Category Archives: Texas

Setting Up in the Dark

The Chef at Work

Jim, June 23:

We made it to the campground just in time to set up camp and make dinner — in the dark. Ain’t no hill for a stepper, right? I began unloading the pantry boxes and putting the kitchen together while Marilyn found the food. The trailer lights and LED lantern provided enough light, and we were set up in about 20 minutes. Not too bad. I opened a beer and poured a glass of wine for Marilyn. She then invented what I will always remember as one of the best meals I’ve ever had while camping — Balsamic Chicken. It’s so good we’ve fixed it several times at home. Simple. Satisfying. With a salad and mashed potatoes, it was a great meal. We had passed the first hurdle of the trip in our new rig: arrived, set up for the night and had a great meal.

An Elegant Repast

On the Road, Headed for Palo Duro Canyon

Marilyn, June 23:

On the Way to Palo Duro Canyon

After the Starbucks App created a huge disappointment in Lubbock, we headed to Palo Duro State Park, known as the Grand Canyon of Texas in the Panhandle near the city of Amarillo. The artist Georgia O’Keefe spent her formative years exploring and drawing inspiration from the canyon. When we had made reservations, we were told to be aware that the gate would close promptly at 10:00 PM. We were still miles away as darkness set in. I called the park office to make arrangements for a late arrival. The friendly voice on the other end of the phone advised that we should try to arrive before the office closed because we would need assistance finding our campsite. The Girl from Google guided us along the two-lane roads and we arrived at 9:55, just in time. Using light from my iPhone, I followed the map, sharing the directions with Jim. We descend the narrow, winding road in the pitch-black night. Looking for the campground as the headlights illuminated the signs, we found number 23 and Jim backed the teardrop into the space.

Camp Palo Duro

Heading North with The Girl on Google

Marilyn, June 23:

The Promise of Starbucks —

As we left Eldorado and headed north, Jim was looking forward to stopping in San Angelo for a Starbucks Mocha. It was his custom every afternoon to find happiness with a decaf, no whip, non fat Mocha. After checking with The Girl on Google,
we realized that our destination was at least four hours away. We by-passed San Angelo heading north postponing the Mocha stop until we reached Lubbock. As we approached the exit, I clicked the Starbucks app and passed along the directions to Jim. We exited and followed the Starbucks app.

Packed, On the Road

Jim, June 23:

Monday morning — time to hit the road. We had the kitchen supplies, bikes, camping furniture, water and other odds and ends loaded into the rig. It was finally time to leave. Stopping in Drip’ to top off the tank, we had the first of what would become routine encounters on the trip: Teardrop Fans. Neither one of us were prepared for the notoriety, but it was fun. This fellow was considering the purchase of a teardrop, and wanted to see inside and ask a few questions. There is something magnetic about teardrops, and many folks seem drawn to the romance of the open road in a small trailer. Guess we’re not alone!

Mazda with teardrop trailer in Menard, Texas

Lunch in Menard, Texas

First stop was Menard, Texas. We were getting hungry, and the beautiful pecan-shaded park provided an excellent place for a light repast of sandwiches, chips and cookies. As we left town, we had a little trouble understanding The Girl’s directions, and made an inadvertent 20-minute detour. No matter. After retracing our steps, we were back on the right path.

Eldorado, the Schleicher county seat and Marilyn’s childhood home, was the next major stop. We drove by her father’s former medical practice, a plain cinderbock building that seemed disused.

Former Medical Practice in Eldorado, Texas

Next was the County Office and Memorial building — fine examples of Texas public buildings that are common around the state. A final stop for gas, and we were on our way. Next stop: San Angelo, and the promise of a Starbuck’s Mocha!

The Old Jail in Eldorado, Texas

Kitchen to Go – Road Food

Marilyn, June 14:

I love to cook! I was a chef at a dude ranch and have been responsible for cuisine on many long distance backpack trips. Now it was time to create a new version of a moving kitchen. I had seen a variety of galley configurations in teardrop trailers that ranged from the highly customized with many built in niches to house everything, to a rear hatch covering a simple space. Ours was the simple space so it was time to become very creative. I started rounding up suggestions from the blogs of dedicated RVers as well as full time teardroppers. One blogger’s words echoed in my mind – being in the middle of nowhere is not the time to forget the can opener or have wine and no corkscrew. Another blogger warned not to forget the practical things like rubber bands, duct tape and super glue. We found a Coleman camp stove, soft-sided sink, a folding rack to hold it all then tried it out in the living room.

Trailer kitchen in the living room.

Some of my backpacking equipment and skills came in handy since storage was at a premium. Finding the necessities – the smallest knives, nifty gadgets, cutting boards, measuring spoons and bowls – that could be used for several purposes. The ability to pack and unpack everything quickly was also a consideration. Then I began to think about menus. Shopping in the bulk section was great. Small plastic bags took the place of bulky bottles. I began with two plastic boxes with lids (you’ll discover why the lids are important later) and began organizing, nestling utensils, dishes and all our other accessories. We recycled two other plastic totes with fold-over lids for larger items. At last, we were ready for meals on wheels and it was time to hit the road.

