Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
After thinking about it and discussing it over our long Summer of camping (over 10,000 miles on the road for the 2014 season and 35 nights of camping!) we decided that we wanted to move up to a bigger, newer factory built camper.
.
However, we didn't have any desire for a huge ugly box, nor did I want something that would require me to buy another tow vehicle since my 4runner is now paid off and I'm just getting it set up the way I like it.
We also really wanted to stay in the "teardrop" community because we'd met so many other great people here. And it's nice to be in an RV that forces you to be outside and interacting with people, as opposed to the giant motor homes and 5th wheels where people set up campsites and then - literally - sit inside and watch TV (We saw this over and over again when we camped in KOAs and similar "commercial" campsites: Lots of big rigs but almost nobody was outside.)
.
So after a lot of researching and looking, we finally decided on a TAB (which is written "T @ B ".) These are trailers that are designed with the appearance of the classic "teardrop" but that have actual stand-up room and modern RV amenities. They are exceptionally well made and the price reflects this (just to give you an idea: We could have gotten an RV that was twice as big and paid less for it - but we found the build quality of those bigger trailers was really lacking!)
.
TABs originated in Europe (where of course vehicles are much smaller and correspondingly, so are RVs) and they started importing them to the US in the early 2000's. The company that used to make them - Dutchman - dropped them around 2008 but they had generated so much of a "cult following" that in 2009 or 2010, an American company called "Little Guy" bought the rights to make and sell them in the US. Little Guy is probably the most prominent nationwide manufacturer of Teardrop Trailers, so making the TAB fit well with the other products they sold.
.
There are two basic kinds of TABs, the most common by far is the one that looks like a Teardrop but has a more or less conventional travel-trailer layout with a dinette that folds into a bed, and a small galley (kitchen) at the front of the trailer.
.
Much more rare was the "Clamshell" TAB which does away with the inside kitchen and instead has an outside galley in a hatch on the back that flips up - just like a traditional Teardrop trailer. Since we wanted to stay as close to the concept of the Teardrop as we could, we really, REALLY wanted a Clamshell.
.
We tried to find one used but the only ones we could find were pretty far away and many of them had an inside shower/toilet (which we did NOT want, for a number of reasons.) So we went to a local dealer (there are only 3 in Colorado) and he had a leftover new model, a 2014, in stock. After much discussion, we decided to take the plunge and we got it. Picked her up on Saturday, 12/6. Here she is at the dealership just after we hooked her up:
.
.
Wife Liz had been saying since late Summer that if we got a new trailer, she wanted us to get it in the Winter so she would have a winter project fixing it up. We jumped right into it right after we gave her a name: "Livia", which is from a Latin word that means "Blue." We both like the name and we both think it fits her.
.
Here is a picture with the galley lid open. This is why this style is called a "clamshell." The galley is quite large, unlike the models that have the interior galley which is so small as to be almost useless:
.
.
A couple more shots of the Galley. Look at the far left and you'll see the deer-head attached to the wall. That is actually a bottle opener we found at an import store!
.
.
.
First thing for us to do was take off the TAB emblems since Liz doesn't like to advertise for someone else's company (she always says "if they want me to carry advertising for them, I'm happy to write a lease for them.") Then we turned to the interior. Livia came with some fairly bland, generic upholstery and boring beige wallpaper.
.
Here is Shaila enjoying the interior (the dinette table that folds into our bed) showing the original interior:
.
.
This is the original decorative upholstery on the shelves above the windows:
.
.
We both really wanted to change that. Since I'm the one who loves road trips, we decided on a "road trip" theme for our comforter cover, decorative upholstery, and pillow cases.
We found some "route 66" themed fabrics at a couple of fabric stores and online, so here are some of the pillow cases:
.
.
.
The masterpiece, however, was the wallpaper. I have always loved old road maps and I always thought that they would make great wallpaper for a trailer. When I pitched the idea to Liz, she surprised me a little bit by saying she liked it. I had originally envisioned just a small area above the windows having map wallpaper, but Liz had much, much bigger ideas:
.
.
.
In that last one, you can also see the "Route 66" themed cloth that covers the upholstered shelf facings.
.
She really did an amazing job with the maps, almost all of which came from a local antique mall at a cost of $1 - $2 each. Liz glued them on with Tacky Glue and then after they dried we painted Decoupage over them to seal and waterproof them. Almost all of the maps are oil company road maps that were given away free in the 1950's, 60's and early 70's and many of them have oil company logos on them.
