Indian Lakes Camprground (April 15 - 18, 2009)

We didn't have internet access at the campground, so all of my posts will be here.

Wednesday, April 15th
We left home on Wednesday morning at 8:15 am. It was still a little cold and drizzly, but the weathermen were promising better weather to come - we would be driving into it. The drive was almost uneventful . . . we were almost there, cruising along St. Rt. 9 out of Lagrange, IN when I saw a deer in the field to our right. It was RUNNING, at full speed, right towards the road! Tom slowed down to see what it was going to do, and it just kept going, right into the road and into the side of a Jeep coming from the opposite direction! It bounced off the Jeep, and slid right under our tires! The Jeep kept going, so that driver was apparantly unharmed; we slowed down some more but kept going. Tom checked out the m/h and car when we arrived at the campground, and everything looked OK. We lucked out that time!

From 200904_Indiana

From 200904_Indiana

From 200904_Indiana

We were all settled on our campsite before noon, had a quick lunch, and then headed into Goshen for the Keystone Raptor tour at 2pm. We had a private tour with Jim, one of the regional sales reps.. He was very knowledgeable, and we left there 2 hours later feeling very positively about the Raptor. He had called a dealer in Elkhart who had a couple of models that would give us a good feel for the floorplan we were interested in. We drove over to Tiara RV, and looked over those models. There are some nice improvements going into the 2010 Raptor that definitely make it a possibility for us. The kids were tired of being in the car by then, so we started back towards the campground - we were surprised by the number of RV dealers in Elkhart that are now out of business!
Back at the campground, we had some hot dogs and brats for dinner, and then headed over to the pool for a swim. They had the water up to 77 degrees, and it was pretty nice! We had the whole pool to ourselves!

From 200904_Indiana

From 200904_Indiana

The pool closed at 9pm, and we went back to the camper to watch a little tv before bed. It was going to be in the mid-30s that night, so we got out the ceramic heater, and also set the furnace at 65 deg in case the little heater couldn't keep up. I don't think the furnace ever came on during the night, though, and we all stayed pretty comfortable.

Thursday, April 16th
After a leisurely breakfast of waffles and grilled sausage (darn it - I forgot to take a picture! LOL!), we headed into Middlebury to visit Jayco and Sunnybrook, before our scheduled KZ tour at 2pm. Jayco was our 1st stop, and the Customer Service Rep., John, in the visitor center was very informative. The floorplans we're interested in are 2009 models that are not being carried over to 2010. They are eliminating the split bathroom, which we do not understand . . . John was able to search their database and find all the dealers that still have one of those models on their lot. Unfortunately, none are very close to us, with the closest near Buffalo, NY. We haven't completely discounted them yet, but a couple of other options took precedence . . . more to come on that. Jayco has a really nice setup at their Visitor Center, with a "mini campground" behind the building - they have one floorplan of each model in their lineup on display. We wish more Manufacturers would do that - it really gives you an idea of the level of finish available in their campers.
Next, we went down the road to Sunnybrook. I wish I could say that the sales rep. there was as knowledgeable and helpful as the others we'd met, but he wasn't. He kept emphasizing that he could not help "sell" us on a Sunnybrook unit, because it would get him in trouble with some of his dealers. After leaving us waiting for quite a while (much to the boys' frustration!), he finally brought up a unit of the floorplan we were looking for, but it also did not have the split bathroom (another Manufacturer eliminating it!), so I wasn't really crazy about it. By the time we got out of there, it was 1:45, and we had to head straight to K-Z. We couldn't take the time to get a pretzel or go to the Bulk Food store, so the boys were mad! We got them there later, though . . .
At K-Z, we met John, a regional sales rep. who was very nice. He did not take us on a plant tour, but he took us through some units awaiting transport. Again, K-Z has eliminated the models that we like, so we're hunting for leftover 2008 models. KZ makes some higher-end toy haulers that we like (Escalade Sportster), but they are pretty pricey. They are really nice, but what you get for the money is more in the "want" range than the "need" range, so hard to justify. He did give us a tip on a 2007 Montego Bay Sportster which is at a dealer in Nevada. The Montego Bay is built on the same line as the Escalade, so the quality level is similar. It's a new unit that has never sold. It's a floorplan that we like, but doesn't have the queen bunks in the garage (a must for us). John assured us that they could be added, but we would need to have that verified, and find out the price for adding them, as well as how we could get the unit from Nevada to MI or IN. This is serious prospect #2. The boys were pretty well burned out by the time we got out of there, so we headed into Ships to get pretzels and milkshakes at Jo Jo's. If you're ever in Shipshewana, that's a treat you won't want to miss! We did a little more shopping, and then had dinner at the Das Dutchmen Essenhaus . . . another must if you are in the area!

