Hello from Atlanta, GA!

My wife, Danya, and I ordered our raindrop from Cary at Camp Inn. Our raindrop is scheduled to be completed in July 2016 so it is about time I got around to saying hello to you fine folk!

First things first, I want to give a shout out to Jay Taylor for his great content on his blog, the videos he posted to Youtube, and talking with me over the phone. I also spent untold number of hours reviewing this forum over the last three months as I made my decision to purchase and what options to include. I feel like I know several of you already based on your Camp Inn adventures documented on the forum and look forward to contributing as well.

We live in Atlanta and spend a lot of time in Auburn, Alabama attending sporting events at Auburn University. We have a lot in a RV community with hookups that we use for tailgating during football and gymnastics seasons. The community has a club house with bathrooms, showers, and a kitchen. Most of the other owners have Class As; however we did not want the hassle of maintaining a large RV. My parents have a vintage teardrop that they camp in and we hope to spend quality time with them camping each year as well.

We wanted a camper that could be pulled by my car, stored in our garage, and could easily be taken camping or tailgating. We enjoy being outside and a teardrop will meet our needs perfectly. We decided on the 560 for hanging out in the camper in bad weather on the couch. I was torn for quite a while since the 550 has such beautiful lines; however based on the fact we have scheduled events that could intersect with bad weather it is the best choice for us.

Now begins the long wait on our Camp Inn to be completed...I think we will name her after we spend some time with her.

 

Congrats! You'll love it, I'm sure. And although a lot of us name them, it isn't actually mandatory, lol. If it wants to be named, a name will come to you.

 

Hi Danya and Jeremy,

Welcome to the forum and congrats on ordering your raindrop! Please feel free to visit our blog, Teardropping in Paradise (see signature below). We got ours in April of last year and full time. Couldn't be happier!

Happy trails!

 

Welcome, we are up I-85 from you in South Carolina not far from Clemson. We have never taken ours tailgating but have talked about if we had the right spot for it. Last April is when we picked our 560 up and we have loved it.

 

Welcome, and I hope you will be as happy with your teardrop! How cool that your parents have a teardrop too! We still love ours.

We live a couple hours north of you, in Franklin NC. We like to weekend with 'Lily' but also have a few longer trips planned this year:
Outer Banks, NC, for a week in late spring
Huntington Beach State Park, SC, for a week in September
Battle at Bristol football game, and Virginia Creeper, camping in VA
Give us a shout if ever you head north! Our NC mountains have some prime campgrounds.

 

Congrats Jeremy, my wife Mary and I are considering ordering a 560 as well. Could you let me know what options you went with and why? That is the hardest part about this entire decision process

Thanks for your time and congrats again.

V/r
David

 

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

Welcome....

 

Welcome - I am sure you will enjoy your new TD.

Bob

 

Thank you, Sherry! Yeah, I was trying to get ahead of the name; however I am going to wait and see...it will not be rushed.

Thank you! Great blog. I need to go back and do some more reading. Full timers are awesome.

Thank you! Yeah, our primary use will be tailgating. Are you Clemson fans?? We are going to try to do some teardrop events your way in 2017.

David - We got all of the options except for the roof rack (ruins the look of the teardrop).

Air Conditioning - Must in the south
15in TV w/DVD/CD Player - Rainy days
AGM Battery Upgrade - More battery is better
SUV Off-Road Package - clearance and higher counter top when using galley
Internal Battery Isolator - tow vehicle charging good thing
Furnace, Propane RV style - Most difficult decision, want option to boondock in the future or visit parks without hookups
Electric Brakes w/Park - ability to use brake handle when positioning trailer in garage as our garage has a sloped entry
Stainless Steel Bumper - crash protection
Backup/Flood Lights - parking trailer at night in camp ground
Receiver Hitch for bike rack (2 inch) - possible bike rack or storage rack
Rain-Sensing Fan Upgrade - in the south will be using the vent a lot
Accessability Upgrade - place to hang my towels and use for getting on and off couch.
Paneling Upgrade (Mahogany) - Trailer is so beautiful wanted to make sure that it is really set off
Inlaid Kitchen Cabinets - Trailer is so beautiful wanted to make sure that it is really set off
Leather Sofa (Vintage) - Orange sofa for Auburn!!
Alcan Cover - owned trailers before and they always get a ton of road rash on the front
Spare Tire - for flats
Door Screens (Pair) - for bugs

Hey Baby!! Nice to see you on the forum.

Thank you!

Thank you, Bob!

 

Yes we are Clemson fans, but don't get to many games anymore. I grew up with Clemson football but graduated from Woffordso we end up there some too. If you come up for the 2017 game with Auburn you have several campgrounds on Lake Hartwell to look at for a stay. Twin Lakes and Coneross are the closest but book early, like as soon as they are available for booking. There are several state parks within a 30 minute of Clemson. I am not sure about taking your camper into tailgate. The public parking you will use as a visiting fan is probably not real conducive to tailgating except for maybe at the Clemson Y Beach. They do run a shuttle bus from there but it is close enough to walk.

