Cooler by the Lake VIII (April 24 -27, 2014)

[bcsnave]

Bill,

At any gathering of tears I personally love to walk around and see all the ideas that people have incorporated. It does not matter if you are talking a home built or or a manufactured tear there is always something cool that I would like to add to mine. I have a 5x8 manufactured Pleasant Valley tear but yet I think the makers of it would be surprised by how much I have changed it. I've added 3 hitches so that I can attached a spare tire and tables to the sides. Air and heat are a must. Revised cabinetry to meet my needs. Led lighting and Television. The list goes on.

We camp with an amazing group of people. I'm looking forward to getting a tour of your scamp. I think they are really a great little trailer. Still made in Minnesota I believe.

Gary

I actually went to Ohio to pick up our tear and toured the Little Guy/Pleasant Valley factory with the Amish. Had custom cabinets built with dovetail joints in the drawers etc. When I got the Scamp we went to Backus MN and toured the factory also. They have the "Scamp on a Stick " (trailer on sign post) they still build a boat load of these trailers.

Gotta say that both the LG and Scamp are not as solid as those "Cadillac" trailers. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

[Gary and Cheri]

We drove out to Pleasant Valley to pick up our trailer in person. Had a GPS adventure as occasionally electronics take you places you would never normally go. Went through some amazing very Amish country. Spent the day at the big pole barn that Pleasant Valley called a factory. At that point the Pleasant Valley Amish were no longer associated with Little Guy. They have a beautiful little lake on the opposite side of the road to the entrance to the factory which they own. They have always indicated that they were going to have a gathering of Pleasant Valley trailers around that lake. I would really like to do that but it has not happened yet that I know of. We really enjoyed our day there.

They are not a part of the very strict Amish community but I felt that their religion interfered with their success as a business. They had a non-Amish computer/business accountant who needed to do more to promote the company. The web pages have never been much. I'm an ex teacher and even I could see many obvious things that they were not doing business wise. I talked with a gentleman who was providing some of their financing and he was telling me about how frustrated he was trying to get them into this century with the business. They were fortunate that Little Guy wanted them to build their high end tear when they faced their eventual financial difficulty.

Gary

[Verna]

Gary, last August was the first annual Little Guy "Rolling Home " gathering at Atwood Lake in Mineral Springs, Ohio. A week long camping experience, with tours of the Pleasant Valley manufacturing facility and other activities. It was fun. This year 's "Rolling Home" will be August 12-15, 2014. And there is an active Little Guy Forum
at golittleguy.com. The quality has greatly improved and Joe Kicos, president of Little Guy, stands behind their product very well. I'm on my 2nd Little Guy and I am very satisfied with their product and service. 2011 Silver Shadow owner. And Pleasant Valley is in the process of expanding and building a new manufacturing plant this year. This will help with the expanded product line that includes the T@B, T@G, MyPod, Silver Shadow, and 4, 5, and 6-wide platform Little Guys.

[Gary and Cheri]

Thank you Verna. Atwood Lake, is that the small lake across from the factory?

Gary

[Verna]

No, it's a rather large lake with campgrounds, marina, boat and kayak rentals, swimming, etc., about an hour east of Sugar Creek where Pleasant Valley is located. There were about 75 Little Guys, T@B, a CampIn Raindrop, a Woody-- lots of campers. The turnout is expected to be larger this year.

[The Teardrop Nanny]

Gary,
Glad you liked the Horseshoe Tournament (IRG) and started your own "team". It was great having you folks with us in the Redwoods. We still have space available for IRG 5.0 (July 2-6, 2014) and would enjoy having any of the Midwest folks join us again. Best to you and Cheri,
Joanie
The Teardrop Nanny

[pigcooker]

My choice would also be Friday night. I have been trying to keep Saturday open as much as possible for those people who would like to experience the area.

Most campers will be there by 7:30-8 but not all will be set up as they would prefer.