.
(To be continued...)
.
However, we didn't have any desire for a huge ugly box, nor did I want something that would require me to buy another tow vehicle since my 4runner is now paid off and I'm just getting it set up the way I like it.
We also really wanted to stay in the "teardrop" community because we'd met so many other great people here. And it's nice to be in an RV that forces you to be outside and interacting with people, as opposed to the giant motor homes and 5th wheels where people set up campsites and then - literally - sit inside and watch TV (We saw this over and over again when we camped in KOAs and similar "commercial" campsites: Lots of big rigs but almost nobody was outside.)
.
So after a lot of researching and looking, we finally decided on a TAB (which is written "T @ B ".) These are trailers that are designed with the appearance of the classic "teardrop" but that have actual stand-up room and modern RV amenities. They are exceptionally well made and the price reflects this (just to give you an idea: We could have gotten an RV that was twice as big and paid less for it - but we found the build quality of those bigger trailers was really lacking!)
.
TABs originated in Europe (where of course vehicles are much smaller and correspondingly, so are RVs) and they started importing them to the US in the early 2000's. The company that used to make them - Dutchman - dropped them around 2008 but they had generated so much of a "cult following" that in 2009 or 2010, an American company called "Little Guy" bought the rights to make and sell them in the US. Little Guy is probably the most prominent nationwide manufacturer of Teardrop Trailers, so making the TAB fit well with the other products they sold.
.
There are two basic kinds of TABs, the most common by far is the one that looks like a Teardrop but has a more or less conventional travel-trailer layout with a dinette that folds into a bed, and a small galley (kitchen) at the front of the trailer.
.
Much more rare was the "Clamshell" TAB which does away with the inside kitchen and instead has an outside galley in a hatch on the back that flips up - just like a traditional Teardrop trailer. Since we wanted to stay as close to the concept of the Teardrop as we could, we really, REALLY wanted a Clamshell.
.
We tried to find one used but the only ones we could find were pretty far away and many of them had an inside shower/toilet (which we did NOT want, for a number of reasons.) So we went to a local dealer (there are only 3 in Colorado) and he had a leftover new model, a 2014, in stock. After much discussion, we decided to take the plunge and we got it. Picked her up on Saturday, 12/6. Here she is at the dealership just after we hooked her up:
.
.
Wife Liz had been saying since late Summer that if we got a new trailer, she wanted us to get it in the Winter so she would have a winter project fixing it up. We jumped right into it right after we gave her a name: "Livia", which is from a Latin word that means "Blue." We both like the name and we both think it fits her.
.
Here is a picture with the galley lid open. This is why this style is called a "clamshell." The galley is quite large, unlike the models that have the interior galley which is so small as to be almost useless:
.
.
A couple more shots of the Galley. Look at the far left and you'll see the deer-head attached to the wall. That is actually a bottle opener we found at an import store!
.
.
.
First thing for us to do was take off the TAB emblems since Liz doesn't like to advertise for someone else's company (she always says "if they want me to carry advertising for them, I'm happy to write a lease for them.") Then we turned to the interior. Livia came with some fairly bland, generic upholstery and boring beige wallpaper.
.
Here is Shaila enjoying the interior (the dinette table that folds into our bed) showing the original interior:
.
.
This is the original decorative upholstery on the shelves above the windows:
.
.
We both really wanted to change that. Since I'm the one who loves road trips, we decided on a "road trip" theme for our comforter cover, decorative upholstery, and pillow cases.
We found some "route 66" themed fabrics at a couple of fabric stores and online, so here are some of the pillow cases:
.
.
.
The masterpiece, however, was the wallpaper. I have always loved old road maps and I always thought that they would make great wallpaper for a trailer. When I pitched the idea to Liz, she surprised me a little bit by saying she liked it. I had originally envisioned just a small area above the windows having map wallpaper, but Liz had much, much bigger ideas:
.
.
.
In that last one, you can also see the "Route 66" themed cloth that covers the upholstered shelf facings.
.
She really did an amazing job with the maps, almost all of which came from a local antique mall at a cost of $1 - $2 each. Liz glued them on with Tacky Glue and then after they dried we painted Decoupage over them to seal and waterproof them. Almost all of the maps are oil company road maps that were given away free in the 1950's, 60's and early 70's and many of them have oil company logos on them.
.
(To be continued...)
