol

Nice catch!

Thanks!

[S. Heisley]

Robert,

If you host a gathering next year, I will do my best to attend.

Wow, that's great! This is getting exciting! Do you have a home built trailer?

I think I have the "funky" home build.

All kidding aside, there are some very beautiful parks near your area, many of them with scenic ratings of 8, 9 or even 10 out of 10. However, those campgrounds are very popular and fill up fast. Because of that, you may want to look for county or private campgrounds, which may be a little less know than the national or state parks. It's usually better to select a campground where people make their own reservations, thereby relieving yourself of liability and making each camper responsible for their own camping costs. If you pick a popular park (the group in the first list), you'll want to set your date very, very early in the year (January?) and warn people to make their reservations immediately!

Some of the nearby & popular state parks with campgrounds are:
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (scenic rating 8 )
New Brighton State beach (scenic rating 10)
Seacliff State Beach (scenic rating 10)
Manresa State Beach (scenic rating 10)
Sunset State Beach (scenic rating 9)
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (scenic rating 10)
Half Moon Bay State Beach N. Calif (scenic rating 7)
Portola Redwoods State Park (scenic rating 9)
Butano State Park (scenic rating 9)
Big Basin Redwoods State Park (scenic rating 10)

Among the lesser known parks and campgrounds that you may want to research/investigate are:
Memorial County Park (scenic rating 8 ) ("no reservations" may be a problem)
Sanborn-Skyline County Park (scenic rating 8 ) (only 15 RV sites...33 walk-in sites)
Big Sur Campground and Cabins (scenic rating 8 )
Del Valle Regional Park (scenic rating 7) (inland)
Henry W Coe State Park (scenic rating 8 ) (A little known park, it has 20 sites)
Riverside Campground and Cabins (scenic rating 8 )
Santa Cruz KOA (Surprise! It has a scenic rating of 8, too!)

Of course the over-all campground rating and even cost of campsite may make a big difference in what you select. (I haven't done any research on any of the above campgrounds.) The above scenic ratings, etc. were taken from a very old version of Foghorn's California Camping.