Owner Stories: Introducing Jerry and Laurie

Like many Vistabule owners we are long time tent campers. As I neared retirement we wanted a little more comfort on our adventures. We initially considered a Sprinter van but ultimately couldn’t justify the high cost to purchase, maintain and store one. My wife suggested maybe a teardrop instead. We had seen one years ago that she thought was cute (although I thought it looked like a cave on wheels), and a T@B more recently.

We wanted something that would fit in our garage, so the T@B was out. I began researching teardrops with the thought I might have to design and build my own to get the features we wanted and something that didn’t feel like a cave. However, less than an hour into my research I came across Vistabule. I was instantly drawn to the large windows and unique shape. While most teardrops are either teardrop shaped because that’s the shape the original ones were, or they’re boxy “square drops” because it’s easier to make them that way, it was obvious to me that the Vistabule was shaped to function better, which indicated that considerable thought had gone into the design. Further research confirmed that fact and that the construction and customer support were top notch too.

I wanted to see one in person before ordering to make sure it was what we wanted and that my wife was onboard. We were lucky enough to spot one in the wilds of Wyoming. The owners were away from their campsite so we were only able to check out the exterior. However, Lily got us in touch with an ambassador in Seattle shortly thereafter to check out the interior. The warmth of the wood and cozy yet spacious feel of the interior sealed the deal. We both loved it!

Several memories come to mind:

Boondocking for the first time in The Valley of the Gods. We discovered it by accident as we searched for a place to camp after finding Natural Bridges National Monument campground full. The scenery was spectacular and our nearest neighbor was probably a mile or more away! We liked it so much we decided to stay an extra day and night.

Pulling into camp after a long day of driving and being able to get a good nights rest with minimal setup. On one of those occasions in Utah we awoke the next morning to a beautiful blue sky out the front window. A quick look to the rear however revealed an ominous looking storm approaching rapidly from the west. We tossed our camp chairs into the trailer and were on the road in under five minutes just as the first drops began to fall. Had we been tenting we would have been packing up soggy gear in a downpour.

Waking up in a mountain cathedral in North Cascades National Park. We planned to get an early start for a fall hike but rather than getting up in the wee hours of the morning for the three hour drive from home, we decided to take the Vistabule up the night before instead. We planned to stay at a nearby forest service campground but found it closed for the season,  contrary to the information on their website. We continued on to the trailhead, arriving well after dark, hopped into the Vistabule and were rewarded with stunning views in the morning.

Camping in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming with my daughter’s two cats. I was moving the cats and all of her belongings home from college and took the Vistabule to use as a U-Haul if need be. Luckily I was able to cram all her stuff into the SUV and under the bed in the trailer so we were able to camp on the way home. Dre, her black kitty kept looking out the windows in camp, I think hoping to see a bear. We saw only moose from camp but did see a bear while underway.

Last but not least, camping with our ninety pound Bernedoodle. He doesn’t get to join us on our long trips but thoroughly enjoys camping with us close to home.

First off, I must say that the Vistabule is an awesome trailer straight out of the factory, and yes, I’ve done numerous modifications to our trailer. It’s an occupational hazard of being a retired Research & Development Engineer. DIY is also in the DNA of teardrop trailers since the original ones were all home made. Therefore I consider making modifications to suit our needs to be a part of the whole teardrop experience. Also I might add that the design, construction and materials used in the Vistabule allow modifications to be made that look like they may have been original equipment (although matching the quality of the CNC’d parts is difficult to achieve by hand).

My modification planing actually began prior to placing our order with an idea for a window in the pass through. It swings up to form a shelf when the galley hatch is opened, augmenting the limited counter space, or it can be left down to block drafts or cooking smells from entering the cabin.

The fourteen months between order placement and delivery gave me plenty of time to research the wide variety of awning options. I ultimately decided to get Moonshade awnings to go over the galley and side doors. I built custom quick connect support poles to mount them to the trailer and bespoke transition awnings to seal the gap between the side awnings and the trailer roof.

Our trailer was delivered after dark which led me to realize that backup lights would be a very useful upgrade. I highly recommend adding them.

