Starling Travel

I love this photo of a camper and tent from the 1930s.

I just realized that we are a mere sixteen years away from 2030 and only six slim years from the 2020s. It seems crazy to me because the phrase The Twenties refers to the 1920s in my mind, but suddenly, we are on the cusp of a different Twenties.

And as strange as that sounds, humans have been living in tents for THOUSANDS of years. Sure the animal hides were replaced by canvas and then replaced by lightweight nylon, but the basic shelter of the tent has been around for longer than the memory of man. It’s awe inspiring to me and it answers that question I keep asking, “Why does it feel so good to go camping?” Because it is hardwired into my cavewoman brain.

I’ve just heard about RVillage and signed up for it. It’s a way for fellow RVers to get in touch with each other and for you to see who is in the RV site where you may be.

Here’s the description of it from Technomadia:

The core idea of RVillage is to create a very simple (and free) tool for RVers to connect with each other – not just online, but right in the RV parks and places they are currently staying in.

When a user checks into a location in RVillage, they can discover the things that they have in common with other RVers right around them.

This sure beats leaving connections up to chance encounters while walking the cat, or the random stranger coming up asking “what type of engine is in that thing?” while you are busy dumping the tanks.

I like the idea of seeing other people who might be in your campground before we meet them, but it seems strange to me. What do I do? Just start wandering the campground calling the name of fellow RVillagers? I like the idea and I think it’s a great idea to do meet ups, though. I’m giving it a try and I hope you do as well. Then all my best friends will be signed up and ready to roll!

This is a GREAT video from RV Travel about a two story trailer. Her father built a second story onto a 1955 Spartan.

She lived in that trailer from the time she was three years old until she went away to college in 1969! Her family traveled all over in that trailer and her parents lived in it until they died!

What an awesome story!

Via: RV Travel – The video we did of the classic two-story trailer has…

My father-in-law sent me this photo of a teardrop trailer and matching retro truck that he saw at the Tuacahn Saturday Market. Click the photo to see the full-sized version.

It had a for sale sign on it, but they didn’t ask how much it was going for. I just love seeing these retro teardrops!

I had a comment on one of my entries from Christine Swalgin:

One a side note: my bed end canvas never sees rain, I tarp the whole camper length wise and tether the ends down to the bumper and tongue. Seems that are canvas to vinyl leak no mater what and the ends pool. Still trying to engineer a better solution.

I was just going to email Christine and tell her about waterproofing options, but then I realized that other people might want to know about this.

Most tents and tent trailers have treated canvas or nylon to keep out water. Unfortunately, these treatments don’t last forever and need to be redone every few years, especially along the seams. There are lots of products on the market that can be used.

• Kiwi Camp Dry, Heavy Duty Water Repellent, 12oz
• TX Direct Spray On by Nikwax
• Scotchgard Outdoor Water Shield, 10.5-Ounce
• Starbrite Waterproofing & Fabric Treatment

You need to treat the tent outside and make sure you don’t inhale the fumes. Here is a video from one of the manufacturers about how to treat fabrics.

It helps to give the tent plenty of time to dry, so make sure you can leave your tent out and deployed for six hours or so.

Mike and I found out the hard way that our tent trailer was in desperate need of waterproofing in a huge storm last August. We haven’t camped in another storm since, but we are eager to see how the waterproofing will hold.