From 200904_Indiana

Back at the campground, since we were the 1st campers of the 2009 season, the owner, Paul, had dropped off a golf cart for us to use during our stay. The kids were excited, so we took a ride around to check out the rest of the campground. The CG is bordered on the south by an amish farm, so our neighbors were horses and cows!

From 200904_Indiana

From 200904_Indiana

It was a very beautiful sight! We spent the rest of the evening around the campfire, until going inside to watch "Harper's Island" which we've managed to get hooked on.

Friday, April 17th
We had heard that the Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival was a "must-see" so we figured we'd head over there for breakfast. Unfortunately, the festival was just getting set up, and they wouldn't be serving pancakes until 4pm! So much for breakfast!! From there, it was just a couple of miles to Nappannee, where Newmar is, so we decided to add them to our list. We had kindof discounted the Newmar X-Aire, because they are significantly more expensive than the others we were looking at, but since we were in the area we decided to check them out. While talking to Linda, a sales rep., she found out about a unit in South Carolina that was one of the floorplans we liked. It is a 2008 model that had been at a dealership in Florida that went out of business, and was bought back by Newmar. She said that they were able to offer us a really great deal on it! We met with another sales rep., Vern, who took us on a personal tour of the plant, and answered many of our questions. We left there with the specs. on the X-Aire 41CKLG, and a promise that pictures would be emailed to us this weekend. It also does not have the bunks in the garage, but the rep. at Newmar said that they could get the unit transported back to the factory and have the beds installed for us. Serious prospect #3 - They've definitely given us something to think about this weekend! Leaving there, we stopped at the Ayr Cabinet factory, where we got our kitchen cabinets when we built out house 12 years ago. We have a couple of hinges that have broken, and we stopped in the see if they had replacements. They did - and sent us home with a dozen of them!
We arrived back at the campground in the late afternoon. They have a really nice recreation room, so we headed over to play some pool before dinner.

From 200904_Indiana

After a few games, we grilled some burgers for dinner and then headed over to the pool for an hour or so of "Marco Polo". The kids say I am the worst player ever! After our swim, Paul treated us al to an ice cream cone, and we played a few more games of pool before we went back to the campsite for another evening campfire.

From 200904_Indiana From 200904_Indiana Saturday, April 18th We got the m/h all cleaned up and ready for the trip home this morning. The campground was having a pot luck lunch at 11:30, and Paul told us not to worry a bout checkout time, so we stuck around for lunch. They had quite a good crowd - I'd say most of their seasonal campers were there getting their trailers open for the season because of the great weather. I forgot to mention it, but it was in the 70s the last 3 days, and sunny! BEAUTIFUL! After lunch and another couple of games of pool, we hit the road around 1:30pm. The trip home was uneventful, and we were safely home by 4:30pm. This was a really great trip for us - the weather was great, the campground was very nice, and we got a couple lead on some possible new "homes" for us. Over the next few days we'll have to do some serious thinking about whether we're ready to make that purchase! OK, this is an EXTREMELY long post, and thanks for reading the whole thing! I still have to add my pictures, but then I'm going to bed! Goodnight!!