Here We Go

Well, here we go.  This is my first attempt at blogging.  It has taken a lot to get me to this point.  I'll stop short of the psychoanalysis and just say that there's a reason I've not done this before- I'm not the most expressive person in the world.

A little history of this effort- I honestly had little or no knowledge of teardrop campers prior to moving to northern Colorado.  When Diane and I arrived, we noticed a number of them and I immediately thought they were cool.  Wanting to enjoy the best of Colorado and the West, I began pressing Diane to get out and see some of it.  Camping would be an obvious way to do that.  Only one hitch (pardon the pun)- Diane is not and has never really been interested in sleeping on the ground in a tent.

Sooo, why not get a camper?  Five minutes of shopping for RVs will tell you how much more they cost than is in our budget.  Also, gas is expensive and we don't have a $40,000 truck to pull something with.  Besides, building my own would be much cheaper, more fun, and would allow me to build exactly what I want. Since I was able to convince my Dad to turn his driveway into trailer storage and donate his tool shop, his vast collection of tools, and most importantly his time to the effort,  I figured hey, this is a no-brainer.

Boy, did that prove to be anything but the case.  After a few hours of searching the internet for plans, how-tos, and other guidance I began to realize there was more about doing this that I didn't know than there was that I did know.  A couple of months and dozens of hours surfing, reading and researching later, I am still finding out how much I don't know.  The good thing is it's proving itself to be a fun adventure, which is exactly why I decided to do this in the first place.  We'll see if I still feel that way a year from now.

That brings up a good question- how long is this going to take?  Well, one answer I guess is 'as long as it takes'.  A little better answer is that I'd like to have it framed by late 2011, with basic construction done by summer 2012, with completion including all accessories done by the end of 2012.  Well see how well this schedule holds up.

A little more about this blog- I am going to try to stay focused on the build, and not wander too much into stories, trivia or opinion.  My goal is to produce a documented record of the build I can share with others and look back upon when I am done.  To learn a little more about the history of teardrops, what I am trying to accomplish, and what goes into building one, take a look at these links:

General teardrop info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teardrop_trailer
Benroy history: http://www.outbackteardrop.com/benroy.html
All things teardrop forum: http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

So, at the time of this writing, I've already made what I think is significant progress on the construction, having purchased a Northern Tool trailer, assembling it, and performing some initial modifications.  They following picture shows where it currently stands.  I'll explain how I got this far on my next post, as well as talk about my next steps.  Please feel free to stop back by and check-in on the progress.  Hopefully I'll have some to report.

Mike