As the Late Atlanta Constitution columnist used to say, "The only difference between Clemson and Auburn is Clemson has a lake."

 

Bob and I are die hard Bama fans since his parents made us addicts too (they went to school at the Tuscaloosa campus). We have always talked about attending the Iron Bowl. Maybe we can meet up if it ever happens. It's on our bucket list! We have a 560 and this will be our second season camping. Our longest trip was a two week trip out west last year and it was great. Enjoy the build pictures when they come and all then anticipation during the whole process!

 

I agree with all the above options, we also have all those except the mahogany which was not available in 2008. A couple points:
SUV -Totally agree with the improved galley height, that alone makes it worth it.
AC - You have to be on shore power to use it so we did not get it, have regretted it a number of times. We also wanted the "in cabin" storage we would lose. Doing it over would we add it, still not sure.
Heater- Would not leave home without it. We love traveling in the mountains.
TV/DVD - Did not think I would want it, I love books. Wanted the space, now I am totally glad we have it. We take along a small uhf antenna and can pull up local stations sometimes. Nice to catch up on the world once in a while. (We like trips 1-2 months long.
Wind Screens- Yes! Have proved to be a godsend.
Solar option - We like not paying for hook ups which also gives us a better selection of nice camp sites. Sometimes we do not drive long enough or often enough to charge the battery. Solar works.
Along with the spare tire make sure your tire iron will fit the Camp Inn wheel lugs. If not buy one to fit.
Rain sensing fan - Was not available in 2008 so we do not have it, thought we would want to upgrade but have found no need, though we have wakened in the night and closed our very quickly then enjoyed the sound of rain on the tear until we drift back to sleep.
Sense of Adventure - Most important option of all!

 

Thank you for sharing some sites. We may have to come up that way for the game in 2017. We kickoff the season against Clemson this year on Sept. 3rd. You should bring down Jeremiah for a visit to the plains. It will be our first official Auburn Tailgate. We have room on our property for two raindrops on our cement driveway. We have hookups as well.

War Eagle!!! Great to meet some Alabama fans. We attended the Iron Bowl with the missed field goal TD return. Best sporting event in my life. 2016 the Iron Bowl is at Alabama, maybe you could come down in 2017. I am looking forward to the build photos; however the anticipation is KILLING ME!

Right on! Great information. Tire Iron added to the list. Jay Taylor said he did not get the mahogany since he bought used and is the thing he wished he had the most.

 

We did get the mahogany option and never regret it. Really like the two tone look. We did get AC and don't regret it as I really don't tolerate high heat or humidity. We just plan for electric sites when the temp rises. The fan does help cool but I did go sit in the car with the AC on when we went out during the summer to an non electric site and it just got too unbearable for me. Hubby didn't care and sleeps thru everything!
We also got the tv, solar connection, SUV, door screens, spare tire, side tent (still not sure if this was good or bad as we like it when we have it up on longer stays but it is time consuming to put up). We also bought the cover and do use it over the winter while drop is in the garage (don't know where all the dust comes from!)
Wish we would have gone with the handicap option grab bars as it would have made maneuvering inside the drop a little easier at times.
We debated the roof rack and decided not to, but Bob really wishes we would have got it. Feels we would have used it.
We also bought a lot of stuff for the trailer and you can really go crazy here. Take a look at a lot of the organizational photos for the kitchen. These did help. I bought the plastic bins for the storage compartments as CI did not have their custom ones available at the time and they work just fine. I also got the wire rack that is used in cabinets to stack dishes, just turned it on its side in the storage bin and keeps everything tidy.
If it is available, I would get a plain drawer (non divided) for the galley drawer in the left as some cooking utensils and knives just don't fit right in it. Maybe CI can make the dividers movable like they did with the optional storage trays?
If you get the tv, just know you need a small speaker to watch videos as the sound just doesn't work right with them. Local tv sound works fine. Still don't understand why this is.
Well. This post is quite long. If you want to know more, you can pm me.
Gina

 

As full-timers, we went with a more basic set-up as we wanted as little as possible to maintain. We purchased a 550 Special and added a few ultra upgrades (lights, front storage box). We didn't get AC or the furnace. If it's cold we add blankets and layers and it's only been really uncomfortable with hot weather a few times. We skipped the stove so we wouldn't have to move the Dometic refrigerator each time, and bought a two burner propane stove that we can move around. And didn't get the sink either (we use four 3.5 gallon Waterbricks to stock up on water). We love the SUV package as we boondock often and go off-road. And we omitted the TV, as we wanted the extra cubbies for necessary storage. We find being more basic is more comfortable for us. It is fun to hear about the set ups of others!

 

My raindrop will be ready the same time! Im from New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Very excited about new trailer. Had a teardrop for years, and now ready for the new one. Have fun!

 

War Eagle! Formerly from Atlanta, have lived in Austin, Texas for the last 13 years. Had our Camp Inn for 5-6 years and love it.

 

Steve - My wife and I are going to go to the 2nd Annual Texas Roundup in Texas and will be stopping by Austin at the end of March. We should meet up.

 

We will be at the Inks Lake Texas Roundup. Look forward to it.