[cooltearsmagazine]

Building the Campenarti

by Dave Moult

The idea for building the Campenarti came about when we bought a ‘47 Ford pickup. We thought it would be able to tow a trailer that was maybe a little heavier than our regular teardrop which is a 10x5 aluminum clad fully loaded teardrop.

Our camping habits have changed over the last few years and we find ourselves attending more shows than we used to. Most of the showgrounds do not have electric hook ups or power available. We decided to build a trailer that had all the things our regular trailer had but would work off propane gas or 12 volt battery.A propane gas oven, the item we missed most, was going to be a real bonus, as we like to do our own cooking. We have built a few teardrops over the last seven years, including two other trailers with trolley top roofs. The trolley tops were added to give a bit more height in the cabin and we shrunk the over all size of the teardrops to save weight. I really like the style they add, and thought it would be great to include one on a full sized 10x5. We prefer the larger size for a trailer as it gives us a king size bed in the cabin, and plenty of storage both in the cabin and in the galley. I thought if we were going to build a trailer with shows in mind, it would be cool to do something a little different from the norm, which led us to create a teardrop with a steam punk style.

Originally we were going to leave the outside really rough and have a really smart interior. To make it be something that would really stun anyone who dared to look inside. We have used oak face ply on the inside of a previous build and really liked the look. We like recycling or repurposing things and are always on the look out for pieces that might come in handy. I saw a pile of wooden floorboards and other timber, stripped out of a cottage that was being renovated, with a sign saying “Free firewood get it before it snows!” I grabbed it up and that is where all the timber on the sides came from. It has been stored in my workshop for a couple of years until we were ready to use it. The windows are mostly made from copper trays with the bottoms removed. The portholes in the trolley top were made from brass ashtrays and rice dishes with the bottoms removed. The front window was a silver tray picked up at a car boot sale. The entire copper sheeting came from old hot water cylinders that have been stripped and cleaned up. Most of the aluminum was leftover from a previous build. During the build, a friend, Chris at Retro Retrims, asked if we would like any leatherwork done.I thought door cards with pockets would be lovely as well as a headboard. So I asked what I needed to do to make this happen. He told me to look out for an old sofa, which would provide plenty of leather. We soon scored one locally for £15 (equivalent of $22 USD) and got a really comfy chair thrown in too.When I was cutting the panels to be trimmed, I realized it would look great if the bottom half of the cabin was all done in leather. I then cut four more panels to complete the look. Chris put a day aside to do the work, and I was eager to help out. I turned up at his workshop with all the leather from the sofa, and seven panels instead of the three that we’d talked about. We worked for a solid 12-hour shift to get it all done. The huge grin on my face as it was all coming together stayed for days. With all the space the trolley top roof has added, I felt a statement light would be a great addition. So we made one from an upturned coffee pot and some copper tubing. The wood for it was an old toilet seat lid made from nice wood. Organizing the galley was interesting as there was not enough height to fit a fridge. So I came up with the idea of mounting the workings on the outside, with the cold tube going into an insulated cupboard. It works wonderful and will produce ice in a short amount of time. The cupboards are deep enough to fit the oven sidewaysso we made a drawer that slides the oven in and out. A deep drawer is a really handy storage solution as you can get to all the contents easily. I used the back of one of the cupboards to store the 12v battery.The front of it still has plenty of room for storing taller stuff and tins. The decorative drawer unit came from another car boot sale held at a festival a couple or three years ago. The tiled back splash utilized some tiles that I took out of a customer’s bathroom when we were modernizing it. The hatch handle was a grab handle from another bathroom refit. The lower hatch handle and bumper were waste pipes removed from a house when we were modernizing the plumbing. A sink or basin is a really handy thing to havebut with oak tops in the galley it wasn’t practical to put one inside. I made up a frame that can fold down and hold the copper sink. The sinkcame from a customer who wanted me to remove it and I felt it worked great for our camper. The water is delivered to the tap via the pipe that runs around the trailer. It is fed from a milk churn that has a submersible pump fitted and plugs into a 12v circuit that’s wired through a pressure switch. When the tap is turned on the pump is activatedand when it’s turned off the pressure switch turns it off. The cupboard fronts are made from solid brass radiator cover mesh. It’s really expensive to buy newbut we found it on eBay and only paid £20 for it. There isa drop down slide away lower hatch that doubles up for pan storage. A reused copper water tank now holds the two gas bottles on the front. A repurposed brace is used on the jockey wheel. A fold down window is in the back of the trolley top. The 5 meters of hidden color changing led up lights hang in the cabin, and remote color changing spot lights hang in the galley. The mudguards are made from old cylinders. Several friends have donated bits and pieces that help decorate the cabin and give it the feel it has today. The camper has been a real joy to build, as have all my trailers, but this one especially so. Rosie and I have spent over 1,000 hours getting it to where it is and we still have work to do. We are quite involved with the Teardrop Club of Great Britain Facebookpageand spend most of our free time in the summer camping with other tear droppers. The Campenarti is a whole lot of fun bundled up into a very functional camping trailer.

