mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 I recently went on an incredible trip to places I'd never been before, met some wonderful people and also got to combine work with pleasure (so some of my fun was paid for!!!)In addition to belonging to Fort Fiends, I also belong to a couple of other camping groups that are specific to my type of trailer.One is tabtrailers on yahoo groups which is specific to my brand of camper, the other is www.tearjerkers.netThis group is all about camping in small trailers. Teardrops, T@Bs, Casitas, Scamps, homebuilt trailers, Scotty's, Canned Hams, you name it, they are all welcome.Back in November, a multi-state gathering was announced up in Indiana. I had camped with the Indiana folks before and the campground was a reasonable 400 miles from the house, so I signed up. The gathering was going to be at McCormick Creek State Park in Spencer, IN.The organizers expected 40 - 50 trailers to attend, but over the months, the excitement grew and the final tally was 141 trailers!! It took me two days of the 4 to get pictures of all the campers!!A few days before the trip, I found out I needed to be in Sterling, VA for work the day after this gathering. I was a little stressed at first, cause that meant, I would have to rush home on Sunday morning to catch a plane. Then I got to looking around and found a fairly well-reviewed campground only 8 miles from my work location. I then looked up the mileage from Indiana to Virigina and found that driving and camping was doable!!!So I got an airfare comparison and it turned out the airfare/rental car was going to be more than the mileage, so I could drive!!!!So Wednesday morning, July 13th, I'm all hitched up, spend half a day at work, and head on up I-65 towards Spencer, IN.Not much to report on the drive.I stopped at a Wal-Mart about 30 miles before arriving at the campground to pick up a couple of things, and saw this parked in the parking lot.I asked the owner if he was attending the gathering also, but he said he had not heard of tearjerkers, but was just overnighting in the parking lot. I know a lot of folks do that, but without electric or AIR CONDITIONING, just not my thing.I then headed on to the campground and was warmly greeted by a few folk already there and got set up.I already knew I was gonna be on site 104. By the way, this campground has about 170 sites and we as a group had a 141 of them, pretty impressive I say!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Sorry my Fort Fiends sign was not out front, but the ground was so hard, I couldn't get the spindly legs into the ground, so I propped it up against the trailer. Same with my Mickey Ears flamingo, I had to prop him up against the picnic table. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Just Whipperwhirl 24 Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Awesome start - cant wait to read more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lou... 3,118 Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 You faked me out with the title Carol. Oh no, tearjerker gathering, what happened? But I get it now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
campingpixi 11 Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Great pics!! I just love your setup :banana: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ok Grumpy AKA Cindy~~ 9 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 :popcorn: I'm tagging along too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
okgirlie...Brandy 6 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I also thought this was going to be a sad report. Glad to see it's not. :):popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Awesome start - cant wait to read more!Thanks for reading alongYou faked me out with the title Carol. Oh no, tearjerker gathering, what happened? But I get it now.Actually, there were some tears flowing, but for a good cause!!Great pics!! I just love your setup :banana:Thanks!!:popcorn::popcorn: I'm tagging along too!Thanks for reading!!!I also thought this was going to be a sad report. Glad to see it's not. :):popcorn: Like I said some very happy things came out of this trip!!More coming in just a bit!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TnBob 311 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Thursday and not much to tell. I had to do a bit of work, and also just napped and lazed around. It was pretty late night on Wednesday with the driving and setting up.A lot of folks arrived on Thursday, and my camper was in a spot for a front row seat to see a lot of folks arriving. I had met a few of them over the years at the various state gatherings. I'm fortunate that I'm pretty central to the Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Mississippi chapters, so get to go to a lot of gatherings within a reasonable driving distance.On Friday, I finally I got out and about and started taking trailer pictures. Now I won't post every one of them here, but here are a few of my favorites.I'll post my photobucket link at the end of the trip report for those that are just dying to see each and every trailer at the gathering.This tear was pretty ordinary, but the car was awsome!!This was a pretty unique setup. This family has four kids. The first few years, mom & dad were in the big tear and the kids in the little one. Now they have swapped. The kids sleep in the big tear and mom & dad in the little one! They pull these in tandem.This one is georgious! An OVEN and a WINE cooler in a teardrop!This one was decopaged with all kinds of maps on the outside and insideThis little trailer was pulled by a Goldwing motorcycle by a gentleman that is 85 years young!!Check out the woodwork on this beautyHere is another beautful homebuilt trailerHere a guy did something similar to my big screenroom setupThis one actually has a bathtub inside!A restored classic Scotty SeroA brand new Scotty SeroA cargo trailer conversionAnother beautiful classic restorationWell that gives you a feel of the range of trailers there. There are so many more!