We Consider a Casita

Like the Trail Manor in a previous entry, we have spent years looking at Casita trailers. Their manufacturing plant is located in Rice, Texas, on I-45 between Corsicana and Ennis. We've actually visited the plant twice over the years and looked at their models on display.

I think Casitas are well built trailers, and they can be the perfect trailer for the right people. As with the Trail Manor, they have a very loyal following. They are light weight, aerodynamic, and well-insulated for a trailer. I have even read the blogs of some people who full-time in these trailers.

But for Donna and me, they are a bit small.

First, they have absolutely no outside storage. You'd basically have to store everything in your tow vehicle or the inside of your trailer. I'm talking here about water hoses, tools, sewer hoses, wheel chocks, grills, charcoal, lanterns, and all other related items that I do not want to store inside the trailer or even in the back of the truck. I want these items with the trailer. There isn't much storage inside, either, though there are numerous little cabinets. But there are lots of creative people out there in their Casitas, and they continue to find ways to make things work. If you are a handy and creative person, the space limitations probably would not pose a problem for you.

Second, the bed is such that whoever is on the inside must crawl over the other person to get out of the bed. And the bed is actually the dinette. On some models, there is another side table that people opt to use for dining and they just leave the full dinette made into a bed permanently. For a single person, this wouldn't be a problem.

Third, there is no really comfortable seating in the trailer. Yes, there is seating, but on stools or dinette style seats. I like something a bit more relaxing.

But probably the biggest factor for me is the bath. Not all Casita models have a bath. Those that are so equipped have a marine or "wet" bath. This means that the toilet, shower, and sink are all in one cubicle. When you take a shower, everything gets wet. When you want to use the toilet, you actually place your feet in the bottom of the shower. This is really only an inconvenience, but at our current stage of life, it is not an inconvenience we are willing to endure. Also, the shower compartment is quite small. We did have a small trailer several years ago with a marine bath, and I just never cared for it.

But the Casita line of trailers is really quite good, and the Casita community is outstanding. There are a couple of very active forums for Casita owners, and it isn't hard to see the passion folks have for these trailers. There is a similar line called Scamp based in Minnesota. From what I can tell, it is virtually the same trailer, though quality may vary one way or another. I've not seen many Scamps in my travels, but I've seen Casitas all over. There are 2 currently in my neighborhood.

We were staying at Goliad State Park just outside Goliad, Texas, 3 or 4 years ago in our Rockwood. An older couple in a Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell pulled in towing a Casita. If I recall, they were from a northern state -- Minnesota, I think. They had 2 kayaks strapped atop the truck and camper shell and 2 bicycles strapped on a carrier at the back of the Casita. I really admired them. Here they were far from home and traveling about as efficiently as you can. No doubt, with the "toys" they had, they were enjoying quite an adventure. Folks like this really know how to get the most out of life.

But Donna and I want a few more luxuries, so our search is for something just a bit larger and more comfortable.

It's Cold Outside!

As I write this about 6:30 AM Friday morning, it is 32 degrees outside. This past Monday, I walked in short sleeves around our neighborhood. Monday night, a front moved through, and it began very light precipitation Tuesday. The high on Tuesday was in the low 40s. Later that night, the temperature dropped even further. Our high on Wednesday was 23 in San Angelo. Yesterday -- New Year's Day -- we never reached the freezing mark. Our high today is expected to be about 34 or so. And all of this freezing weather has been accompanied by light moisture, enough to keep the roads slick.

We're not used to this kind of cold weather in San Angelo. Usually, such weather moves in and out very quickly. It's unusual for it to stick around so long.

It's weather like this that helped us decide we did not want to full-time. Cold weather in an RV is just pure misery for us. And you really can't get away from cold weather. The weather has been cold and wet even down in Brownsville in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. If you live in an RV full-time, you're going to get caught in weather like this at some point. You just have to endure it.

2 years ago -- while we were living full-time in our trailer for 8 months -- we fled sub-freezing weather in this area and went to Big Bend for a week. When we arrived, it was sunny and warm down there, quite a contrast from the cold we had been enduring up here and in Big Spring. Then we got hit with a freak storm and were snowed in for several days.

So, we're pretty comfortable with becoming fair-weather campers. During the coldest months -- basically mid-December to mid-February -- we'll hunker down in our nice, warm home, wait for the worst of the winter weather to pass, then set out and play during the next 10 months.

I don't think I ever posted any pictures of the snow we received while in Terlingua 2 years ago while staying at the Big Bend Motor Inn and RV Park. Below are a few of those. We ended up staying an additional 3 days or so while waiting for the weather to clear.