Organizing the galley was interesting as there was not enough height to fit a fridge. So I came up with the idea of mounting the workings on the outside, with the cold tube going into an insulated cupboard. It works wonderful and will produce ice in a short amount of time. The cupboards are deep enough to fit the oven sidewaysso we made a drawer that slides the oven in and out. A deep drawer is a really handy storage solution as you can get to all the contents easily. I used the back of one of the cupboards to store the 12v battery.The front of it still has plenty of room for storing taller stuff and tins. The decorative drawer unit came from another car boot sale held at a festival a couple or three years ago. The tiled back splash utilized some tiles that I took out of a customer’s bathroom when we were modernizing it. The hatch handle was a grab handle from another bathroom refit. The lower hatch handle and bumper were waste pipes removed from a house when we were modernizing the plumbing. A sink or basin is a really handy thing to havebut with oak tops in the galley it wasn’t practical to put one inside. I made up a frame that can fold down and hold the copper sink. The sinkcame from a customer who wanted me to remove it and I felt it worked great for our camper. The water is delivered to the tap via the pipe that runs around the trailer. It is fed from a milk churn that has a submersible pump fitted and plugs into a 12v circuit that’s wired through a pressure switch. When the tap is turned on the pump is activatedand when it’s turned off the pressure switch turns it off. The cupboard fronts are made from solid brass radiator cover mesh. It’s really expensive to buy new but we found it on eBay and only paid £20 for it. There is a drop down slide away lower hatch that doubles up for pan storage. A reused copper water tank now holds the two gas bottles on the front. A repurposed brace is used on the jockey wheel. A fold down window is in the back of the trolley top. The 5 meters of hidden color changing led up lights hang in the cabin, and remote color changing spot lights hang in the galley. The mudguards are made from old cylinders. Several friends have donated bits and pieces that help decorate the cabin and give it the feel it has today. The camper has been a real joy to build, as have all my trailers, but this one especially so. Rosie and I have spent over 1,000 hours getting it to where it is and we still have work to do. We are quite involved with the Teardrop Club of Great Britain Facebookpageand spend most of our free time in the summer camping with other tear droppers. The Campenarti is a whole lot of fun bundled up into a very functional camping trailer.

[cooltearsmagazine]

Teardropping Into the Past

by Tony H. Latham

The man was kneeling by a cold campfire. His lips were tight but he looked relaxed. A razor hadn’t touched his beard for several days. The skin on his face and hands was almost as dark as the leather jacket he wore over his well-used bib overalls. A clean white undergarment poked around his neck. The brim of a crumpled fedora shaded his eyes that looked through black-rimmed glasses. His left hand held a cigar that seemed to be his signature.