Gary

Let's get back on track. The sun will set that Friday, at 7:45, and will be dark about 9:30, according
to The Farmers Almanac. So, plan accordingly. May I suggest, we ALL, use our name badges. We all
do not know each other. YET ! A beer/wine or two can play havoc. My $0.02.

Doug

[Gary and Cheri]

There are several points being made here. First, people are interested in seeing other people's trailers and doing this on Saturday creates difficulty for many who are hoping to have time for other activities.

Friday night is probably the best viewing time in which we will all be here but as Doug has pointed out it may get dark quickly. I have never been to a teardrop event that needed to have a scheduled time for visiting others trailers. I think we should just be prepared to expect other people to want to see our different styles of camping and that these visits while most likely going to occur all weekend will be mainly on Friday evening.

If you are like my wife then you should be most concerned that your bed is made on Friday evening.

We have a fairly large number of new people coming into Cooler this year. I will investigate name tags of some sort for everyone. If we go with something pre-made I would need a name to put on it. If you go back to the first page of this thread you will find the list of campers and their site. If your first name is not listed there or if I do not have it posted correct I will have a problem getting something made for you. No promises here.

Gary

[Verna]

Gary. Were you at the CRA last year? A simple pin- to-your-shirt plastic name card holder and you can hand write names on pieces of paper or 3x5 cards cut to size..or print them. If you need a picture of the badge , just hollar. I keep the CRA one just in case I need to remind myself who I am

[pigcooker]

Gary, I was not suggesting that you had to have badges made. My intent was to let folks know
to have a name tag on so we know who they are. Verna had an idea that will work fine.
The Dollar Store, or Office Max probably has, "Hello my name is" buttons cheap.

Doug, aka Pigcooker

[Gary and Cheri]

Doug and Verna,

I understand what both of you are saying and I will be responsible for coming up with some sort of ID for everyone. It may be the "HI my name is" stickers or hopefully I can find something a little better. I am planning on talking with Steve about this.

Gary

[Wanna Be]

O K I have a question for you all.

With the import bans on firewood in place, Is there someplace close to buy some firewood ???

Charcoal works great for D.O. cooking, But not so much for flames from a campfire to sit around and B.S. with others.
I just read thru the thread and didn't see any mention of firewood or where to get any.

Any ideas ?????

Wanna Be

[Gary and Cheri]

You can buy firewood at the park or save a little money and you will probably find some enterprising person who is selling just out of the park. Dimensional firewood is legal so save your cut off 2 by 4s etc. I have a box of wood from my woodworking room I intend to donate to the big fireplace in the shelter. If we plan ahead we should be OK. We are also very fortunate to have several local teardroppers who have donated local wood that is acceptable to the DNR. You will find that we are a group that cooperates well and who are very generous.

Generally the fire in the shelter is the important one that people like to gather around.

i am also one of those people who bought a "camp fire in a can". http://www.amazon.com/Camco-58035-Campf ... e+in+a+can

Gary

[dwe]

There is firewood at the park for $6 a bundle. All proceeds go to the friends of Kohler Andre. Therefore 100% of the profits go back into the park. Example of what the friends did was expand the parking lot at the nature center. built and stock the fishing pond, built the log cabin for the handicapped and many more smaller projects.

[gdpipkorn]

There are several points being made here. First, people are interested in seeing other people's trailers and doing this on Saturday creates difficulty for many who are hoping to have time for other activities.

Friday night is probably the best viewing time in which we will all be here but as Doug has pointed out it may get dark quickly. I have never been to a teardrop event that needed to have a scheduled time for visiting others trailers. I think we should just be prepared to expect other people to want to see our different styles of camping and that these visits while most likely going to occur all weekend will be mainly on Friday evening.

If you are like my wife then you should be most concerned that your bed is made on Friday evening.

Gary

Let us remember to respect arrival time for set up. Sometimes it can be frustrating at dusk after hours of travel to try to set up and give tours at the same time.
Grant