Early morning in the RV park.

Clear space where a traveler spent the night. I'm surprised someone ventured out on these snowy roads so early in the morning in this hilly country. There are no snow plows down here to clear roads.

Our truck and trailer. We just hunkered down and turned up the heat.

A wintry sky over Big Bend. This is not the kind of weather you want to spend in an RV. All you can do is dress warmly, turn up the heat, keep a pot of coffee on the stove, and open a good book.

We Consider Trail Manors

I've been looking at Trail Manor trailers for close to 20 years, I guess. I like the concept of this trailer, and it certainly serves a niche in the RV market. Several years ago, we came very close to buying one. For the right people, this could be an excellent choice.

The Trail Manor line has expanded in recent years, but I've always been interested only in the folding line, or what the company today calls their "retractable" trailers. Some folks may find their "rise" travel trailers interesting as well. These function similarly to the old Hi-Lo trailers that "telescope" straight up. And let me state up front that these retractable trailers are hard wall trailers, not fabric as with your standard folding trailer you see so often on the highways. That does add a bit of security and durability.

For the right people, a Trail Manor "retractable" trailer offers many advantages: it is light, can be towed behind smaller vehicles, is very fuel efficient, and can even be stored in many garages. Because of its low profile, it is easier to tow with reduced trailer sway and reduced affect from winds. If we were 20 or 30 years younger, such a trailer might appeal to us, but at our current stage of life, we want a bit more ease.

First, it takes a bit of an effort to unfold these trailers. They actually are pretty easy, but there is still some effort involved. So, once you arrive at your campsite, the first thing you have to do is unfold the trailer even before you start connecting everything. After you unfold the trailer, then there is the internal setup, such as erecting the bathroom walls, securing the seal along the junctions, and so forth. I simply don't want to do that these days; 20 or 30 years ago it would not have bothered me.

Second, you can really only access the trailer when it is unfolded. One of the things we like about a regular hard wall trailer is that we can stop in a rest area along the road to take a nap, make a sandwich, or use the bathroom. Heck, I could even take a shower if I had sufficient water in the fresh water tank. With a Trail Manor, you would have to expand the trailer before doing any of these things. And when you are loading your trailer before your trip, you would have to set it up to put food in your fridge, clothes in the wardrobe, and other supplies in the trailer. Then you would have to fold it back down when you were ready to start the trip. Again, I just don't want to have to do that.

I also have a bit of an issue with the toilet system in a Trail Manor. Even after looking at these trailers for all these years, I'm still not comfortable with their recirculating toilet system. And that doesn't mean anything is wrong with it; I've just never seen it in use. And since the trailer is a folding trailer, you really don't have the storage space of a regular hard wall trailer, and the fridge is smaller than what we want.

But Trail Manors have a loyal following, almost a cult following. And for adaptable people, I think the trailer is certainly one worth considering.

On a final note, a Trail Manor is not cheap, but it does seem to retain its value well.

Why Did We Decide on a Small Trailer?

Once we made up our minds to buy a small trailer, the question then became, "How small can we go?"

You might wonder why our old Rockwood would not have served our needs. Actually, it probably would have, but a smaller trailer will work better for several reasons.

First of all, I simply don't like towing. I hear some people say, "I don't even know that trailer is back there." Well, I always know when I'm towing something, and that is a good thing. As long as I know it is back there, I'm taking the necessary precautions. Those people who tear down the road as if they aren't towing a trailer weighing several tons on tires probably engineered for a maximum speed of 65 mph are a danger to themselves and those around them. And it's even scarier when you see rigs not properly outfitted with adequate hitches for the trailer they are towing.

When we towed our Rockwood behind our Tundra, the entire length of our outfit was over 55 feet. That's pretty long, almost one-fifth the length of a football field. It makes it difficult to park and to turn, especially in tight areas. Sure, I could manage it. In fact, I never encountered a mishap with our rig. But I didn't like it. And on windy days -- which occur very often in the West -- that rig would be buffeted around the highways like a flag on a pole. It isn't fun to drive under those circumstances. So, if I'm going to tow, I'd rather tow something smaller. That's just me.