Four men, two women, and a young kid, that was perhaps four, stood behind him. One of the women held an infant in her arms. The campfire ring had a frying pan and several other cooking pots around it. A four-door sedan was parked behind the group and a fly rod sat on its top. A steep sagebrush hill with a few Doug fir trees formed the background. The infant was my mother. The man kneeling was my great grandfather, George E. Hill. On the back of the photograph was written, “August 1927, Slate Creek–below Crater Mine,” along with a list of names identifying the group. My grandmother had given me the black and white photo some thirty-five years ago. She’d explained that her father had invested in a mine in Slate Creek and had told her, “There are more gold mines than gold in Idaho.” I’d framed the photograph and it had hung in my office for two decades. The kneeling man intrigued me. He looked like he’d been in the hills all summer and owned the campfire. Most of the group looked fresher, as if they’d just arrived. But George looked like he belonged there.

Two Teardrops I’d purchased a commercially built 4 x 10’ teardrop in 2004 and loved it. In 2013, my wife and I ran into a guy pulling a five-wide manufactured by So-Cal Teardrops and we got a look inside. A foot can be a lot. Three weeks later I was building a 5 x 10’. That fall we took our new teardrop on its maiden voyage to Zion National Park. My sister and her husband joined us and they camped in a tent. The weather was cold and wet and of course they kept eyeing our ‘drop. That winter they started shopping for a teardrop. They focused on a 4 x 8’ and planned to pull it behind their Honda CRV. During a frail moment, I offered to build a teardrop cabin if they’d weld the chassis and buy the materials. I’d work for free. How could they pass it up? Five months later the four of us bolted the cabin to the chassis and headed for western Montana for a two-teardrop tour and had a blast. Meanwhile, I kept looking at the photograph. I studied the drainage using Google Earth’s aerial photos and topographic maps. They had camped on a sagebrush flat, presumably next to the creek–who wouldn’t? The vegetation on the hillside in the background showed that it was a south-facing slope. I concluded that the site was findable. Slate Creek was about an hour and a half drive from our home in Salmon, Idaho and five hours from Jay and Jane’s residence in Salt Lake. The drainage is within the Salmon-Challis National Forest and a few miles from the one-block town of Clayton. Eighty-eight years had passed since my nine-month old mother had camped along this creek. It was time to try to find the spot. The idea was a great excuse for a double teardrop adventure.

The Hunt In early June, we turned off the highway and drove about a mile along the Salmon River on a forest road before we arrived at the mouth of Slate Creek. My wife and I were in the lead pulling “Flash” with our white Tacoma, followed by my sister’s copper-colored CRV towing their “Tiny Tear.” The sides of the drainage are steep and thickly covered with Douglas fir, but sprinkled with sagebrush openings. The road follows the creek and is a narrow, single-lane dirt trail that doesn’t look friendly to low-slung vehicles. The night before, we’d camped in Stanley Basin and had been pounded with rain. It was still drizzling in Slate Creek and waterdogs of fog hung on the White Cloud Mountains that formed the headwaters of the drainage. Mud spun off our rig’s tires and onto the aluminum of our teardrops. After about a mile of winding along the creek, the valley opened up. After studying the photograph, I felt a twitch in my bones. We’d found the sagebrush flat that three generations of my family had camped on. The flat was about a half mile long and two hundred yards wide. Here and there we could see parts of the old wagon road that George and his troop must have used to get to their campsite. We picked a sheltered spot in the trees next to the creek, unhitched, and built a campfire. After dinner we snuggled next to the flames and studied the photograph. We wondered how they had executed the trip. We knew they had travelled nearly two hundred miles from Rigby, Idaho. Seven adults and two kids. They had to have at least two cars. How long had it taken on those old dirt roads? Was it one long day, or did they camp along the way? What had they brought to eat? Had they drank water straight from the creeks? What did their camp look like? What did they bring for bedding? How long did they stay? Had George spent half the summer camped along the creek? We managed to answer some of those questions, but most will remained locked away below the ten thousand foot peaks that rise above the drainage.

Epitome Two teardrops and an old photograph that brought siblings back to a nearly century-old family campsite. Sometimes I think that every teardrop trip is better than the last. But how can the next one be finer than this one? I think George was wrong. There is gold in Idaho. Lots of it.

About The Author Tony Latham writes non-fiction and mystery/thrillers. He lives and plays in Salmon, Idaho. You may catch a glimpse of he and his wife’s teardrop, Flash on a winding road some splendid summer day.

