Starling Travel

I have looked at this video of a fold up truck camper many times, but I couldn’t find any information about who made it or how to buy it, so I never posted it here.

The people at Tiny House Talk were able to identify it. (Continue Reading…)

Margaret Sweep commented on my blog post: Starling Travel » Some Campsites Aren’t Good For A Teardrop Trailer

Gday from Australia . I have the same American Inc outback travel trailer. Two were imported into Australia, ours is the only one that has survived, the other one was lost in the last Victorian bushfires, we would not part with ours. Draws a crowd were ever we go.

Cheers Margaret and Ibo Sweep— June 25, 2012 @ 12:13 am

I immediately emailed her, asking for pictures. She was nice enough to send me a ton of them.

All these descriptions are Margaret’s: (Continue Reading…)

The beauty of leaving our travel schedule open was that Mike and I could drive as far as we wanted and when we were tired we could find a campsite to stop at and sleep. The irresponsibility of leaving our travel schedule open was that we were driving home during Memorial Day weekend. After visiting The Laura Ingalls Wilder House and Osceola Cheese, we planned on camping at Lake Jacomo near Kansas City, Missouri.

When we arrived there, however, it was packed full and the camp host assured us that the other two campgrounds near the lake were also full for the weekend. Mike and I took one look at the rowdy campground full of people excited for their long weekend and decided to move on.

Mike pulled up the Allstays App [iTunes link] and found Beacon RV Park in St. Joseph, Missouri, about an hour away from the lake. They had room for us and their prices were very affordable. Their office closing time was in thirty minutes, however. The owner told us to head over and he would stay long enough for us to get there. We did our best to get through the Kansas City traffic up north to St. Joseph.

I had a bad feeling about the RV Park when we drove down the Belt Highway. How good could an RV Park be when it’s situated between a used car lot and a Chinese restaurant? I envisioned a night of noise from the big road and an unsecured location. Instead, we found a haven, sunk below the traffic noise. (Continue Reading…)

Our visit to Graceland was highlighted by lunch at Marlowe’s Ribs. We couldn’t visit Memphis without trying some BBQ. I wish we could have stayed longer in the city so we could have tried more BBQ places, but we only had one day there, so we visited the place with the huge pink pig trailer. (Continue Reading…)

Mike and I have loved how convenient our teardrop trailer has been, but we’ve actually found a site that makes having one inconvenient.

We were at Quail Creek Reservoir and the campsites have a bit of a hike from the picnic table and shade to the trailer. In fact, we can’t use our little galley at all, so we just set up our camp kitchen under the shade.

I tried something different with the water in an effort to make a nice water faucet for the sink. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked well enough to wash our hands and rinse dishes.

You can’t beat the view from my bed, though.

Despite the inconvenient campsite, we had a lovely weekend at Quail Creek and can’t wait to go back!

I was looking at this video when I saw the teardrop at the 2:06 minute mark.

Here is the freeze frame from that video. You can click on it to embiggen:

Now, I can’t deny that it doesn’t look very similar to the Teardrop American Outbacker, but there are some distinct differences. Here’s a picture of mine in the same position (pre-restoration) for comparison:

Differences:

• The doors are made of thinner plastic (or fiberglass)
• Body has a different shape
• Propane tank (could have been added after market)
• Smaller belly band

I wonder who made these trailers and whether they’re made out of plastic or fiberglass. Are there any on the road today? This photo was obviously taken from eBay (notice the small camera watermark on the bottom right-hand corner). Did someone buy it on eBay? If they did, what do they know about it? Was it a prototype for the Teardrop American Outbacker? Was it a home-brew? I’m so curious!

During my teardrop trailer obsession, I never ran across this video, even though it has been posted since 2007! It’s a comprehensive introduction to teardrop trailers.

This video is so jam-packed with ideas that I had to highlight them because some of them fly by so quickly that you might not notice them if you aren’t paying attention:

• The gravity fed water system and outdoor table built over the wheel well at the 1:29 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 1:29 minute mark
• The pristine Kampmaster (or Wild Goose) at the 1:57 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 1:57 minute mark
• Another nearly perfect Kampmaster at the 3:39 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 3:39 minute mark
• The spare tire that turns into a table at the 4:17 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 4:17 minute mark
• The drop down table and pan storage at the 4:23 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 4:23 minute mark
• The privacy curtain for dressing at the 4:29 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 4:29 minute mark
• The Trailorboat at the 6:09 minute mark: YouTube Tiny Teardrop RVs: 6:09 minute mark

I absolutely love this video, and when they talk about how easy camping in a teardrop is compared with a tent, they are absolutely right. Mike and I were VERY good at putting up the tent and camp kitchen because we had years of practice, but we never got quicker than thirty minutes of hard labor. With the teardrop, Mike and I got our setup time down to five minutes. The bed is already made, we can push the thing into the proper spot and pulling out the camp kitchen and chairs takes hardly any time.

Sure, there’s no bathroom or shower in the trailer, but you cannot believe how many people I talked to on our epic journey who don’t even USE the toilet or shower in their trailers. It’s always easier to use the shower at the campsite than to try to squeeze yourself into a trailer shower.

In the end, our teardrop trailer took us over 3000 miles from Utah to Tennessee and back. It was an easy and economical way to travel the country!

On this trip, Mike and I spent the most time in Little Rock. Mike and his father were taking a class there, which was the whole reason for the epic journey in the first place. So, we spent our most time at the Little Rock North KOA than any of the other campgrounds, yet I have the fewest pictures from them.

Ironically, they were the best campground we stayed at during the whole trip. The bathrooms had plenty of stalls and showers, so I never had to wait. They were clean and because we were in a teardrop trailer, they put us close to them so we didn’t have to walk far. (Continue Reading…)

Our third day traveling was through the last half of Kansas and into Oklahoma. Since the Salina KOA sounded like road noise all night, we decided that we wanted a more rustic campsite. We decided on Gore Landing.

We found it on the Camp Where app by Big Nerd Ranch, Inc. [iTunes link]. I looked through comments about the site and one of them mentioned that there was no sign for the campground on the main road. They weren’t kidding.

We drove off the main road, following the GPS coordinates and all we could see for miles was corn fields and trees.

We were certain that all we were going to find at the end of that road was an angry farmer with a shotgun. (Continue Reading…)

We filmed a tour of our Teardrop American Outbacker at the beautiful Oquirrh Lake. Take a look at it here:

Remember, camping isn’t allowed at Oquirrh Lake. We just filmed our trailer there because it’s so pretty. You’re welcome to stay the day there, fishing and enjoying the sunshine, however.

• Oquirrh Lake on Google Maps
• Daybreak website
• Teardrops and Tiny Trailers on Starling Travel