Second, we really wanted something more fuel efficient. The bigger the RV the bigger the tow vehicle must be. The bigger the tow vehicle, the more fuel is used. Right now, the price of gasoline is the lowest it has been in years, but none of us believe it will stay that way very long -- at least, I don't. When you are towing, even the smallest improvement in fuel mileage can save lots of money. For example, if you go 300 miles in a day and get 10 mpg with fuel at $2.50, you will spend $75 on fuel. Under the same conditions, but at 12 mpg, you will spend $62.50 on fuel. $12.50 in savings on a single, fairly short trip is significant. On a 2000 mile trip (like we often take to Nevada and back), the savings would approach $84. And when (notice I didn't say "if") the price of gas shoots up to $3 or more per gallon, the savings become even greater. When you consider how much we intend to use our trailer, we will save hundreds each year in fuel costs alone with a small trailer as compared to a larger one.

Finally, we are still pretty adventurous souls. We've traveled enough now to know that there are lots of places in this world where you simply cannot-- or should not -- take larger rigs. These are often the places we want to visit. It might be someplace at the end of a road with twisting hairpin turns that long rigs can't negotiate, or some of the places in the national park service that do not have campsites for longer rigs. And pulling a small, light trailer up some of the mountain roads we've been on will certainly be easier than pulling a longer, heavier rig.

Donna and I are pretty adaptable, and we can get by in a smaller rig. Most of the time, we will be out visiting beautiful places where we want to spend as much time as possible outside. And outside gives us all the room we need. Yes, there will be occasional bad weather days when we get stuck inside. On those days, our little rig should be cozy and easier to warm than a larger rig.

In the next few entries, I'll share with you some of our trailer searches. Some of you may be going through the same process; in that case, the exchange of ideas might be helpful to you.

Looking for a Trailer

We sold our Rockwood Trailer almost 2 years ago. We hated to let that trailer go, and I detailed our reasons in a previous entry (see "Goodbye, Rocky"). I almost immediately followed this entry with another entitled "Never Say Never" which suggested that at some point down the road we might take up RVing again. Well, that time has come.

We knew when we let Rocky go that it just was no longer the right trailer for our needs. Rocky fell somewhat in the middle of two RV lifestyles we were struggling with. Rocky was not large enough to full-time, even though we did live in that trailer for 8 months at one time. Sure, it had a private bedroom, a full bath, and a nice combined living and galley area with a dinette, sofa, and 2 comfortable chairs. But it was not nearly as roomy as the large fifth wheels you see plodding down the highways, and it certainly did not have the storage these bigger rigs have. If we were to full-time, we would want something larger than Rocky, especially with more storage. After all, when you are full-timing, your RV is your home.

But for short trips, say 1 or 2 weeks most of the time, Rocky was really larger than we needed. For short trips, you don't need as much storage or interior room. Sure, they are nice to have, but really not necessary.

We either saw ourselves full-timing or going out sporadically on shorter trips, so Rocky really did not fit in with our future plans. We still feel that way today.

For the past 2 years or so, we have struggled with RVing full time. We like the idea of living full time on the road; we've never experienced the sense of freedom before or since that we felt the 8 months we spent in Rocky. In the end, though, we just don't want to uproot and follow that lifestyle. We enjoy occasional trips in an RV, but we really like coming home again. And the winters in a trailer really bother us. We are pretty cold natured, and we just can't keep a trailer warm enough during the winter months to suit us. And we find that we enjoy being grounded, especially in San Angelo. We like living here, we like our doctors (something which becomes more important the older we get), we like our restaurants, and we like our shopping. And San Angelo is a pretty good "jumping off" location for traveling to areas we enjoy like the Texas Hill Country or the mountains of West Texas.

So, we have decided to go with a smaller trailer and take shorter trips, usually 1 to 2 weeks at a time. Each year, we hope to take one or two longer trips, perhaps a month or so each, and visit some far off place (Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and Yellowstone are at the top of my list). But then we will always have a brick and mortar home to return to, and we'll be able to stay close enough to watch our three little monsters grow into three bigger monsters.

And to hint at something to come, this type of travel fits in very well with one more move we plan to make in the next year or two, a move into a residence which will give us more freedom to travel more frequently.

In entries to follow, I'll take you through our search process as we look at various trailers. 

Step 1: Buy a Truck

If you've been following the blog, you know that Donna and I are considering purchasing another travel trailer. Well, we're committed now. A couple of weeks ago, we took the first step by getting a truck.

We loved our Toyota Tundra -- and I really like Toyota as a company. I've always had great customer service from the two dealerships I have dealt with (Tyler and San Angelo). Neither sales department was  high pressure, and the service departments at both were committed to keeping customers satisfied. I'm sure that there are those out there who may not have had a good experience, but as for me and close friends and family who have driven Toyotas, we've all had good experiences.