In addition to adding the pass through window/center galley shelf I have made several other modifications to the galley to more efficiently utilize the space. These include relocating the paper towels to the galley hatch, rebuilding the right side upper cabinet, and adding a custom knife block.

I’ve made many other modifications throughout the trailer as well, but the most notable is undoubtedly my system for converting the bed between couch and bed modes. I found doing the conversion was a bit challenging to do solo with just the mattress and became much more difficult with the addition of a mattress topper and bedding in place. To rectify the issue I built a hand crank powered chain drive system to do the conversion. I can now switch between modes easily without doing the gymnastics that were previously required.

It would be presumptuous for me to state that I know what makes a good engineer. All I can say is that for myself I was blessed to have inherited some natural talent from my creative and artistic mother, and analytical math teacher father. Curiosity, training, tenacity, empathy, ingenuity, experience and a certain amount of laziness have all helped me to become a better engineer. That last one probably sounds counter intuitive, however engineering is, after all, the art of applied laziness. I also approach engineering challenges with the mindset that there has to be a better way, a better solution, and that I can find it. I further recognize that there are multiple solutions and seek to find an elegant one. I’m guessing that Bert Taylor shares a similar mindset since there are probably thousands of teardrop trailer designs, but few, if any, as elegant as the Vistabule. One piece of advice that I do give to young engineers is to frequently take a step back and contemplate your designs. Does it look well thought out? If not, then it very likely isn’t and it’s time for a re-think and a return to the drawing board.

As for my professional background, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington on the west shore of Lake Washington, then moved directly across the lake to begin my career at Kenworth Truck Company in 1980. I had stints in production design, new product development, advanced concepts, and finished out the second half of my career in research and development. My work experience includes cab and sleeper structure design, instrument console design, vehicle styling (including the T660, T470, T440, and T370 models), and mockup, prototype and concept vehicle design and construction (including a precursor to the recently introduced Kenworth Super Truck2). I finished out my career with chassis work designing installations of hybrid, alternative fuel, and alternative power systems, including parallel and series hybrid batteries, hydrogen and liquified natural gas fuel systems, hydrogen fuel cell and micro turbine engines, and the associated ancillary systems for each. I was granted more than fifty design and utility patents over the course of my nearly four decade career before retiring in the spring of 2019.

Judging by the responses I’ve received to my Facebook posts there is clearly a market for some of the modifications that I have made. I would love to see Vistabule offer some of them as standard equipment or as options. Of course the holy grail would be toilet facilities. Perhaps a pop up outhouse with a cassette toilet in place of the tongue box? It would have to deploy and stow quickly so as not to spoil the view out the front window. Now Bert, there’s a challenge for you!

I have traveled through every state on the continent and most of the Canadian provinces via travel trailer or motor home as a kid or young adult, and I’ve camped in Hawaii as well. I would love to go back to see more of Alaska and New England. I’d like to check out the Maritime provinces and spend more time exploring British Columbia and Alberta. We’ll be doing some of that this fall with a trip to Banff and Jasper. And of course I would love to make it back to Minnesota for the Itasca rally and to meet Bert in person some day.

We have been baking scones in a collapsible oven on sea kayaking trips for many years. We’ve continued that tradition with our Vistabule adventures. Otherwise our meals are usually pretty simple since we are typically off cycling, hiking or exploring so don’t have time to prepare fancy meals.

I prefer reading history and nonfiction. Some of my favorite are:

1. “Running with Sherman”, about donkey racing in the mountains of Colorado.
2. “The Emerald Mile”, the story of the fastest dory ride through the grand canyon.
3. The Boys in the Boat”, the story of the University of Washington Crew’s stunning victory in the 1936 Olympics (one of the crew, Shorty Hunt, was from my hometown and his oar still hangs in the entrance to the high school).
4. “Into a Desert Place”, the story of an English bloke’s hike along the entire coast of Baja California.
5. “Into Thin Air”, the story of tragedy on Mount Everest.
6. “No Picnic on Mount Kenya”, the tale of two Italian WWII prisoners of war who escaped in order to climb the mountain.
7. “Endurance”, the story of the ill fated Shackleton expedition to the South Pole and their epic struggle for survival.