Cooler near the lake VII

[RioWilson]

After lurking for several years before getting our trailer, I'm excited to say that we will be in attendance in site 22. It will be great to meet all of you and hopefully we will have learned much after a trip in March to South Carolina and Florida!

-Mike and Michelle

[Gary and Cheri]

Welcome Mike and Michelle,

This is great to see so many 1st timers coming this year and to see us over the 50% mark (compared to last year) this early in the year is a good omen. We still have several old-timers who have not been heard from on this thread that I would be surprised if they did not come so we should get bigger as we get closer to April.

Should we get big enough maybe we should be discussing a second event (for next year, not this year) called "Warmer by the Lake". This is easily one of our better parks for events, but that has the downside of being a hard park to get into when the weather turns warm. A July or August event would not need to rent the shelter and could be held in other parts of the park or possibly at High Cliffs or the county park just north of Stockbridge. I talked with Duke (from Green Bay) at this past year's Campinn/Campout and he was wanting to run an event. Lots of possibilities. We have very limited camping opportunities in mid summer.

Gary

[Gary and Cheri]

To keep each page up to date;

1. BrwBier (Bob) - 013
2. Gary and Cheri (Finnegan) - 009*
3. Wanna Be (Lynn and Trooper) - 084
4. Dan and Suzi Galvin - 032
5. Tearhead (Pat and Mark) - 008
6. Outtahand (Kevon and Annette) - 011
7. gdpipkorn (Grant & Diane) - 017
8. Woodbutcher (Steve)+(Marley) - 010*
9. Ptomaine (Tom and Henry) - 012
10. sherryk - 006
11. RioWilson (Mike and Michelle) - 022
12. flygal6 (Carol, Sue and Brutus) - 016
13. Duke and Laurie - 005
14. Glenn and Opal - 014
15. DWE (Dennis and Cheryl) - 034
16. Bkcreation34 - 033
17. cs_whypt2 (Dianne, Luke and many dogs) - 088

Camping sites can be registered here at reserveamerica - http://wisconsinstateparks.reserveameri ... kCode=kohl

Gary

[Zollinger]

Thanks for the PM Gary. What? Now you can read minds? I was just thinking about Cooler near the lake last week. Scott and I had a lot of fun the two years that we attended. I am seriously thinking that me and my new camping partner might have to attend this year. Scott started a new job in Nov. and might have to come later. If I do come it will have to be Thursday morning. I'll let you guys know what we decide.

[Gary and Cheri]

And if you come Dawn you could maybe bring that cool stove you painted and we could compare it to Steve's and we could get some interesting smack talk started.

As of right now Steve and I will both be there on Thursday.

Gary

[flygal6]

Count me, Sue and Brutus in on site #16. Looking forward to more good food and visiting with all of you.
Let's do some more geocaching again that was fun last year too.
Carol

[Gary and Cheri]

+1 on the geocaching. We had some fun last year. I would have never known about those amazing Indian mounds that were only a mile or so from the entrance to the park.

Cheri and I have been doing it for years although not as much lately. Our geocaching name is "Velocity Racing". Racing because of our 35 plus year association with the Sports Car Club of America and our 200+ days of corner working at mostly Road America or Black Hawk race tracks. The velocity comes from Gandhi's quote "There is more to life than just increasing it's velocity". A quote that I have tried to live by.

Great to hear you are coming Flygal6.

Gary

[duke]

We're In ! Laurie and I will be in site # 5 starting Thursday. Looking forward to seeing all our old friends again, and making some new ones.

[Gary and Cheri]

This is great to hear Duke. What is going on in your avatar? I thought you were getting rid of the Little Guy and replacing it with a CampInn. That doesn't look like either.

I was hoping you would come. I really feel Wisconsin could support a third gathering. Cooler and the CampInn are at both ends of the camping season. I also really look forward to LOL's very end of the season October event. Crossroads is every other year. All to often there just seems to be a fairly big gap in the mid to late summer area for Wisconsinites who are not interested in spending a lot on gas. You and I have discussed this in the past and I would like to continue the conversation for the future.

I was thinking we would end at about 15 trailers, but there are 3 or 4 people who we have not heard from that I'm sure have some interest in coming to this event. It is still a long time before the end of April. 20 trailers is unlikely but not impossible. Good to see.

Gary

[duke]

That is our Camp-inn on the production floor. Should be finished late Jan./early Feb. though we won't pick it up until late March.
COOLER will be our first trip, unless the weather allows an earlier shake down trip.

I see Calumet park now allows on-line reservations. Might be the spot for a June outing.

[Gary and Cheri]

Duke,

Here is a rough idea of what might be the dates for this years TEARDROP GATHERINGS in our area. With Crossroads being every other year there is a big gap from the first weekend in June to the second weekend in August. I'm basing these dates on when they were held in the past or actual date if known. If I have missed a gathering someone please chime in.

I would love to go to Calumet park. On Lake Winnebago would be a winner and my two brothers live only a few miles to the south in Stockbridge.

April
26, 27, & 28 Cooler by the Lake (St C)

May

June
First Week – Gelena Sleepover (LOL) and ING (St C)

July
25 – 28 Crossroads of America

August
Second Week . Meeting in the Middle (LOL)

September
First Weekend – Tears by the River (LOL)
Last Weekend Camp Inn Camp Out (St C)

October
Third Weekend Illinois last fall gathering (LOL)

*Steve has PMed me to indicate that Galena will not be held this year and the fall gathering has not been firmed up. The above schedule reflects what has been done in the past.

For anyone unfamiliar with Calumet Park you can find more information here;
http://www.co.calumet.wi.us/departments2.iml?dept_id=34

[dan galvin]

hello all just got site 32 see u in a few months
just got finished with a new batch of wine should be good by then
Dan

[Betsey]

There is a reason we(in WI & MN) generally leave July & August wide open from formal gatherings. It is the busy time of most people's summer when family trips & events are taking place. Also, some of the larger teardrop events are held during this time.

There are a lot of teardrop owners in MN, WI & IL camping during July & August. If they are interested in having others join them, they post on the forums where they will be camping & invite anyone who would like to join them. However, most of these won't even start showing up until April or May. There doesn't need to be a "formal" gathering to go camping - just an interest.

We did have our WI TJ birthday bash in June last year at White Mound, which was specifically chosen as a central location based on where most of the WI membership of T&TTT & TJ in WI was located. We are looking at having another one this year but at a different location.

Betsey

[Gary and Cheri]

There is a reason we(in WI & MN) generally leave July & August wide open from formal gatherings. It is the busy time of most people's summer when family trips & events are taking place. Also, some of the larger teardrop events are held during this time.

Also I'm sure that unless we had special arrangements, with the park, getting a larger group into the same general area might make reservations difficult to impossible.

Good to hear Dan and Suzi. Look forward to seeing you again. Same spot as last year, must be a good one. Must be one of the warmer ones.

Gary

[Betsey]

Also I'm sure that unless we had special arrangements, with the park, getting a larger group into the same general area might make reservations difficult to impossible.

Which is why we do arrange with the parks ahead of time to block off certain sites for a larger event.

Betsey