Tag Archives: Oregon

Take The Star Fish And Run

It’s kind of hard to tell somebody else’s twelve-year-old not to pick the star fish from the tidal pool after they tell you their dad said it was OK. Really? Your dad said that?

Dad missed a fabulous teachable moment. There were hundreds of people on Indian Beach on the north Oregon coast this week. So, let’s say only one-in-twenty decided it was OK to take a sea star home as a souvenir. That would still decimate the shore of sea life in short order.

Nonetheless, a quick check of regulations doesn’t make it clear that what the little kid did isn’t legal. At least outside of protected Marine Wildlife areas.

Luckily, the area around Haystack Rock is a protected area. It has been since 1968. According to the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP):

“Haystack Rock became a part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge on April 1, 1968, and was given status as a Wilderness Area ten years later. In 1991, Haystack Rock was designated a Marine Garden.”

This weekend marks the anniversary of Oregon’s Open Beaches Law. The showdown was between the owners of the Surfsand Motel, adjacent to Haystack Rock, and then Oregon Governor Tom McCall. Guess who won that battle? The Surfsand had put up sign warning people off the beach. Bad idea.

HRAP is run by volunteers that coordinate with the City of Cannon Beach. While they’re all staffed up for this summer season, they will be looking for additional volunteers soon.

Another group, called Friends of HRAP, does a great job photographing one of our favorite Northwest icons. The photos in our slideshow are from their site. Check them out on Flickr and at http://friendsofhaystackrock.org/.

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Photos courtesy of Friends of Haystack Rock Awareness Program. FOHRAP.
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Camping Gadgets for Summer in the Sun

TOW stands for Teardroppers of Oregon and Washington. At the Gathering near Tillamook, Oregon, along the Trask River, we talked to some TOW folks about their favorite camping gadgets. Stephanie from Vancouver cleaned up a vintage Coleman ice box.

 

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Tillamook Cheese & Power Chords

The 57th Tillamook County June Dairy Parade and Festival celebrates the County’s dairy industry and heritage and is, we’re told, the third-largest parade in the state. The 2013 theme was “Clowning Around.” The band you hear is the Power Pep Band from Portland, Oregon. Their motto is: “Power Chords without the Power Cords.”
And, yes, there were Teardrop Trailers there, too. They ventured down from the Trask River Gathering for the parade.
Check out teardroptrailers.org for TOW info.

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Oregon Coast, Meet Teardrop. Teardrop, Meet Coast

English: Trask River at Tillamook, Oregon, in ...

English: Trask River at Tillamook, Oregon, in the United States. The view is upstream, southeast, from the Oregon Route 131 bridge. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you like sunny weather, it looks like Saturday will be the best day of our Northwest weekend. That’s a bonus if you’re headed to Tillamook on the Oregon coast for a Teardrop Trailer Gathering.

To get ready for the trip, squidknot visited TearDrops NW in Salem at your suggestion. Sales Manager Jon Homquist took us on a tour that started in the parking lot with his personal trailer. His goal was to build as small and light and possible. Mission accomplished. The trailer weighs in at 560 pounds.

Look for the guy in the squidknot hoodie Saturday in Tillamook. That’d be me. Would love to see your trailer and maybe get a few Dutch Oven cooking tips, too.

Do you have a great Dutch Oven recipe to share? Leave it in the “comment” box below.

And thanks to Jen Workman who sent us photos of their home-build that just got done.

The interior shows it all coming together.
Bet the first Teardrop didn’t have this: LED inside and out.
Dan the builder is checking the fuses. The blue LEDs are sweet.
Working on the Galley. We think a big “squidknot” decal would add so much.

That should wrap up our festival of Teardrops, unless you talk me into buying one this weekend. As you know, once you’ve got the bug…

Check out our Events page for links to more info about the Trask River Teardrop Trailer Gathering.

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NW Teardrop Fans Dream Big, But Camp Small

Primitive Teardrops this one from mag copy

This weekend, the Trask River Teardrop Camping Gathering happens on the middle Oregon coast in Tillamook.

Find out more about the weekend gathering on our Events page. Our plan is to visit the gathering this weekend to take in some of that Teardrop culture and cooking.

First in this week’s series is a visit with Jim Bailey. More to come as we count down to Saturday.

After our first blog about Camping the Coast, we wanted to learn about building teardrops. We heard from professionals, from those who started as hobbyists and have made a business out of it, and others who gave it a shot just for fun.

Retro vintage plans Measure OnceAfter all, that’s how the teardrops first became popular. When they were first built during the Great Depression, cash was tight and the little trailers allowed escape to the outdoors with a modest investment.

After World War II, returning vets used war-surplus material to build them. They were eager to put the scrap and their newfound skills to the test. Magazines like “Popular Mechanics” and “Mechanix Illustrated” ran “how-to” articles.

Today, the traveling-light ethos still makes sense given gas and travel costs.

Jim Bailey from Carson, Washington supplied the photos in the slideshow that follows. Jim says, “What you’re seeing is a reproduction of a 1950 Kampmaster, or as some called them the ‘Wild Goose’ because of the wing-span look.” With no blueprints to work from, he referenced old photos.

“We …take our annual trip to the coast and enjoy staying at Newport, Seaside and Lincoln City.”

The cabinets are solid oak which he says make for a better-looking and more solid cabinet. There’s a futon/couch theme up front with castors to take advantage of the roundness of the front of the cabin when you want to roll the bed into a couch. Builders need to be creative when space-planning these mini modules.

“I stayed with an icebox instead of going to a refrigerator to save money. I find for short trips, the icebox works great. Especially if there is no power to run the fridge.”

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He calls the trailer “a little bit old and a little bit new.”  Instead of the old water can to supply the fresh water, he installed a holding tank with electric pump and is getting ready to put in a two-burner cook top propane stove instead of the usual countertop camp stoves they used to use.

You can visit his website to see much more.

Hang on because the stories and photos will keep coming this week. Stay tuned for our road trip to Salem and a video tour a Teardrop factory.

Photos courtesy of James Bailey, Gorgeous Teardrops, 122 Shipherd Falls Road, Carson, WA , (541) 400-0393

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