[cooltearsmagazine]

Explore Everything - Camp Buy Me Love travels cross-country

by Gerrad & Krista Archibald

In January 2016, my husband and I were visiting a cousin in Odessa, Texas.  When asked what he wanted to do while we were there, my cousin said emphatically, “I want to get the hell outta here.”  He suggested we drive 3 hours to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  This drive is flat, dusty, and barren, save for the hundreds of oil derricks dotting the brown landscape.  For lack of a better word, it’s ugly, unless you’re into that kind of thing.  The last few miles leading up to Carlsbad Cavern are a  contrast offering colorful, dramatic, and…well…quite pretty scenery.

My husband and I thought that if this beautiful jewel box existed surrounded by all this ugliness, there must be other areas of our country that we were missing out on.  This is the precise moment we asked ourselves, “wouldn’t it be cool if we explored ALL the national parks in a travel trailer?”   Well, maybe it didn’t go exactly like this!  The truth is we didn’t come to this conclusion immediately.  We debated and researched until we ultimately decided that a travel trailer would be the best and most affordable option to see the nation’s parks.  We looked at every imaginable RV configuration, but we kept going back to a little teardrop trailer with a retractable roof that my husband had heard about years ago.  The Safari Alto teardrop is manufactured in Quebec, Canada, and that is where new owners must travel for pick up after an 18 month wait.  There are other pick-up options, but they are more costly.  If you can’t or don’t want to wait for a new one (like us) you are forced into the cutthroat used market.  With a little patience and a lot of diligence, we ended up purchasing a used 2014 Safari Alto R1713 in May 2016.   We pulled away from the old owners in Victoria, Canada with huge smiles on our faces, which thankfully covered up the terror we felt on the inside.  Now that we were armed with the right trailer, we just had to learn how to use it.  We took 2 short trips to help us get acquainted with our new baby “Woodstock”, named for its bright yellow armor, and help us prepare for being on the road for an extended period of time.  Despite some non-trailer related delays, we eventually hit the road on January 28, 2017.   There was still snow on the ground when we left Portland, Oregon, where we have lived since 2013.  We hightailed it south in an effort to avoid the parks threatened and/or inundated by winter weather.  We had terrible weather at the beginning, bringing rain to nearly every spot we went.  California was experiencing the wettest winter since the late 90s, which made for bright green rolling hills and vibrant landscapes, but terrible road conditions.   Eventually, the weather calmed down and we had a pleasant journey south to San Diego, then venturing east.  We’ve since covered the entire southern U.S., eastern seaboard, parts of Canada, and have started our meandering route west back home.  At one point, we even flew from Fort Lauderdale to St. John to check Virgin Islands National Park off our list while our trailer hibernated at the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park.

We’ve seen some absolutely amazing sights in our short 4.5 months on the road.  A few experiences come to mind if pressed for highlights:  feeling so small next to the huge trees of the Redwoods, hiking Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend, flying a seaplane to Dry Tortugas, snorkeling in the mangroves in the Virgin Islands, biking the Cades Cove Loop in the Great Smokies, taking a dip in pristine Lake McDonald in Glacier, experiencing the first place to see the rising sun in the U.S. in Acadia, seeing another Safari Alto in the wild in Theodore Roosevelt.  I could easily list off a hundred once in a lifetime experiences just off the top of my head.  To see the country from the road, in a trailer that can go almost anywhere and fit in almost any campsite, has been one of the most special and unique experiences of our lives.

Eventually, the weather calmed down and we had a pleasant journey south to San Diego, then venturing east.  We’ve since covered the entire southern U.S., eastern seaboard, parts of Canada, and have started our meandering route west back home.  At one point, we even flew from Fort Lauderdale to St. John to check Virgin Islands National Park off our list while our trailer hibernated at the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park. We’ve seen some absolutely amazing sights in our short 4.5 months on the road.  A few experiences come to mind if pressed for highlights:  feeling so small next to the huge trees of the Redwoods, hiking Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend, flying a seaplane to Dry Tortugas, snorkeling in the mangroves in the Virgin Islands, biking the Cades Cove Loop in the Great Smokies, taking a dip in pristine Lake McDonald in Glacier, experiencing the first place to see the rising sun in the U.S. in Acadia, seeing another Safari Alto in the wild in Theodore Roosevelt.  I could easily list off a hundred once in a lifetime experiences just off the top of my head.  To see the country from the road, in a trailer that can go almost anywhere and fit in almost any campsite, has been one of the most special and unique experiences of our lives.

