Starling Travel

I found this teardrop trailer on Brian Greenleafs Blog.

Here’s what he said about it:

I saw the epitome of “tiny” travel trailers. No, this is no novelty.  After some coaxing, the owner climbed inside to show us that he can, indeed, sleep stretched out in this little marvel.  With the advent of more lightweight building materials these days, anything is possible.

The first picture I saw was this one, and I thought that it wasn’t that small.

But then I saw what was hauling and realized that it was SUPER TINY!

There is a name on the trailer that says, “Serro Scotty Sportsman,” but that trailer looked like this:

That name plate must have been a spare part added after the owner made the trailer from scratch, because I don’t think Serro Scotty ever made anything that small.

The next time I’m worried about how small my teardrop is and how I’m going to fit everything, I’ll remember this one.

When we went to visit Craters of the Moon a couple of weekends ago, we stayed at the Craters of the Moon KOA in Arco, ID. Arco was the first city in the world to be powered by atomic power and the nuclear plant that powered it is still there to this day (with MANY improvements, I’m sure). The city was so blissful that we were reluctant to leave. (Continue Reading…)

I want to go to Disney World. I’ve never been there and I really want to experience all Disney World has to offer. We live in Salt Lake City, Utah, however, so every time I bring it up, everyone in the family says that we should just go to Disneyland instead. It’s almost the same and it’s so much closer.

In order to convince them, I have to do RESEARCH. How inexpensively can we do this trip? Today, I did that research for a trip in February and what I found, surprised me. (Continue Reading…)

I found this picture of a camp kitchen on Expedition Portal and it just blows me away!

Mike complains that my camp kitchen is a little elaborate for camping, but after looking at that one, I feel like a light packer! The thing that surprises me is that I can’t believe that camp kitchen fit into the truck camper it’s next to. How did they get it to the site? Did they strap it to the roof?!

I like that they included a sink and grill, but it easily takes up TWICE the space those two items should. Considering how small the sink is compared to the console, it seems like a big waste of space.

After looking at this, I’m perfectly happy with my camp kitchen, especially since I’ve added a faucet to it. You can see it here:

• Starling Travel » Camp Easier with a Camp Kitchen
• Starling Travel » How To Set Up the Portal/Cabela’s Mega Camp Kitchen
• Starling Travel » How To Add a Faucet to the Cabela’s/Portal Camp Kitchen

While looking for Camp Kitchens, I found the Grub Hub Camp Kitchen. It looks like it’s lighter and more compact than my Mega Camp Kitchen, with many of the same features. There is a sink, upper storage area, and a spot for the camp stove.

They even say that it’s sturdy enough to hold a water bladder for gravity-fed water, but I have my doubts about that because I’ve tried to use a bladder like that for water on my own camp kitchen. Even though my camp kitchen is far more stable than the Grub Hub, it still swayed in the wind, so if you spend the extra money on the water bladder, it’s probably best not to fill it to capacity.

You can see it in action after the break: (Continue Reading…)

Heimplanet, a German company, has decided to solve a problem that didn’t really need solving with their new tent, The Cave. It’s an inflatable tent, which supposedly sets up in less than a minute.

Here is a video about it: (Continue Reading…)

I’m interested in this Portable Outdoor Sink from General Superstore.

It folds up pretty small, but it’s still more bulky than the setup I have now.

I like how it has a real faucet and a drain. Since we are staying at campsites that have water and electricity more often, I would like to just be able to hook up to the water at the campsite and have a working sink.

Here’s a video with a horrible robot voice that describes the sink and shows how it works.

Here’s a video of the assembly: General Superstore Portable Outdoor Sink Assembly

And a trouble shooting video if it leaks: General Superstore Portable Outdoor Sink spray or leak during the water hose installation

The biggest problem that I have with this sink is that it costs TWICE what I paid for my entire camp kitchen, but watching the videos gave me good ideas for making one of my own. What I really need to do is make a potable water hose that has a garden hose connector on one side and a faucet connector on the other.

I can purchase a RV faucet like this 2-Way Low Boy Hand Water Pump and if I can figure out a way to connect it to a potable water hose, it would work like a sink at home. Preferably, I’d love an easy way to connect it to my existing camp kitchen.

I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to create my perfect camp kitchen, but with every product I see, I get more and more ideas on how I’m going to do it.

Mobiltec visited Pleasant Valley Campground in California. His favorite campground, Horton Creek, was closed, so he had to camp in Pleasant Valley. He filmed a quiet little video of it. He showed the river, his campground and then went gold prospecting.

He talks about people from Hawaii coming to Taft, California to vacation:

Some of the people who came up here flew in from Florida and some of them even flew in from Hawaii, and it cracks me up that people who live in Hawaii, when they wanna go on vacation, they come to places like Taft, California to enjoy themselves. Well what are ya gonna do when you leave paradise? Where else can you go? You wanna do somethin’ different, right? It always kinda blows me away when that happens… ’cause I really have never liked this place.

I found that interesting as well. When Mike and I visited Hawaii, all the people there were obsessed with Las Vegas. That tiny glittering bit of neon in the desert was their preferred vacation spot. I guess even paradise gets boring sometimes.

Here is part two of his journey where he investigates old gold mines:

It’s amazing how quickly the earth overtakes what we’ve built upon it. There used to be ore rail tracks, but now there are only a few bare bones sticking out of the ground while wild Mustangs wander.

Here is part three when he goes to Fish Lake Hot Springs and Cave Springs:

For more information:

• Pleasant Valley Campground on Google Maps
• Horton Creek Campground on Google Maps

Check out these solar powered umbrella lights.

They are available on Amazon here: Nature Power Umbrella Lights at Amazon.com

You can connect them to your trailer awning.

You can also hook them on your outdoor umbrella.

They charge up with the sunshine every day, so they can glow at night. No wires needed. I see a lot of campers with cool lights on their awnings, but I don’t really have a spot for something like this on my teardrop trailer. I do, however, have a use for them on my umbrella in my backyard. So cool!

Here’s a video showing them in action:

The only problem that I have with them is that they are $35 for a pack of four of them. At $8.75 a piece, that seems CRAZY expensive to me when I can find other solar lights for much less.

Take, for example, this set of 8 solar-powered LED Accent Lights on Amazon.com. They cost $20 for the set, which works out to $2.50 apiece. I could remove the stakes to drive them into the lawn and add these IKEA curtain clips. For only $24, I’d have TWICE as many hanging solar lamps.

Note to self: Do this and post about it later.

Via: Lisa Sperle on Pinterest / Solar powered umbrella lights – for glamping!

Update 07-09-12: I actually DID make my own and filmed a tutorial showing you how to make them. You can see it here:

• Gadgets Page » How To Make a Hanging Solar Light

I love this idea for storing and using toilet paper for camping:

• DIY Camping Ideas « living on less in the northwest

She took a small coffee can and cut a slit in it:

The she placed the roll of toilet paper inside the can:

When you pull the toilet paper through the slit, you have an easy dispenser.

If you position the slit opposite the handle, it’s easy to hold and pull the paper.

I ALWAYS bring toilet paper when we camp, no matter how posh the campground. There have been at least three times when bringing our own toilet paper has bailed us out because the campground restrooms were out. You might think it’s silly to pack TP when over the last seven years we’ve only used it three times, but I’ll tell you, I was SO glad we had it those three times that I will never go camping without it.