Crossroads of America Tearjerker Gathering and Beyond

[Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58]

Oh, and I know this sounds stereotypical, but the Tennessee bunch is into pickin.....

They get together every evening. There is a fiddle, a couple of guitars, a mandolin, a harmonica, and they all start playin and singin Andy Griffith style :-)

Disclaimer: I watched Blazing Saddles last night.

All I could think of was this: (Sorry about the language at the beginning)

De Camp Town Ladies

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Carol-

I have a question about T@bs-

Did you previously report that they are no longer being manufactured?

I thought I heard that somewhere.

And, if that's true, isn't it odd, seeing how popular teardrops seem to be?

TCD

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

If I remember right, the original company sold out to another. They will be building the T@Bs and T@DAs.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Carol-

I have a question about T@bs-

Did you previously report that they are no longer being manufactured?

I thought I heard that somewhere.

And, if that's true, isn't it odd, seeing how popular teardrops seem to be?

TCD

Well, yes and no on production of T@Bs.

Thor-Dutchman produced about 4 different models of T@B and 2 models of T@DA from late 2003 - August 30, 2009.

On August 30, 2009 all Dutchmen production stopped (economy) and when they reopened a few months later they announced they were dropping from about 17 models down to about 7. They were discontinuing their "fringe" markets.

The T@B is a trailer that originated in Germany, and the Dutchmen T@Bs used quite a few German parts, most notably, the Al-KO frame, suspension, axle, and brakes. They were very expensive to produce and supposedly had a low profit margin, so they were discontinued.

As a matter of fact there is a lady in our group that has an ORIGINAL German T@B. As far as she can tell this was one of two T@Bs shipped over from Germany to Dutchmen so that they would have a model to build the American T@Bs. One of the German T@Bs was disassemble to use as templates, the other was eventually converted for American use (with US standards on power) and then sold. All of the T@Bs have consecutive VIN numbers with the last four digits being a consecutive number as they rolled off the line. Mine is #2741, she dubbed hers 0000

In March/April 2011, it was discovered that Little Guy International (golittleguy.com) has gotten the rights to the T@B name and they are now producing T@Bs again. So far only one model and they are all using American parts.

Little Guy is one of the largest producers of commercial teardrops and now they have added T@B to their lineup!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the T@b lesson!

I learned a few things.

As your photos show, folks love their T@bs.

I'm glad to hear that they are back on the market.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

If I remember right, the original company sold out to another. They will be building the T@Bs and T@DAs.

No word on T@DAs yet, just the one T@B model so far.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Mornin Sports Fans, well now it is time for the "Beyond" portion of the trip. As I mentioned earlier, I needed to be in Sterling, VA for work on Monday morning, so at 6:00 AM I was up and getting ready to hit the road. I am SOOOOO glad I packed up the night before, cause when I walked out of the camper that morning, the heat hit me like a ton of bricks. It was going to be a HOT one!!! We had GLORIOUS low 80s for the entire week, well now the heat was comin!!!

I was heading East on I-70 in no time.

I got a couple of shots from the highway.

The sun peeking out early morning in Indiana

This is Colts Stadium

I was trying to capture either the Dayton or Columbus, OH skyline, forget which.

Coming up on the mountains of West Virginia

This is where the "places" I've never been before comes in. I had never been as far North as I-70 driving and have never been in Ohio, WV, or Pennsylvania. I wish I had time to physically stop overnight in those places, but I had to get on down the road.

The drive through each of those states was a neat experience and can't wait till the time comes when I can stop and visit the unique attractions in each state of our great country!!

Coming next, meeting a fellow fiend!!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Just a postscript on the raising funds for IBC. The final tally was.........

drumroll...........

$2,101.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

When this trip to Virginia from Indiana was brewing, I looked at maps and realized I might be near Johns' neck of the woods and sent him a message.

We discovered that I indeed would be coming near to his home, and they had a perfect outing in mind for us to meet.

So, here we are at Quaker Steak and Lube in the Cabela's parking lot near Wheeling, WV.

We spent a lovely couple of hours enjoying some barbecue, kitschy stuff hangin on the walls and ceiling of the restaurant and WONDERFUL conversation!!

I would have loved to wander Cabela's with them, but really needed to continue on down the road.

After leaving the restaurant I passed into Pennsylvania and then back into West Virginia.

Driving through West Virginia was challenging, but beautiful. I don't think there is a flat stretch in the entire state, I was either going uphill or downhill.