To see entire story check out the July 2017 issue of Cool Tears. FREE DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION! 

Follow along with Camp Buy Me Love at http://www.campbuymelove.com

[cooltearsmagazine]

Dedicated to teardrop campers and the tiny camping lifestyle

The current issue features engaging articles and photos including:

Camping with the Happy Camper - cover story

Tears in the Wild - subscriber submitted stories

On the Teardrop Trail - Pinto Beans & Pork Chops

Life in the Outside Elements - teardrop restoration

Off the Rack - Product Reviews

Manufacture Feature - Star City Teardrops

Manufacture Feature - Used Teardrops

[cooltearsmagazine]

TearJerkers: Celebrating 20 Years!

Editor’s Note: In the August 2013 issue of Cool Tears we ran a brief overview and history of the Tearjerkers group. With the celebration of their 20th Anniversary, we felt it time to honor this group again.

Back in 1997, the teardrop world was slowly crawling out of a 40-50 year lull. There were numerous reasons for this resurgance in attention on the teardrop camper; the baby boomers were becoming empty nesters and recalling camping trips they took in their youth,  the vintage style was becoming more popular, gas pricing were beginning to creep up and folks were looking for a more economic way of camping.

Several of those reasons were leading Todd Brunengraber to begin his teardrop adventure. Todd bought his first teardrop, a 1958 Scotty Sportsman from a fellow in Roanoke VA. And just like that Tearjerkers was on its way. As silly as it sounds, you hook the little teardrop to your vehicle & jerk it along.

The first gathering, so to speak, was held at the Seaport Campground in Mystic, CT. Seven teardrops from as far away as Lansing, NC. came to the campground. All of these early followers are members, directors or administrators today. With the inception of the Yahoo Chat Group in the late 1990’s/early 2,000’s, things really exploded & chapters were formed. In 2001 we introduced the PHPbb forum. The first chapter was the NE Chapter taking in the 6 NE states. From there it was on to the Liberty Bell Chapter in PA. and the Southern Appalachian Chapter taking up most of the South. From there they had interest from fellows in Great Britain & Finland. As the numbers grew, so did the chapters.

The mid 2000’s brought some major gatherings. A centralized location, Wytheville, VA was chosen for the first North/South gathering. This was a major success and so 2 years later brought another gathering, the South/North.  In 2011 another director planned the CRA. Known as the Crossroads of America, this gathering was held in Spencer, IN. People attended from states in the North & Southwest as well as the east.  There were 142 trailers in attendance for that first CRA.

Tearjerkers is a family oriented camping group. It was originally for teardrop trailer owners, but has added small or tiny travel trailers. Many members have more than 2 trailers. Anyone is welcome to attend a gathering.  You do not need to be a member but once you attend a gathering, chances are you’ll have a blast & join. The Tearjerkers website has information pertinent to trailers, members, vendors, products & much more. The forum board is private and you have to join to use the board features. Cool Tears contacted a few of the members of Tearjerkers in order to learn more and were given several great stories. From Zach Engle, “I’ve been involved since 2010, first just as a member, and have since taken on role as Liberty Bell Chapter Director and an administrator on the forum.  I remember my first gathering, before I really knew anyone, was the original Tearstock, in Phoenicia, NY.  We toured the Woodstock site and museum and had a tie-dye themed weekend.  I think we had about 65 teardrops and other small campers show up, with bear sightings in and around the campground throughout the weekend.  Was an awesome time with some crazy people!”