Our Tundra had a tow capacity of over 10,000 pounds and it was a pleasure to drive. But the gas mileage was nothing to brag about, as highway mpg was about 17. Donna and I are "gentle" drivers, so we can normally do a little better than most estimates -- we have gentle starts, usually drive below the speed limit, etc. And when we towed our moderate sized trailer, we normally averaged 10 mpg.

When we sold our Tundra and trailer nearly 2 years ago, we figured we had one more trailer in us, but we decided at that time that if we ever RVed again, it would probably be in something smaller. We wanted something easier to tow as well as more economical. And that is where we are heading.

This time, we bought a Dodge Ram 1500 with a tow capacity of 8,800 pounds. We anticipate purchasing a trailer at least 1,000 pounds lighter than our previous one, but more about later that in Step 2. The end of year deals on these Rams was just too good to pass by. And fuel efficiency for the Ram is at least 4 mpg better than the Tundra. I won't lie -- the interior is not as nice as the Tundra, but it's not bad. I think we'll enjoy the truck.

Our new Dodge Ram 1500

We had towing mirrors added to the truck. Basically, these mirrors extend just a bit farther out than normal mirrors. Then, when you are ready to tow, the mirrors can be flipped up and out to extend them another 3 or 4 inches. It does sound like much, but when you are towing, it makes a big difference.

Mirrors in standard position

Closeup of a single mirror in standard position

Same mirror flipped up and out for towing

Driver mirror in tow position; passenger mirror in standard position. You can see the difference.

Both mirrors in tow position

When we had our Tundra, Toyota did not have tow mirrors for trucks. I found a third party solution which enabled me to fit on extended mirrors when we were towing. The solution was satisfactory, but I was always just a little uncomfortable with it. I like the towing mirrors on our Ram.

Follow along with us over the next few weeks as we purchase our travel trailer. We've been doing quite a bit of looking the past several months, so we are close to a decision. I hope to be out in the trailer by the end of February or early March.

We'll see you down the road.

Christmas Lights in San Angelo, 2014

Since retiring to San Angelo over 3 years ago, Donna and I have made it a practice to view the Christmas Lights in our lovely city each holiday season. They seem to get better each year.

As with most towns, you can find lights all over the city. Some neighborhoods make a concerted effort to light up their areas. Other neighborhoods may have only scattered lights. And each town has a handful of individuals who really go all out to light up the winter nights with their beautiful light displays. One of our favorite places to see the lights in San Angelos is just off downtown along the Concho River.

The light tour begins along the River Drive near Santa Fe Park. It winds through the park along the Concho River, then detours for a couple of blocks along Concho Avenue in downtown before finishing in the pavilion area across from Fort Concho on Oakes Avenue. Information about the "Tour of Lights" is available online. Please note there is a suggested donation. Be sure to click on the "Gallery" button to view the official pictures of the tour. Please note that other pictures of Christmas around Angelo are included in the gallery, not just the Tour of Lights pictures.

Our route, from left to right

The San Angelo Christmas Tour of Lights is pretty unique because of the setting. The first part of the tour winds along the north bank of the North Concho River through Santa Fe Park near downtown San Angelo. The lights are set up across the river, on the south bank. The glow of the lights is often reflected in the slow moving waters of the river. Much of the south bank rises steeply from the river, which provides a pretty solid backdrop for the lights.

Here are some pictures we snapped as we drove along the route. Enjoy.

Although a bit blurred, this picture gives a sense of the light tunnel that begins the tour.

Many of the lights depict scenes from the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Can you guess what this is? Well, there are 4 birds, and there is a phone from which they can make a call. So, you have 4 calling birds.

Not all light scenes depict images from the song. This one has a western theme; after all, we are in West Texas. Note the reflection in the river.

These poinsettias are just outside the Visitor Center, located between the north and south lanes of US 87. It should be your first stop when visiting San Angelo.

This picture gives you an idea of how numerous the displays are as they line the south bank of the river.

Pipers piping. Isn't the reflection lovely?

A gang of drumming drummers.

We also like to drive through the Santa Rita area to view the decorations there. Santa Rita is an older neighborhood flowing away from the river along a creek. Many of the old homes of the area have been lovingly restored over the years, and the community works together to provide some impressive decorations. We most enjoy a little display commemorating the poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas," which most people refer to as "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The display contains a set of boxes, or dioramas, each depicting a scene from the beloved poem.

Below are pictures of a few of these dioramas.

This is the beginning of the display. You simply pause your car along the curb and you can read lines from the poem beneath each display.

And there's Santa, coming down the chimney!

After delivering his gifts, Santa rides away in his sleigh.

Merry Christmas from beautiful San Angelo, Texas.