Pinecrest Retreat: November 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

How to Tell if you Have a Vintage RV

Special Guest Article Submitted by Anneliese Hinds.

Read more by Ann here.

Vintage RV's are all the rage. They have been made more popular by Huell Howser and shows like RV Crazy on the Travel Channel. How old does a RV have to be before it is considered vintage? Does vintage include all RV's or is it just travel trailers? There are several different opinions but most defer to the standard set by the Tin Can Tourists.

Who are the Tin Can Tourists? It is a group that is dedicating to preserving the history of RV's in America. The original Tin Can Tourists started in the 1900's. The club was revived in the 1989. They set the standard that most Vintage RV people use as a guide.

Travel Trailers that are 25 years or older are considered vintage.
Truck Campers and Pop-up Trailers are also considered vintage at 25 years or older. If you run across a vintage trailer rally, campers and pop-ups are also welcomed. We traveled from California to Maine in our truck camper.
Motorhomes that are 20 years or older are considered vintage. I own a 1973 Dodge Openroad Motorhome. You know, the green shag carpet.
Teardrop Trailers are in a class by themselves. I have the 1989 Snooze Box. It doesn't qualify by age as a vintage travel trailer but it is a teardrop. Since most teardrops are built from the original plans of the earlier trailers, they are considered vintage. Teardrops are welcomed at all Vintage Trailer Rallies and have their own Teardrop rallies only. In my opinion, these are the most fun of all the trailers. Someone once asked us if it was a house for our dog.

Pinecrest: America's foremost location for vintage trailer camping and poolside lounging.

Pinecrest Resort is America's foremost location for vintage travel trailers and those who love them. A growing community of creative individuals who enjoy spending time in nature, and with one other: hiking, swimming, gardening, grilling, roasting marsh-mellows over a camp fire, participating in the art of conversation and best of all sharing in the preservation of the great American travel trailers from by-gone days.

Tucked into a tree-shaded canyon high in the Cuyamaca Mountains an hour’s drive from downtown San Diego, is the homebase for nearly 100 vintage travel trailers and motorhomes. Call it a yacht club for RVs, where owners have permanent spaces to park their rigs and set up for outdoor living. You can spend as much or as little time as you want with your RV. You can entertain friends and family, cocoon yourself with a book, even meet some new friends who love old trailers as much as you do.

Visit Pinecrest and stay in one of our Vintage Rental Travel Trailers! Go to PinecrestRetreat.com for details!

The Evolution is YOU!

Pinecrest is a gathering place for like-minded creative people who value the ideas of conservation, preservation, restoration and good taste. These concepts are epitomized by the vintage travel trailers Pinecresters own and enjoy. There is a special element of "recycled eco-chic" which is at large in the park, and with that sensibility there is also an emerging community.

At Pinecrest, living well doesn't mean having a lot of money. Living well means cooking with friends, spending time in nature, having room to breathe and perhaps an occasional moment of tranquility. But more that that, Pinecrest is a work in progress. Blending old ideas with new: solar power, camp fires, swimming, yoga, napping, music, board games and conversation are all a part of the mix.

Pinecrest is unique because it is a "members only" retreat, with room to spread out and the freedom to make your space your own. It has one of the largest, cleanest solar-heated pools in all of Southern California. Pinecrest is a safe place, where members may come to find personal solitude or bring their friends and family to enjoy quality time together.

But best of all Pinecrest is an evolving community, and the evolution is you!

Pinecrest's colorful history:

Pinecrest got its start in the early 1960s as a retreat for the workers of General Dynamics and Convair. The early site holders at Pinecrest brought in an array of trailers—some fresh from the dealer, others from by-gone eras. The unique history of Pinecrest means there are many hidden gems nestled here, and you’ll sometimes find a classic trailer bounded by the trees that have grown up around it.

In the seventies, Pinecrest became privately owned and managed by Stan and Dian Cornette, who lovingly maintained the park and drew in a more diverse group of campers, reaching out to new generations.

Stan and Dian retired in December 2005, and new owners Frank Spevacek and Kathleen Rosenow have brought a new spirit to the park, building on its history as they shape its future. Kathleen and Frank are dedicated to making Pinecrest a living lesson in “Green” technology. They are currently in the process of bringing a ecologically savvy sensibility to the park, including solar technology, modernized water systems, a new shade pavilion for the pool area, and other innovations that will use recycled materials and sustainable technologies.

The “golden years” of travel trailers came after the aviation surge of World War II, and many iconic travel trailers, like the Airstream and the Spartans, trace their lineage back to the war effort. Companies that had built tens of thousands of aircraft in order to win the war converted to making travel trailer in order to celebrate our victory in the post-war era, in the ultimate expression of “swords into plowshares.” Many of these trailer models had a hopeful, futuristic style and used “space age” technology to promote the feeling of a boundless future. At Pinecrest, there is a unique mixture of old and new, retro and techno, rustic and wrangled, vintage and vibrant. Pinecrest is where yesterday’s future meets the vitality of today.

Pinecrest Retreat

Sunday, November 1, 2009

How to Tell if you Have a Vintage RV

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