Utensils and Supplies – a place for everything

Pots, Pans and Wine Glasses

Outfitting the Teardrop

Marilyn, June 2 – 20:

As Jim began to customize our Teardrop trailer, I began to conduct some online research to gather tips from seasoned teardrop and RV travelers. Getting ready involved creating the perfect plan for everything. How does that go? A place for everything and everything in its place – camp stove, bottle of bungees, Coleman fuel, locks… I even found a couple of printable check lists that came in handy. We began a show and tell tour to repurpose our camping gear that took us both down memory lane. I had worked for Eastern Mountain Sports and had quite a few items that would work. We hit Costco and Ikea acquiring a mattress topper, kitchen gear, chairs, a table and more. After reading several blogs about the perils and preparation for a successful trip, we made some adjustments. One story described the aftermath of slamming on the brakes. Two bottles of red wine and one of salsa went flying through the air, landing with unfortunate consequences. Ah, strapping everything down or discovering the beauty of plastic bins. This would prove to an important step later in the trip. Interesting issues popped up. Where do you put dirty shoes, when the entire floor becomes your bed each night?

A place for everything and everything in its place.

All Secured

Jim, June 7 – June 21:

I wanted to add my ham radio and a solar power system and we were about 2 weeks from departure. The TenTec Triton II radio was mounted in an interior cabinet and connected to the antenna ball mount. A piece of 3″ PVC tubing, mounted outside in the rear, provided storage for the whip antennas and their coils. A weekend shopping trip to Costco yielded a 15 watt solar panel and charge controller that I connected to the existing trailer 12 volt system. Although we were likely to have 120 volt “shore power” when camping, the solar panel could provide power if we decided to set up camp in a remote area. Time to pack!

Ranch foreman, P.T., supervises

Galley view of teardrop trailer

Door/side view of teardrop trailer

Ham radio mounted in teardrop trailer

Solar panel for teardrop trailer

Teardrop electrical system with solar charge controller

We Meet Our (Teardrop) Maker

Jim, June 1:

The Dallas/Fort Worth area is huge, so we had to take the Girl’s advice on a route to EZ-Toad. It turned out that Don (the maker) worked out of his home, and after introductions we got our first look at our trailer. We had seen photos during the build, but I wasn’t prepared for quite how beautiful the trailer was. Don was clearly a very skilled and careful craftsman. Self-deprecating, he apologized for having custom-made the side door. It seems he had run out of the factory-made models. To my eyes, the custom door was perfectly done with a fit and finish that rivaled the best work I’ve seen. It closed with a solid “thunk” that indicated both a good seal and lasting quality. The galley door, framed with tubular steel, was just as nicely done. We were both impressed.

Don had waited to complete one custom element until I was there to help: the antenna ball mount. I’m a radio amateur, and I wanted to mount a radio in the trailer for campground use. I helped him located the proper mount point and he quickly installed the mount. Perfection.

Jim meets Don at last

Jim tries it on for size

It’s ready!

Marilyn – June 1:

At last it was time to go to Ft. Worth to pick up our very own teardrop. We left Dripping Springs on Sunday, June 1. We headed north on I-35, the major north–south Interstate Highway running from the United States-Mexico border to the Red River border with Oklahoma and as far north as Minnesota. The Interstate had been undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion project for years and traffic on a Sunday had become legendary. Jim suggested that we stop for Kolaches to prepare for the experience, a long-standing tradition with I-35 travelers. Kolache fever is nothing new in Texas, which has been home to a considerable Czech community since the mid 1800’s. A Kolach (plural kolache /kɵˈlɑːtʃi /, also spelled kolace, kolach, or kolacky), comes from the Czech and Slovak. We pulled into the town of West, Texas and The Czech Stop And Little Czech Bakery.

Onward, fortified by puffy pastry pillows from supple dough. We took directions from the disembodied female voice of the GPS that we would soon refer to as “The Girl.” We wound our way through neighborhoods of small, one-story houses until we found the home of EZ-Toad Trailers.

The Czech Stop and Little Czech Bakery
So many Kolaches and so little time

Texas-shaped cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles

Even the cookies are more colorful in Texas

Buying a Custom Teardrop Trailer

Our teardrop trail under construction

Jim:

We discussed how much fun it would be to go to the Red Power Round Up in June in our very own Teardrop Trailer. There were a couple of problems however. I certainly wasn’t going to have time to build one in the available time and commercial models are quite expensive. I wasn’t sure about spending so much money just to see if we liked it. The handmade model we saw at one of the RV dealers was closer to what we wanted but still a little pricey. I looked all over the Internet, but it was the same story everywhere — teardrop trailers are a boutique item and command premium prices. Perhaps a used one would do.

The unfinished interior

Craig’s List was the next stop. It’s easy to search a town or geographic region — perfect since shipping a trailer across country isn’t easy. There were always a few teardrops listed, but nothing that really spoke to me. Then I noticed a listing from EZ-Toad Trailers. There was one available, in the right price range, but with no galley. A phone call confirmed a teardrop with a galley could be ready in time and modifications could be made to suit our preferences. I thought about it for a day or two, and called Don (the builder) back to complete the deal. A teardrop in four to six weeks!

Waiting was difficult but Don sent pictures every couple of weeks as the build progressed. We would drive to Fort Worth on June 1st to pick it up. We were now the proud owners of a custom-built teardrop trailer!

galley view of unfinished teardrop trailer

Unfinished teardrop – galley view

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