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LORNADUCK 261 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Wow I love when you put pictures of your outings up. I am in awe of what people do with them. I love motorhomes, but the people who own these have so much imagination and put so much love and thought into their campers,. One is nicer than the next. Glad you had a great trip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Wow I love when you put pictures of your outings up. I am in awe of what people do with them. I love motorhomes, but the people who own these have so much imagination and put so much love and thought into their campers,. One is nicer than the next. Glad you had a great trip.While I LOVE decorating my T@B, when I go to these gatherings I am AMAZED at the talent of these folks. Most of these are built by HAND from the trailer up. They do the welding of their own frame, all the cutting, fabricating, fitting, etc. All I did was paint my trim and put some stickers on and bought stuff. Anything remotely that involved cutting or drilling, I took to my dealer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
homebrew 14 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
polkadotsuitcase 12 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 These are some AMAZING little rigs! So glad you took the time to take all the pix -- thanks for posting them. Gives me hope that I'll still camp after the kids are grown -- I'll just downsize a bit. Those campers have so much personality/functionality crammed into such a little space. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 This one is reminiscent of a Gypsy wagon, replete with the palm reading tablecloth on the table! I LOVE it!!And GO GRANDPA!! 85 years old on a Goldwing pulling a trailer! That guy knows how to live life, doesn't he? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anolefan 8 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I love seeing pictures of all the campers during your trips!This looks like a great time.Can't wait to see more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kampfirekim 260 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 COOL!!!I hope I still have a spirit of adventure at 85! Hats off to that guy!These campers are so great! Thanks for posting these wonderful photos of them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
okgirlie...Brandy 6 Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 I love those camper pictures. :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 OK, to continue on, I spent most of Friday afternoon taking camper pictures, then it was time for the Wine and Cheese event.See that yellow T@B in the background. Those folks showed up literally minutes before we descended upon them and set up tables in their "front yard".As I said before, I had a front row seat for everything as most of those pictures were taken from my site.Announcements were made, sponsors introduced, and reminders for the various raffles and drawings were announced. As I said earlier something very good came from this gathering, all of the raffles, drawings, and various ways to earn money were all going to be for Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The amount we ended up raising was astounding!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 I love all the pictures and I'm glad that the money was going to IBC! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 A few more camper pictures:This is a Camp-Inn teardrop. Considered to be the cadillac of manufactured teardrops (with a price to match)This is a Little Guy Silver Shadow. I seriously considered this camper before I found my T@BThis is a homebuilt chuckwagon kitchen. Before I looked at teardrops and T@Bs this was what I had in my head that I wanted to do. I was a tent camper, but it was a lot of work. I wanted a trailer with a kitchen, clothes storage, and other compartmented storage, so all I would have to set up is the tent and an air mattress.Another Scotty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kampfirekim 260 Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 As I said before, I had a front row seat for everything as most of those pictures were taken from my site.Announcements were made, sponsors introduced, and reminders for the various raffles and drawings were announced. As I said earlier something very good came from this gathering, all of the raffles, drawings, and various ways to earn money were all going to be for Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The amount we ended up raising was astounding!!Glad you scored a site right in the heart of things. What a worthy cause! Kudos to the Tearjerkers for raising money to fight breast cancer! :heart: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Carol-I am enjoying your report.It looks like these folks really know how to host an event.I'll bet it won't be long before we see one of these tear-drop events at the Fort!TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Live4FW 30 Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 After years of towing a 32 footer, there is a lot of good to say about these small compact but very functional trailers. I also am a huge fan of the woodwork and craftsmanship demonstrated on these! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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