WINTER POSTCARD FROM THE GIRL CAMP CABIN

Hi all, spending a couple of post-Christmas days at the Girl Camp Cabin in good ol’ Elk River, Idaho. As you can see, it had snowed some since our last visit—almost a foot on Christmas Eve Day.

Girl Camp itself has about 2 1/2 feet of snow on it—no trailer parking until spring! (With many more feet of snow sure to come.) The cabin's back yard (above) is negotiable only by snowshoe.

Got the bird feeders filled—for those crazy birds who, like us, like to be here all year ‘round. Also have the woodstove well stoked, the better to melt that snow off the roof.

Single Tie-Back for Your Vintage Trailer's Awning

We've been asked how we make a fabric-type awning work with just a single tie-back for the uprights.

The trick is to have a solid crosspiece that runs across the front, under the valance, and connects to both the uprights. For the awning above, the crosspiece is made from a length of electrical conduit pipe, with a hole drilled at each end. I slid the tapered end of each upright into the corresponding hole.

The tie ropes are attached to the tops of the uprights, above the crosspiece.

Vintage Trailer Replicas (Toys for Grown-Ups)

There may be a gene for this--we wouldn't be surprised--but there is something about collecting vintage trailer replicas that's as addictive as anything having  to do with the real thing itself.

They are sure-fire hits as gifts. The Airstream birdhouse at the top is from Miss Shelley and the pink-wing trailer birdhouse is a gift from Miss Grace.

Vintage trailer replicas can be anything from salt and pepper sets to coin banks to......

...the hand-tooled image on the front of a leather-wrapped flask.

As Christmas ornaments--oh my! Or even a ceramic cookie jar!

In whatever their form, vintage trailer replicas make us feel good in some way. They hit us at Happy. They induce whimsy, nostalgia, imagination, infatuation--whatever you're feeling right now after scrolling down through these pictures.

Like? (Haha--silly question!)

Emergency Roof Vent Cover

This is one of those things you may not realize until it happens to you: A travel trailer's roof vent lid can  blow open in a strong wind, even if you've remembered to crank it down tight from the inside before exiting the trailer.

Once that happens, the next big gust of wind can rip that lid right off. And then you've got a problem, because there's suddenly a foot-square hole in the roof of your trailer. Just waiting for the next rainstorm to come along and damage the trailer even further.

Naturally, you'd want to get that hole covered up as quickly as possible while awaiting a permanent repair (or at least a tarping).

We recently came across a friend's parked trailer in such a situation. The emergency rescue: We placed a large tote-tub, turned upside down, over the roof hole and weighted it down. It stayed in place and kept the trailer's interior dry long enough for the owner to make other arrangements for saving her investment.

Just a lil' tip, in case you ever need it!

Christmas Lunch With Girl Camping Buddies

The Girl Camping trailers and tents may be in storage for the winter, but the friendships are not. So instead of waiting six months to get together again, some of the GCGs hit the road to gather for a Christmas lunch.

Lunch began with some holiday cheer.  The Little Trailer Trailer had to make four trips to the bar because nobody ordered the same thing!

While waiting for the meal to arrive, TLLT had a surprise for Miss Grace, Miss Heather, and Miss Karen: She brought them each their own little trailer and tow vehicle (all of which, like TLLT, are salt and pepper sets). They immediately tried to circle up, just like at a campground...although, as usual, Miss Grace parked to a different drummer.

Here is Grace with her new rig. We haven't heard yet what she named it.

This is Heather with her set (her real trailer is an aluminum Silver Lark).

We were so excited about Miss Karen's glee that we failed to get her in focus with her new car and trailer. But you kind of get the idea.

So cute...just like the big trailers...and almost as much fun to play with!