In
August, when we were at the Tear Jerkers outing in Pontiac, IL, a
couple of the guys told us we should try to go to the Camp-Inn Camp-Outt
in Wisconsin. They said it was a big deal put on by the Camp-Inn tear
drop camper company. We looked at our calendar and, believe it or not,
we weren't booked, so we signed up when we got home.
The
Camp-Inn Camp-Outt is sponsored by the people who build Camp-Inn
teardrop trailers. Craig and Cary are the two principles in the company
whose total employee count is about twelve.
There
are two Castle Rock County Parks on the shores of 16,000 acre Castle
Rock Lake. We were in the one in Juneau County. It's a 160 acre
park with 300 campsites, 150 of which have electrical hookups. Although
the festivities didn't officially begin until Friday, we arrived late on
Wednesday afternoon in the middle of a heavy downpour. There were
several rigs already there, with the owners socializing under their
tarps, tents and canopies.
The
rain let up just as we were getting ready to set up, so with Marsha's
guidance, I backed the camper between a couple of trees and next to a
power hookup. As you can see in one of the pictures, I soon learned that
these little teardrops are so small that it's common practice to park
2, 3, or 4 of them on the same campsite. Nice and cozy, but not very
private!
Well,
it rained Wednesday night and on and off on Thursday, but that didn't
dampen anyone's spirits. By Saturday, there were about 190 people and
100 rigs, 56 of which were Camp-Inns. In fact, it rained every day we
were there, but some days were a lot wetter than others.
This
camper outing was somewhat like all the others we've been to, but the
subject matter of the campfire discussions was centered around teardrops
rather than Aframes.
Friday
evening a portable wood fired pizza shop rolled in just before the
meet & greet. Everyone brought appetizers and the pizza was the main
dish for those who wanted it. It was very good. Also, it was
interesting to watch the pizza people set up shop. I could tell they's
done it before.
Saturday
morning, Marsha and I went on one of the three Camp-Inn factory tours
that were offered. Very interesting! The Camp-Inn story below was
written by Lisa Mann and can be found on the tinycamper.com website.
Back in the day…there was a red-haired boy named Craig who liked to build things……really COOL things.
“Wouldn’t
it be cool to have a two story tree house with running water, electric
lights, an upstairs bedroom AND a secret lookout tower WAY up high?” he
thought. And so, at the age of 11, Craig built one.
Fast
forward to 2000, Craig is 36, an engineer, inventor and family man.
And, he still LOVES to design and build cool things, but these days his
inventions are very sophisticated with Patents and all. Craig works with
his kindred spirit, Cary…a guy at work who loves to design and build
things too. In their free time, Craig and Cary helped each other build
kitchen cabinets for both their homes, and a custom car.
Craig
decides he wants to take a sort of kooky 3 week “retro” trip with his
family along the original Route 66, from Chicago to the Grand Canyon,
then up through Utah’s National Parks before heading for home… and being
Craig… he also wanted to hit every cheesy tourist trap along the way
for good fun.
Craig was a tent camper. But with such an aggressive travel agenda…he wanted overnight accommodations that were quick and easy.
Being
an Engineer, Craig did some quick math… 3 week trip = 21 nights …. One
hour setup every night + one hour teardown every morning, times 21 stops
= 42 hours of work in a 3 week trip…. That sounded like work!
Craig
looked at various small travel trailers on the market, and couldn’t
find one that worked for him. He wanted to be able to pull it with the
family car. He reasoned, that if he had to buy a truck, it would double
the cost of buying the trailer, and then he had a truck he didn’t need
except to pull this trailer. Everything was either too heavy, or too
much wind resistance….
On
this particular day, we find Craig in his typical “pre-amazing
breakthrough” situation: He wants something that doesn’t exist.
Remember,
Cary…the other inventor guy? At this moment, Cary tosses a magazine
across the desk to Craig. Upon seeing it, Craig’s breath caught. His
heart jumped. Was it a centerfold? No! But to Craig it was love at first
sight and much more exciting…. It was a photograph of an old 1938
Teardrop Camper.
This
was it! The “Eureka Moment” If you know an inventor…you’ve seen this.
(and its cool). Craig’s started designing in his head.
Craig
researched all the existing vintage designs for teardrops and all had
their shortcomings…. The bed was too small…only one door…no sink or
stove… So, after quickly concluding that a Teardrop Camper of his dreams
didn’t exist, Craig and Cary built one. Of course, like his childhood
tree house...it had all the cool stuff (running water, electric
lights…etc). There was no secret lookout tower…but it had something even
cooler…. It was Irresistible.
All
along Route 66 it received thumbs up. At Cadillac Ranch…it drew a crowd
of curious and delighted folks. At the Grand Canyon it became the hit
of the campground. Everyone wanted one. Craig secretly delighted in all
the smiles and waves he got as they drove along. And, cooler yet…it fit
right into the Americana that still exists along old Route 66.
After
returning, Craig and Cary discussed and dreamed of creating a business
building these unique little trailers. They spent a couple years
refining their design and setting up shop, and in April 2002, quit their
jobs and followed their dreams…….
I
told Craig and Cary that they should tell their story to the world, and
being Engineers, they wrote something that read like assembly
instructions for a jet engine. I offered to help them, since I was their
first customer. That’s why I wrote this story.
Lisa Mann
Saturday
evening there was a huge pot-luck dinner after which Craig dished up
various flavors of fresh Dutch oven cobbler topped with a large dollop
of home made ice cream. There were nine gallons of it!
Sunday
morning, with the pot-luck barely digested, we lined up for
omelettes-in-a-bag. If you've never experienced it, here's the deal. You
crack two (or three) eggs into a Zip-Lock bag. Then you dump in all the
goodies like cheese, mushrooms, green pepper, onions, etc. Carefully
squeeze all of the air out of the bag and seal it up. Throw the bag into
a pot of boiling water and, after 10 to 12 minutes, you have a
delicious omelette.
Needless to say, we hit the road on a full belly. It was a great (long) weekend. We'll do it again.
