In the Beginning....

Okay, it all began when we took the kids on infrequent camping trips when they were small.

As they got older, however, we found our schedules filled with soccer games, taekwondo tourneys, basketball, volleyball and dance team obligations -- and the kids' schedules were even worse! The wife and I really really had loved those campouts, though, so we decided to renew them sans the kids once we retired. Now, that "once" is here.

The one catch is, though, that the last couple of times we tent-camped, we had to set up and strike the tent no matter what the weather was like -- and that quickly grew old. Especially after I broke a tentpole setting up in a thunderstorm.

So, I began looking for alternatives and hit upon one when I saw a program called "RV Crazy" on the Travel Channel, I think it was. It featured teardrop camping trailers, among other styles, and that intrigued me. But not My Wife. The traditional teardrops had only a 4-foot wide sleeping area, and she was NOT excited about trading elbows and knees with me after 30-plus years of sleeping on king-sized beds.

After not too long, though, I found that many, if not most, of the modern-day teardrop manufacturers now make 5-foot wide trailers, the equivalent of queen beds, and some, six. Thus informed, Wife softened somewhat. Then, we wangled an invitation awhile back to a teardrop gathering in Lake Bistineau State Park in Louisiana, not far from Texarkana. We met several very nice folks and, more importantly, Wife got to see a range of different teardrops close up, and even tried one on for size.

To make a long story longer, a lotta research and more than my share of whining, begging and crying -- plus, a couple more up-close examinations of local teardrops -- convinced Wife that she could survive inside one in comfort. We ultimately purchased a 3-year-old Camp-Inn 550 from a very nice couple in Maine, and recently returned from a trip in that part of the country to bring it home.

Because we really didn't have the teardrop set up for occupation, we only spent one night in it. Except for the facts that, 1) it was in the mid-to- low-20s that night, 2) I froze my little patootie off having to answer Nature's call twice, and 3) we didn't zip the sleeping bags together so every so often we got a shiver when one of us lifted an edge, we were snug and warm and pretty doggone comfortable.

Of course, darkness is getting fairly lengthy in early December, so we're not camping in our Lil Rocker this time of year anymore, without first making sure we have a book or two, a DVD to watch, or a bottle of wine, if you catch my drift (although the last could lead to more frozen patooties, so that will be a case-by-case decision).
Anyway, the first thing we did once we got home is stop by the local doityerself carwash and give the teardrop a bath, to rinse off the road salt, etc. The rest of the winter, we'll use to outfit our Lil Rocker and prep it for a spring trip, perhaps to the Southwest. I've always wanted to see Tombstone or Bisbee, AZ, or Lincoln County, NM, where Billy the Kid roamed.

Then, maybe in the fall, we'll make for the Maritime states to see the colors, who knows? If you happen to see us on the road, though, wave big. And remember: Keep the rubber on the road and the shiney side up!