Craig and Betsey's First 100 Nights

Discussion in '100 Nights' started by Betsey, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. Betsey

    Betsey Camp-Inn Staff

    Original Concrete Arch Bridge on Route 66

    Original gas station on Route 66

    Cadillac Ranch in the distance

    White Sands Missile Range

    White Sands National Monument

    Nothing says "Wild West" like plywood tipis!

    Lots of kitschy tourist traps!

    Dinosaurs alive and well near the Petrified Forest.

    Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah.

    Dinosaur National Monument, Vernal, UT

    Paul Bunyan and Babe in Bemidji, MN. Near Craig's hometown.

    Paul Bunyan in Manistique, MI on our trip to the U-P. (that's Upper Peninsula to the non-locals)

    One of those places where gravity goes awry...and your wallet gets lighter...

    Camping at a Provincial park in Canada on our way to New Hampshire.

    Roadside fruit stand in Florida.

    Stopping at the beach in Florida.

    Camping in the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

    Crossing one of many covered bridges in New Hampshire.

    Rock wall near Betsey's hometown in New Hampshire.

    FIRST 100 Nights
    Craig & Betsey Edevold
    2000 – 550 Special, Camp-Inn #000
    2002 - 550 Ultra, Camp-Inn #002
    Tow Vehicles: 1987 Ford Bronco, 1991 Buick Park Ave, 1992 Buick Le Sabre,
    Approx. Miles 19,000

    Main Trips Camp-Inn #000:
    Route 66 to Grand Canyon (20 nights)
    Visit Family, Northern Minnesota (14 nights)

    Main Trips Camp-Inn #002:
    Florida (14 nights)
    Upper Peninsula of Michigan (4 nights)
    New Hampshire 2002 (15 nights)

    St. Louis, PT Cruiser show (3 nights) Aug, 2003
    Nauvoo, IL (3 nights)
    Black Hills Scouts (9 nights)

    Our first teardrop #000 was the prototype. We only slept in it for 42 nights. We later sold that trailer to finance expanding our business from a part-time hobby to a full-time business. (I tell you, he sold it out from under me…that’s my story & I’m sticking to it!)

    Our first trip was following Route 66 to the Grand Canyon with a circle tour through the southwest. Major stops on this trip were, St. Louis Arch, Merrimac Caverns, Cadillac Ranch, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument, South and North rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Kennecot Copper Mine, and Dinosaur National Mounument.

    We finished building the trailer the morning we left for our trip. (The first I even SAW the teardrop was when he pulled into our driveway…30 minutes later, we were on our way…I was still not too sure if I was going to like this miniature hard sided tent.) There were still a few minor things left to do like installing the body trim. I took a full set of tools just in case we had any problems. Since it was our very first trailer and it was untested, there were sure to be a few. We even brought along a tent and sleeping bags, since with Betsey’s mild claustrophobia, we didn’t know if she was going to make it in this tiny camper.

    We left in a pouring rain and traveled until late in the night. When we finally stopped, the bed was wet in spots from unknown leaks. We made the best of it that night since it was still raining and was drier than a tent.

    The following morning, Betsey spent a few hours at the Laundromat drying things out while Craig hunted for and sealed the leaks. That afternoon, we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and at Merimac Caverns.

    Over the next few days we meandered along Route 66 stopping at any kitschy tourist attraction that caught our eye. (And there were A LOT of them!) At Amarillo, TX we branched off Route 66 to head south to Cadillac Ranch and continue down to Carlsbad Caverns. (We had visited there when we were in college but wanted the kids to see them.) After Carlsbad, we cut across to El Paso and were going to walk across to Juarez for a couple hours, but due to a few car problems, we got there late in the day and decided to skip that part of the trip.

    We then headed north to the White Sands Missile Range and White Sands National Monument. Craig hoped to visit the Trinity Site, but they only allow tours twice a year.
    At White Sands National Monument, we went sledding on the white sand dunes. It was interesting to see snowplows clearing the roads, pushing back the “white stuff” in 80º heat.

    The next stop was the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We spent two nights there (the longest we camped at one spot) and enjoyed hiking and looking over the edge. We then went around the east end and up to the North Rim. While there we went for a mule ride half-way to the bottom. (Did I mention I am also afraid of heights?????) We would have liked to take the full trip but figured our “greenhorn” bottoms wouldn’t take the abuse.

    We headed north to spend a day and a night at Bryce Canyon and then continued on to visit friends in Springville, UT, where we spent 4th of July. We then headed to Vernal, UT to visit Dinosaur National Monument. On the way home, Betsey commented that she would like to keep going. The teardrop had made the trip so much easier and more fun! (4678 miles). (Okay, I’ll admit it…he was right…I DID love the teardrop!)

    In Camp-Inn #000 we took several smaller trips and also took a 2 week trip to visit family in northern Minnesota. We put on a total of about 6,200 miles and 42 nights.

    Camp-Inn #002 was built in 2002 as a demonstrator model. At that time, it was our top of the line 550 Ultra model with every option we offered. Today, a stock 550 Classic has more features than that unit.

    My goal was to put as many miles on that teardrop as quickly as possible. That summer we went to several car shows in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We also took a 2 week trip to New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, we visited the beach and the White Mountains.
    Our kids were 8 and 12 at the time. We brought along a small two-man tent for them to sleep in.

    January of 2003, we traveled to Florida. We spent two weeks traveling around central Florida. We visited Disneyland and alligator parks and spent a lot of time on the beaches. Coming home, we drove into a snow storm in central Illinois and drove the last 300 miles in a blizzard.

    The following summer we took several smaller trips. For larger trips, we took one trip to the area around Nauvoo, IL and Keokuk, IA We visited the historic city of Nauvoo and also went hunting for geodes in the area around Keokuk.

    Betsey and I took two of our trailers to a PT Cruiser show in St. Louis, MO. Since Cary was not able to go, we actually pulled the trailers tandem. We had to avoid Illinois, since pulling doubles is illegal in Illinois. It was about 104º during the day with very high humidity and cooled off to about 98º at night.

    After a few more weekend trips, we reached the 100 nights milestone by spring of 2004. At that point we had about 19,000 miles traveled. (we could add another 1034 miles if we counted towing the second trailer to St. Louis as double miles)

    We have stayed in our Camp-Inn's more than 300 nights, but the above highlights only the First 100 Nights.
     
  2. dustinp

    dustinp Ranger Donating Member

    Wow, pulling tandem! I wouldn't have guessed that a doable thing, but the limit is on tongue weight, so I guess a properly loaded hitchhiker could work OK. Do you have pictures??
     
    Sweeney likes this.
  3. Sweeney

    Sweeney Ranger

    There is a family here in Indiana that used to do that -- they had a 'full size' home built teardrop -- larger than a campinn as I recall, but not as big as something like a t@b. Then they pulled a small 4x8 camper behind them. The small camper was for the kidlets. They tied the two together with a sort of cloth umbilical/bridge.

    I haven't seen them at a gathering since probably 2014, maybe even earlier than that....

    I love the whitewall!!!
     
    Kevin S likes this.
Loading...

Share This Page