Once I got into Virginia and closed in on the DC area, whooeee at the traffic. It took me over an hour to travel the last 20 miles, Holy traffic jam Batman!!

I got to Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA about 8:30 that night and set up camp and settled in.

A few pictures of the campground coming next!!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

OK, time to finish this one. Not much more to tell, I arrived at the campground, set up and went to work for the next 3 days.

I have a few pictures of the campground, and did have some time my last evening to take a few pictures of some of the amenities at this park.

Here is the web link to the campground and park

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/lakefairfax/fairfaxcamp/

A shot of the campground sitting under my awning

A few pictures of my site - A39, 50 Amp Electric, no water, no sewer, but a place to fill the water tank, and dump the waste tanks nearby.

If you'll notice, I didn't put out any signs or my lamp post. Since I was working, and solo didn't want to bring a lot of attention to myself (well as little attention as is possible with my rig) I still put out my string lights cause they actually serve a purpose. They give me light enough to walk around outside without putting on the glaring, bug attracting outside lights on the camper.

A few words about this park. This seemed to be a thriving county park that really did lots for the kids in the community. There were at least three different day camps going on, and apparently the school systems sponsor lots of summer programs, cause I saw lots of school buses there. (Or maybe they are leased for other purposes in the summer). Whatever the case, this area seemed to have a lot for the kids in the summer.

Here are the rest of the pictures of the park.

The lake

A picnic area near the lake

Boat rentals on the lake

Carousel

Water Park

This was a fountain near a restaurant that I thought was pretty

A few night shots of the camper

And that's all folks!!

Thursday morning, I packed up and made the 700 mile drive home. What's funny is one of my coworkers got to the airport before I left and got home AFTER I did, so flying is NEVER guaranteed to take less time to get somewhere than driving :-)

Oh and as promised, the link to my photobucket album that has shots of more of the campers that attended the gathering:

http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/clkelley564/Crossroads%20of%20America/?start=all

[kampfirekim 260]

Just a postscript on the raising funds for IBC. The final tally was.........

drumroll...........

$2,101.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:bravo: That's fantastic!!!

Carol, I've enjoyed this TR so much! The beyond portion was just as great as the tearjerker part!

You're very wise not to draw attention to yourself when traveling alone. That last CG looks very nice! Thanks for posting the photos for us!

[kampfirekim 260]

Just a postscript on the raising funds for IBC. The final tally was.........

drumroll...........

$2,101.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:bravo: That's fantastic!!!

Carol, I've enjoyed this TR so much! The beyond portion was just as great as the tearjerker part!

You're very wise not to draw attention to yourself when traveling alone. That last CG looks very nice! Thanks for posting the photos for us!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great report Carol :banana:

[SCTigerCock 171]

Thanks for sharing! :heart: :parrot:

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

Loved the report, thanks for sharing. :parrot:

[thecplusplusguy 7]

I love your trip reports, I think the little trailers you guys have are cool. My wife and I like a little more room though.

Dan

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

:bravo: That's fantastic!!!

Carol, I've enjoyed this TR so much! The beyond portion was just as great as the tearjerker part!

You're very wise not to draw attention to yourself when traveling alone. That last CG looks very nice! Thanks for posting the photos for us!

Great report Carol :banana:

Thanks for sharing! :heart: :parrot:

Loved the report, thanks for sharing. :parrot:

I love your trip reports, I think the little trailers you guys have are cool. My wife and I like a little more room though.

Dan

Thanks all for the kind comments!!! Believe it or not for once the T@Bs were the big campers in the place!! I'm not sure I could camp in one of the tiny tears. I llike being able to stand up and change clothes inside the T@B. Not possible in the teardrops.

[scooterminnie...paula 20]

I really enjoyed looking at all the pictures of different models and setups. Thank you!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It looks like this campground didn't have any helpful Rangers to tell you how to not park your car on the grass.

I love your campsite- it looks like you don't have any close neighbors.

Great job on this trip report!

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

It looks like this campground didn't have any helpful Rangers to tell you how to not park your car on the grass.

I love your campsite- it looks like you don't have any close neighbors.

Great job on this trip report!

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure.

TCD

Well, one of the rules was do not park on the grass.....

But I looked, there was no grass to the right of the driveway. So I parked to the right. Just don't like blocking the driveway with my truck if possible. As you know, I ALWAYS park the truck up front at the Fort.

No rule breakin here :-)