Greetings from Maine

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Greetings from Maine

Postby penquissciguy » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:08 am

Well, I've been lurking here for the last few days and I guess it's time I introduced myself. My name is Ken Worster, and I am a high school physics / chemistry teacher at a small high school in Milo, ME. My wife and I and our two children live in nearby Bradford. I first got interested in teardrops after watching "RV Crazy" on the Travel Channel about a year ago. (I see from other people's introductions that I'm not alone). My wife and I did some tent camping before we had kids. We really enjoyed the outdoors life, but the hassle of pitching a tent and packing our small car with supplies made it something we did once or twice a year. Since we've had our boys, our outdoors trips have been limited to day trips to local state and national parks.

No one in our family has seen much of the United States. My wife and I have often talked about taking the boys to places like the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore once they are old enough (the boys are currently 4 and 2). We have decided to build a teardrop over the next year or two to use camping around Maine. Once the boys are old enough to remember the trip (we're targeting June 2010), we are planning to drive cross country with our tear to experience as much of the country as possible. The current plan is to build a 5' wide Cubby a la Tom Swenson (great website, by the way) for my wife and I and have sleeping arrangements for the boys in the rear of our as-yet nonexistent cross-country towing vehicle. If anyone has experience with this kind of arrangement I'd appreciate any information you could pass my way about how well it works.

The wife and I are very excited about this project. We will be ordering the Kuffel Creek plans shortly, and I downloaded the generic Benroy plans as well. I'm sure I'll have tons of questions throughout this project, but I've already found a wealth of answers by reading many posts on the boards. Thanks for a great resource.

Ken
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Postby Miriam C. » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:53 am

Welcome Ken,
I am sure your young family will love the trip. While you are planning your trip you might look into a side tent. 5 and 7 might be a little young to be too far away from the parents at night. The other side of that is the bears can't get ya. :lol: 8)

Didn't we have a thread on bears. 8) Just teasing (sort of). There are a lot of folks here to answer you questions, just feed the need :pictures: :pictures: :pictures: Join in the fun and keep the bubble oil level.
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Postby rbeemer » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:49 pm

Ken,

Look in the design Library at the 2+2, it is meant to sllep 2 adults and 2 children.

Have fun and welcome
Rick

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Postby penquissciguy » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:31 pm

rbeemer wrote:Ken,

Look in the design Library at the 2+2, it is meant to sllep 2 adults and 2 children.

Have fun and welcome


Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked at the 2+2 and it's bigger than what we're wanting to build. I am, however, looking at what some people have done with transverse cots for possible ideas.

Thanks for the welcome as well.

Ken
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Postby Ira » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:43 pm

SEND LOBSTER!!!

This crap they have in South Florida just doesn't cut it.
Here we go again!
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Hello

Postby Sierrajack » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:04 pm

Hi Ken,
I too am one of the "newbies" here and like you, I've done a ton of research on building. Not that I have any good answers but I maybe have some. I have over 40 years in the automotive business, 30 years in racing and have been an amatuer wood butcher for as long as I can remember. I also have the Kufflecreek plans and they are great. Kevin will tell you that you are free to deviate from his plans and that's pretty much what I do anyhow. I like to find the cheapest stuff and make it work 'cause I'm retired and don't have a fat wallet but then again, who does? Welcome and I'm sure you'll find some great folks here.
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Postby Bill Larson » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:16 pm

Hello Ken,i'm from Houlton built a woody tear am quite happy with it.need help just give a shout
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Postby penquissciguy » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:11 pm

Ira - Would you believe I can't stand lobster? I'd take a steak anytime. The local fire department does a benefit dinner every year - 2 lobsters and all the fixings for $25. You ought to bring your trailer up for it.

Sierrajack - Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the Kuffel Creek plans and starting to alter them to my needs. I don't have much experience working with wood besides helping build our house, but my father in law has been a professional woodworker for a long time. I'm hoping to at least borrow some of his tools to finish this project.

Bill Larson - I was hoping to run into another Mainer here. I took a look at your tear photos and was quite impressed. I will certainly call on you if/when I need a local to communicate with. On another note, are you the Bill Larson that is involved with the car restoration club in Houlton? (Did a quick Google search).

Ken
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Postby Bill Larson » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:47 am

yes i am a member of North Country Cruisers,we do a rough camping at our show in August
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Postby JunkMan » Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:05 am

Welcome Ken,

Odie & I were just up in Maine last summer (unfortunatly without a tear), had a great time.

I agree with Miriam, think about a side tent instead of having the kids sleep in the vehicle. It's nice to have them close by, and the side tent makes getting dressed/undressed a lot easier. We got ours from Cabelas, it's designed to attach to your SUV, and should easily adapt to a tear (several members on the board use similar tents). Throw a couple of folding aluminum cots in there if you want to get the kids up off the ground.

There are lots of great things to see in this country of ours, and it's never too early to start!
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Postby penquissciguy » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:04 pm

JunkMan wrote:Welcome Ken,

Odie & I were just up in Maine last summer (unfortunatly without a tear), had a great time.

I agree with Miriam, think about a side tent instead of having the kids sleep in the vehicle. It's nice to have them close by, and the side tent makes getting dressed/undressed a lot easier. We got ours from Cabelas, it's designed to attach to your SUV, and should easily adapt to a tear (several members on the board use similar tents). Throw a couple of folding aluminum cots in there if you want to get the kids up off the ground.

There are lots of great things to see in this country of ours, and it's never too early to start!


JunkMan: Your state is one of our first planned trips with the future tear. My eldest REALLY wants to see Mount Rushmore.

My wife and I talked the whole kids in the trailer thing over last night and decided we would both feel better if there were accommodations for the boys in the trailer. That has shifted our thinking toward more of a 5'x10' trailer, probably something like the Kuffel Creek Comet but 1' wider. We will probably invest in some sort of tent before the trip so we can dress more comfortably, but we both decided we wanted to be able to get all of us in the tear . My wife and I are both bed hogs anyway, so extra interior space in a tear won't get wasted. :D

Ken
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Postby Kevin A » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:43 pm

Hi Ken,
Welcome to the nuthouse :thumbsup:
I've got relatives in the Guilford/Abbot Village area and I was born in Portland. I suppose that qualifies me for a Maineiac ;) :lol:
Have you seen Camp-Inn's Raindrop? It sounds like a design that might fit your needs well.
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Postby mikeschn » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:46 pm

Hi Ken,

Welcome to the forum. I just went looking for photos in your album to see what you had planned, but alas, no photos yet.

We'll be watching, meanwhile, have fun!

Mike...
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Postby jmtk » Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:56 am

Hi Ken! Welcome to the forum! I'm definitely more comfortable with my son in our trailer than in a separate vehicle or tent. There are a number of nice ideas to accommodate 2 kids. Definitely look at the Camp-Inn Raindrop. EZ's has a similar sort of front double bunk:
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UTguy has a room for two kids by sacrificing upper galley cabinets:
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I only had to make room for one kid, so left the cabin interior completely free of cabinets:
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Have fun with your design and build!

Jeanette
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