Carter Lake Teardrop Trip...
(Xposted from http://www.Colorado4x4.org)
So after looking around I determined that Carter Lake would be a nice place for our "shakedown" camping trip with our new teardrop trailer. We loaded her up with what seemed like 50 plastic tubs (wife loves them), hooked up the 4runner, packed up the dog and headed out.
First off, here is the story behind "Bubbles" (thanks to Yellowkayak from this forum for the suggestion!) She's a classic "Teardrop" design trailer, home built by a guy in Glenwood Springs. Wife has known other people who've had teardrops and she's always liked them. At the beginning of the year, we talked about what we wanted to do this year since it's a "milestone" year for both of us (I just turned 50 and Liz turns 50 in August.) One of the things I'd said was "I'd like to do more camping together." We hadn't gone camping together since 2007, largely because Liz isn't crazy about sleeping on the ground in a tent, and neither am I, for that matter (been there, done that, after 23 years in the Army.) She suggested looking for a small camping trailer, and I started scanning Craigslist. Initially we were going to go with a "pop up" style, but then Liz said "what about a teardrop?" I was intrigued and started doing some research.
(Here's the thread where we picked up Bubbles: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...r-new-Teardrop!)
In mid-January, we started scanning CL. I found a couple of good deals in New Mexico on older, factory built trailers, and was ready to take a day off work to go down and look at them. But then I just happened to run a search in CO and found this one, home-built, just up the road in Glenwood. We took off on a Sunday in January, saw it, loved it and bought it. It really is amazingly well built. The guy who built it (on a cargo-trailer chassis) is a master wood craftsman who also builds gorgeous electric guitars (he had some half-finished ones in his garage where he kept the Teardrop.)
It's made from Marine-grade plywood that has gotten multiple coats of sealer. The interior is painted aquamarine, which gives it a real early 60's look to it. The sleeping area runs the entire length of the trailer and is a little wider than a queen-size bed and about a foot longer (which I like because I'm tall.) There is a 4 - piece mattress that we put down to sleep on, and it's covered in microfiber material.
When not in use, we stack the mattress sections 2x2 and put them into the area under the galley. And yes, that's an air conditioner. There is a shore power connection on the left side that runs to a surge protector and the AC unit is plugged into that. There's also a nice set of speakers and amp that we can hook an iPod to for music (all of this was included when we bought the trailer.)
Many teardrop trailers have a very fancy "galley" that includes a gas stove, fridge, drawers, etc. Ours is not that fancy, basically we have a shelf that's covered in linoleum, and we can put the gas stove on there, or wherever we want. No drawers because the area under the galley is the back part of the sleeping area.
Anyway, we've been working on her since January and waiting for a nice enough weekend to go camping (she has AC but no heat!) Finally, this past weekend, we went out to Carter Lake. Here she is set up at our campsite at the South end of the lake:
NOTE: SORRY FOR THE FUZZY PICTURES, IT WAS GETTING DARK AND IGUESS MY CAMERA HAD A DIFFICULT TIME FOCUSING.
After we named her "bubbles" (because of the round porthole windows,) Liz went wild decorating her in a "fish" theme. Here is the galley area set up at the campsite. The multicolored "bubbles" are all little round balsa wood discs Liz got at Hobby Lobby and painted, then glued into place. In addition to the discs, if you look closley, you can see some little wooden fish.
The outside of the trailer, with the string of camper-shaped lights that the seller included in the deal (see them here) Instead of an awning, the trailer has U-brackets that hold a patio umbrella (also included with the trailer when we bought it.)
The interior is "cozy" but comfortable, even for 2 adults and a medium sized dog. Note the "curtains" over the portholes which are actually embroidery hoops. The "bubbles" theme continues in the cloth used for the hoops.
Liz getting comfortable. If you look above her head you can see more hanging fish. The yellow furring strips I put in so we could hang things on the side without having to drill into the plywood side of the trailer.
Our cattle dog Shaila, with her ever-present tennis ball, had a great time there (she always does when we go outside, though.)
The "fish" theme continued even to the plates we use. This was our breakfast: Hash browns, lil' smokies sausages and scrambled eggs, all cooked together:
Sunset at Carter Lake, absolutely gorgeous, even this early in the year.
Liz has more pics on her computer so I'll try to get more photos of Carter Lake itself. All in all a great trip. Those of you who go to the OFR (from CO4x4.org) will see us there as well with Bubbles.
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