Some 'Don't Forgets' From The Little Little Trailer

As you prepare to go on this year's road trips, The Little Little Trailer wants you to stay safe and to keep things as hassle-free as possible.

Because as she very well knows, a trip can be less than fun when mishaps and aggravations occur.

This in mind, TLLT would like to ask:

Are you road-legal? (Nothing wrecks a trip faster than getting a ticket!)
* Be sure DMV tags and registrations are current on both vehicles.
* Have tow vehicle registration and proof of insurance at hand.
* Driver's license -- on your person, not in the purse you left at home.
* Brake lights, turn lights, headlights all in working order (check before departure!)

Will you be able to deal with a roadside problem? You should have:
* Cell phone and charger.
* Inflated spare tires for both your vehicles, plus tire-changing tools.
* Flares or road flashers.
* First-aid kit, plus a tool kit.
* Recommended: a road-side service plan, and make sure it'll cover towing of a trailer as well as a passenger vehicle.
* Also recommended: two-way radios, which will work where cell phones won't; if you're caravanning, they'll keep you in touch with others in your group.

Are your vehicles well-serviced?
* Before her first trip each season, TLLT takes herself down to a tire service center for a check-up. She gets her wheel bearings inspected and repacked if necessary, and gets her tires and brakes checked, too.
Her tow vehicle gets an oil change, filters checked, and fluids topped off. The headlights get checked, too, to make sure none of the bulbs are burned out. The trailer-hitch ball gets tightened and greased.

Can you locate your destination with ease?
* Avoid unplanned detours! Have a good set of directions, plus a map.
* A GPS for navigating can be a Girl Camper's best friend. Obtain a valid address before you leave home. And keep those written directions handy, because a GPS can fail...and then what?

The Little Little Trailer can't wait to see you out on the road somewhere, and wishes you nothing but perfect trips, every time. But just in case...well, she knows you'll want to be able to deal with whatever might threaten to trip you up.!

Dress-Rehearsal Camping at Home (Invite a Friend!)

If you're like Girl Camping Girl (above), you'd be out traveling and camping all the time. But for most of us, that's not our real world.

With family needs...work duties...iffy weather...fuel at $4/gallon...well, there are a lot of times when we just have to stay home with the trailer parked in the driveway or the tent stored in the garage.

But that doesn't mean we can't still have fun, Girl Camping style!

How: Round up a friend, make a date, invite her over, and do some camping at home.

After all, home's not a bad place to be, especially when it comes to testing things out at the start of the season or after you get a new camping abode (trailer or tent) to enjoy.

In fact, home is a great place to hold a dress-rehearsal campout, because it's a no-risk, little-expense way to to identify needs and supplies before you get out on the road later. You can shower in the house, raid the pantry or the shop for what you're missing, and duck inside if the weather turns nasty.

Miss Mig and GCG did this very thing last weekend. On Friday afternoon, they set up their trailers by GCG's garage and plugged 'em in. Then they lit a firepit blaze on the patio, declared Happy Hour, and set about having a ball for the next 48 hours.

They rooted around in the trailer drawers and closets for items they could use to decorate the outside areas alongside their trailers.

They got into their little kitchens and played house with the contents.

As you can see, they have completely different styles--which makes it even more fun!

GCG's furkids got a chance to check out the trailers.

The girls had to go to town on a hubby-errand, which gave them the perfect excuse to slip in a little bit of thriftiquing. Girl Camping Girl got the score of the day, a leather bomber jacket for $3.50.

They tested out their sleeping quarters. MM added a crocheted afghan she found at the thrift store, and GCG basked in the warmth from her mini electric fireplace.

They raided GCG's spring garden for daffodils, and invited each other over for morning coffee and tea. In their glam-pajamas, of course.

By the time the sun sank on Sunday evening, the Girl Camping Girls felt like they'd had a week's vacation. They had good new lists to work from when packing for a for-real camping trip. They still had plenty of gas left in their tow vehicles' tanks, and they had money left in their wallets, too.

Excellent, all the way around!

Vintage Travel Trailers: Their True Beauty

As proven by this Shasta compact all dressed up for a photo shoot--there's nothing like a vintage travel trailer as the perfect vehicle for turning on the cute.

But deep down, the inner beauty of a vintage trailer is revealed when you take her out on the road and have an instant home away from home. She becomes your portable adventure cabin and personal sanctuary. If she's still got a working propane system, you don't need electricity to run your cooktop, oven or lights. You are independence on wheels.

The second trailer is also a Shasta compact, but with wings, and a few years older than the one above (and minus the brand new paint as well).

No matter the veneer, a vintage travel trailer is beautiful simply because her possibilities are endless. And because she'll reward you with the same.

Glamping It Up for the Camera

Every now and then, the Girl Camping Girls are called upon to assist with photo shoots for magazines, newspapers, and books.

Like the one yesterday for a forthcoming glamping project by MaryJane Butters, of MaryJane's Farm. Miss Mig's '71 Shasta compact served as the backdrop and GCG's place was the location. (It's one hill over from MaryJane's Farm.)

GCG's '72 Red Dale was pressed into service as dressing room for the models.

Here's Miss Mig, tending to some final styling details, with MaryJane at the camera.

The very glamorous dresses matched the colors of the trailer.

Props: Lots of cowgirl boots and princess shoes!

Miss Mig, who's a professional artist, was right at home dealing with prop management. (She did all the painting of her trailer, too.)

GCG took behind-the-scene snapshots while the real photogs, Alicia and MaryJane, took the photos that'll eventually end up in print.

See that mountain snow in the background? Several fresh inches fell just last week, so there was no guarantee that the models wouldn't freeze to death in bare-shoulder dresses. But the first warm day of spring happened to show up on the appointed day, so all the smiles were genuine!