From Rich Cooper, “We are a camping group.  The trailers are the common bond. We are a inclusive group... ALL are welcome! The Chapters are only as good as the Co-Directors & Directors who guide the Chapter through the camping season and beyond. I first got intrigued after I saw the “RV Crazy” episode that had Teardrop Trailers in it. So in the spring of 2005 I built my trailer.  I had no idea that there was a community of TD lovers out there other than the folks I had seen on TV.   I didn’t realize Tearjerkers existed.  After I had the trailer built, I found the original Tearjerkers Yahoo group on the internet and attended my first gathering June 2005 at Hickory Run State Park in PA.  At first, I remember it seemed weird, camping with people I had never met except through exchanging posts on a Yahoo board.  My family and I were instantly put at ease and by the end of that weekend we felt like family. We were hooked! After a few gatherings I was asked to be a co-director of the Liberty Bell chapter, eventually becoming the director, which I enjoyed doing for 7 years. I’m currently acting as a administrator which includes monitoring board postings, approving new members and assigning them to their appropriate chapter, assisting members, directors and fellow administrators with problems, issues, etc.  Todd has often referred to me as “the voice of reason” within the group.”

At the beginning, Todd’s wife wondered aloud if he was mentally unstable for running with an idea like Tearjerkers. As the group started mushrooming his family soon realized how much the group means to Todd. In fact one son brought laughs at a family gathering saying, “Tearjerkers is like Dad’s girlfriend.” Todd is quick to say he does it all for the members. In fact, his one regret over the years is that he did not keep all the letters members sent telling him what the group means to them.

Today, over 4,000 members strong and still growing, Tearjerkers is a hub of info and camaraderie for teardrop enthusiasts across the globe.

www.tearjerkers.net

[cooltearsmagazine]

Cool Tears revived the cooking column in the May issue. Check out page 7 for the entire recipe. >>LINK IN PROFILE!!<< . . . #teardrop #cooking #campcooking #campfirecooking #balsamicchicken #teardroptrailer #teardropcamper #camping #tinycamper #cookoutside #cookout @marilynmccray

[cooltearsmagazine]

Exactly!!! #Repost @bontragerssurplusrv (@get_repost) ・・・ #rvlife #motorhomelife #openroad #5thwheel #traveltrailer #teardropcamper #toyhauler #foodtruck #popupcamper #rvremodel #notallthosewhowander #camplife #glamping #glamper #Jayco #Winnebago

[cooltearsmagazine]

We Camp Here App Review

One of the most frustrating things for me to do is try to find a new campground. Whether looking for a nice place close to home to get away for the weekend or trying to find a great place to camp while vacationing there seems to be no easy one stop solution – until now. Yep…. There’s an app for that!

The answer is We Camp Here. I don’t know why I have not found this app until now but it is great. It is so much better than the old way of finding and choosing a campground. At least the way I did it. I would go to my favorite web search site and type in something like “Missouri campgrounds.” Of course I would get all the listings that took me to links that lead to links. Some sites had listings but most had limited information with too much digging and to many steps to find the information I was looking for.

With We Camp Here those days are gone. I can’t imagine an easier way to discover campgrounds and to find if they offer the amenities you want or need. The app is very user friendly. I is one of the easiest to use apps, of any kind, I have ever used.

The app opens to a map and basically all you have to do is point. There are pins with various icons that represent what type of campground is located there. Privately owned, National, County, City, Corps of engineers, Military, and BLM parks are all identified. Just touch the one you are interested in and you are given the park name and selections to retrieve general information including site types, utilities offered, amenities and recreation options. Do you want to know if electric or water hookups are available? Does the park offer wi-fi, or cable tv? What about a swimming pool or fishing? Al of that information and more is literally at your fingertips. The app even provides all the information to set up your satellite access if your camping is that high tech.

There are also buttons that offer options like reading reviews, calling to speak with someone at the facility office, a direct link to the campground web site and of course providing driving directions. The app makes use of your locations services if that feature in enabled on your device.

The app is somewhat self moderated in that you are given the opportunity to verify or offer corrections to the information provided.

We Camp Here is available for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices. It is also available on the web if you want do your browsing on your notebook or the home computer.