Camping With Sisters on the Fly in Kennewick, Washington

For the vintage trailer enthusiast, there's nothing quite like that first group campout of the season. All the blogs, Facebook pages and online forums that sustain us over the winter can't take the place of pulling into a campground and seeing one personalized trailer and on-cloud-9 owner after another.

This particular kick-off was a Sisters on the Fly gathering in Kennewick, Washington.  The 50+ vintage trailers and occasional small motorhome were a far cry from the humongous white boxes that make up the modern-day RV inventory.

Even when they're the same brand or model, no two are ever alike.

Some are polished, some are painted, some are 'as found,' and loved just the same.

At a group campout, you always end up seeing something from the vintage trailer world that's new to you. This was my first look at the canvas awning/add-a-room setup that was an option with Aristocrat trailers. Very well made, and sturdy as well, with four roof-brace poles that attach the trailer's exterior.

Original commode and rear kitchenette in a '60s Aloha.

Fresh paint job on a wee Lil Loafer (one of the smallest travel trailers made).

'62 Shasta compact, complete with wings--among the most iconic of all trailer models.


I'll post more pictures as the week goes by. The camera got  a workout!

Holiday Travel With The Little Little Trailer

Our intrepid TLLT felt like having turkey with the home folks this year, so she took one of her North Dakota Or Bust trips from northern Idaho with Girl Camping Girl at the wheel. (The full-size trailer stayed home due to 'negative towing conditions.')

It's almost 40 hours of driving, round trip, over the Rockies at Lookout Pass and then over 1,000 miles across the northern plains. The halfway point, going to and from, is in the general vicinity of Billings, Montana.

Through the auspices of 'Sisters on the Curb,' a function within Sisters on the Fly, GCG (Sister#444)  enjoyed and appreciated the overnight hospitality of Sisters #1 and #1570, Maurrie and Wanda.
('Curbers' offer parking and/or bunk space for fellow members who are traveling.)

We have to say that it changes women's solo travel completely to know that there's a safe place and a friendly face waiting at the end of a day's long drive. GCG rolled out her sleeping bag for a great night's sleep and loved being shown around.

And you really can't beat the local color that's available off the Interstate.

TLLT got lucky with dry roads through the Badlands.

She arrived 'home for the holidays' in time to help assemble the Thanksgiving table centerpiece.

TTLT was back on the road again the next day and found the many miles of farming country to be extremely picturesque. Progress was slow because GCG kept insisting on stopping to take pictures.

Yippee, grandkid time!

And, another fun night with new-found friends in Montana.  GCG loved the Cowboy Bar in Fishtail, and the Fishtail General Store!

The Little Little Trailer got lucky again with some dry travelin' roads for the last leg home to Idaho. She's restin' her tired wheels tonight, but never fear--she'll soon be ready and rearin' to go again!

The Little Little Trailer Camps With the Sisters

Whoa! The Little Little Trailer just went on quite the ride!

She was invited to join the party when members of the Sisters on the Fly vintage trailer group came to Spokane, Washington, in conjunction with the Farm Chicks Antique Show.

And what a party it was!

There was cake, decorated to look like a bigger version of TLLT herself.

The spread of goodies, at every meal, was well worth the downhill haul from the upper campground to the food table.

Some of the footwear was so unbelievably fancy that TLLT just couldn't get over it!

Ditto on some of the hats! It was definitely the first time for The Little Little Trailer to see a tophat at a campground. (Yet it somehow seemed to fit the occasion perfectly.)

Our wee-wheeled friend also loved all the flowers that one of the Sisters brought for the weekend.

The venue, Riverside State Park, is well named--the Spokane River runs right past the lower-level campsites and roars over a nearby falls.

While most of the camping Sisters went to the antique show, TLLT was more than content to stay back at the campgrounds and try out a logging road by the river.

By the time Saturday night rolled around, there was no doubt that The Little Little Trailer had gotten herself some fun-loving campin' companions. Woohoo!

Of course, the job of hauling off the evidence also fell to TLLT, thanks to the open truck bed on her tow vehicle. She was more than happy to pitch in and make herself useful, as that seemed to be part of the Sisters' code.

By the time she had to hook up and head out, The Little Little Trailer was all set to join Sisters on the Fly and become a regular. (But doggone it anyway--the SOTF license plate holder was way too big for TLLT's bumper.)

So she drove over to Girl Camping Girl's campsite to ask whether she ought to up-size.

But GCG told her she's perfect just as she is, and tucked The Little Little Trailer back into her purse--where she will get fueled up for her next adventure--whatever, wherever, and with whom that might turn out to be!

The Fever For Vintage Trailers: Hotter All The Time

'Everywhere you go.' That's a perfect way to describe what's happening with the fever for vintage trailers.

It is spreading, spreading, spreading, and not just among women. Lots of guys are just as hooked on them as anyone--and in fact, one of the early Pied Pipers was none other than Craig Dorsey, of Vintage Vacations. You may even own a copy of his wonderful book, Trailer Travel: A Visual History of Mobile America.

Until sometime in the late 2000s, vintage-trailer interest was spread in an organic way, from one person to another, with occasional boosting from a book, magazine article, or cable TV segment. The fabulous Sisters on the Fly group, with over 4,000 members, grew and flourished in just this way. (Girl Camping Girl is among the happy camping members.)

Hard to believe now, but as recently as, let's say, 2008 (that's when I took the photo above), people were NOT constantly 'checking their Facebook' from something held in the palm of their hand. Most didn't even know what Facebook was. They weren't getting their travel directions from a 'droid voice linked to a satellite. They weren't miffed if your party invitation didn't include a GPS-able address. People had cell phones, but not smart phones or iPads. They weren't 'living online' to the extent that exists today.

This is how swiftly the tech-and-social-media revolution has changed many things, from as we knew them just a short time ago.

With its what--800 million users? 900 million users?--Facebook makes it possible for an individual to communicate with the world. Photo sharing is simple, anyone can be his own broadcaster, and people with a shared affinity can build cyber-friendships like never before.

Meanwhile, Pinterest, the online pinboard form of social media, enables anyone to 'be an artist,' and express her inner fantabulous self via the photos of others. With pinboard names like Vintage Trailer Longings, and My Future Vintage Trailer, Pinterest is another way for trailer fever to spread that few could have imagined circa 2008.

You can find this Girl Camping blog photo, plus hundreds of others, on Pinterest. It's almost scary to see how one person's images can proliferate and spread the vintage-trailer bug to persons and places unknown.

Then, there's the whole expanding business of vintage-trailer merchandising, fueled by the phenomenon known as 'glamping.' (Just type that into Google/shopping, and see what comes up.) The travel icons of a bygone era are a whole new source of ka-ching, now that there are so many enthusiasts to sell to.

It's been a lot of fun to be part of the feverish ride so far. And we're not looking for a cure any time soon!