T@B Teardrop Trailer (photo by freshelectrons on Flickr)
I have mentioned the big resurgence in popularity of teardrop trailers in the past and, this month, Sunset Magazine leads-off their article (see The ‘it’ List) on 2010 travel by highlighting the little trailers.
The trend: Teardrop trailers are popping up everywhere as a downsized (and more stylish) alternative to RVs. We’ve even found new and vintage models on eBay for as little as $1,000.
When I traveled back east to the Gore facilities in October (see The Gore-Tex Experience), one of the pieces of Gore-Tex® gear that I got to bring home was a pair of Merrell® Intercept shoes. At first glance, these were a lot like my older Merrell shoes that I’ve been flogging for about two years. After breaking them in for a few weeks, though, I noticed some significant differences.
You talkin' to me?
A vacuum review on CampingBlogger, what? Yes, well, I didn’t buy this with the intention of reviewing it – I just needed a decent handheld vacuum for the cars. When some friends of ours asked about battery-powered vacuums for their pop-up tent trailer, I showed them the Dyson™ and let them borrow it for a weekend. I’ve gone through a number of handheld vacuums over the years and they were all pretty pathetic at picking-up anything larger than dirt and dust. The Dyson is the first one I’ve used that can pick-up sand out of carpet and larger bits of junk, like wrappers and trash. And it looks cool!
Christmas should be a time of joy and happiness, so don’t throw a lump of coal in somebody’s stocking with one of these low-quality outdoor gifts. There is a lot of great outdoor gear out there that doesn’t cost a fortune (see 5 Stocking Stuffers for your Camper), so be careful with your money and make sure that you understand exactly what your favorite outdoors person wishes they had.
It sure is nice when you can get away with the kids for a day of hiking, in December. My son and oldest daughter joined me for a shakedown cruise with the new Octane pack, from Black Diamond®. Though still technically a daypack, at 28 liters the Octane is a big step-up from my 8 liter CamelBak®. For this trip, we headed up to Henry Coe state park in south San Jose. Henry Coe is the largest state park in northern California, encompassing some 87,000 acres and was actually on the chopping block earlier this year, when the state was embroiled in budget woes. Needless to say, we paid our $8 use fee and I was happy to see quite a few cars at the headquarters entrance.