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Just Some pics of the inside of the camper more pics of the raaks camping in action yet to come!!! |
Below you will find the text of our Camping Diary. Give it a read thru.
Date-3-30-2000
Bought a 2790 Layton trailer from a family on the north
side of Holland.
He is a Holland police officer and seemed to have taken
very good care of the unit.
He was asking $9800 and he sold it for $9500 that
included all the extras including the hitch and all the load stabilizers and
the hitch equipment.
3-31-00
Today I met Mr. Andrew ***** at the bank. We
finished up the deal there. After that it was off to Camp America for a
hitch and a electronic brake system. They will hook that up on Wednesday.
4-5-00 Hitch and brakes put on the Dodge Dakota today,
pulled the trailer this evening went just fine around the block hopefully we
can put some extra wide mirrors on the Dakota and then we will be off for some
camping vacation.
4-18-00
Had a hitch put on the Dakota and Then we bought a
Suburban to pull the trailer with instead, My Brother Josh will be buying the
truck from me. Now I have to get a Electric brake put on the suburban
before we travel to Ohio or even local trips.
5-11-00????
Had the brakes put on the trailer and we are now ready
to go, also increased the hitch height.
5-20-00
Today was the maiden voyage of the Raak camper. We
pulled it all the way to Dutch Treat, more to give it a try and see how it
worked. We stayed until Sunday when Grandpa and grandma Van order came
over and had lunch. Also on Saturday night Ed and Jilayne took there kids
out there and we sat around the fire and had smores. All in all the kids
had a great time and the camper worked great. We need to get a new sewer
hose and a new donut to keep the sewer gas down. We also need to look
into the propane detector it clicks all the time and is annoying. Also we
need to get a new battery for the camper the old one is shot. Check into
the battery causing the propane detector to fault also.
6-5-00---6-8-00
This week we had the kitchen redone so we all slept in
the trailer at night because of the smell of glue in the house. The
kids thought it was pretty cool and they went to sleep very well and slept
pretty good.
6-22-00
Went to Dutch Treat for the weekend. The weather
was really nice on Friday and Grandma Raak came out in the evening to watch the
kids while Becky and I went to the Parade of homes. Saturday was also
pretty nice day. Connor had a good time fishing in the pond, caught
several little bluegills. Emily freaked out because she was afraid the
fish would get her. I went to the pool with Emily and Connor after we
made trip a into town to pick up some supplies. They had a great time
Connor still didn’t dare to jump into the water he just stood on the
steps. Emily jumped in and was fine as long as I was by her. Once
she got used to the water she swam all the way across the pool in her
inflatable duck!!! That night Grandpa and Grandma Van Order came out and
Steve and Angela brought Moriah. The kids had a riot we were told, we
weren’t there because we went to Stephanie and Eric’s wedding at south olive
church. Sunday morning it was raining so Connor and I went fishing for a
little while and then we packed up and headed home. The trailer performed
fine except for a blown fuse on the Refrigerator. That was probably
because the previous owner had the battery hooked up backwards. The
propane detector and everything else worked to perfection because the battery
was replaced and hooked up properly. Hitch seemed to work good using the
7th link from the load bar. Still need to get the level bubbles installed
so we can tell how level the trailer is. Also we missed church on Sunday
morning because I left the chairs out overnight and they were soaked because of
an overnight rain. We then didn’t have any chairs to sit on at the
service!!!
7-14-00----7-19-00
This was our longest weekend camping trip yet. We
went to Dorr,MI to the hungry horse campground. Don and Lori went with us
in there pop up. The first day was Friday and set up day,
everything went well except the camper was a little tipped to the side.
The suburban pulled the camper just fine but was a little windy and was weaving
a little. The hookup of the camper required me to purchase a water hose
splitter and the second day(Saturday) I had to buy a new hose because the old
one was leaking pretty bad. Before we left I hooked up the new hose for
the sewer and the grey water. That was then working great. The kids
met lots of new friends, Connors classmate from preschool Julie was
there. They were camping in the camper right behind us. Connor and
Emily also played with a couple of kids across the path whose names were Kyle
and Emily they thought that was funny at first and then got to be very good
friends. Monday don and I went to the Crestview golf course and played
nine holes before playing another nine on the league. Tuesday Don and I
went to Saskatoon and played 18 holes with his dad and Roger. The weather
was excellent everyday except Tuesday night it rained after the kids had gone
to bed. We sat under our awning and talked for awhile before retiring for
the evening. Becky and lori spent several days out at the pool with the
kids. Connor still wouldn’t jump in the pool but they had a riot in the
kiddy pool which is only about 12 inches deep. Connor did go in the big
pool but only on the steps. Most nights before the kids went to bed and
most nights after they did we had smores and hobo pies on the fire. We
had Éclairs and pizzas and ham and cheese all kinds of good stuff. Aside
from being tired we had a great time. We do need however to get some
deodorant for the gray water it was smelling pretty bad after a few days.
Also some better jacks and a small extension cord for the camper in case we are
to far from the power hookup. A honey tank would also be nice but is not
super important. All in all so far it is one of the best camping trips
yet. Would have been nice to sleep in a little but hey the kids had fun.
7-22-00---7-26-00
This was a weekend trip with and Jilayne to yogi Bear
park in grand haven. Everything went pretty well after everything was set
up. They wouldn’t let us set up the campers in a way that worked well for
both of us. We wanted to set them up backwards so that we could have
breakfasts together and such. What we ended up doing was having it sit on
an angle so that worked out all right. It wasn’t super hot everyday but
the kids did get to the pool a few times and had a great time. You can
tell that we have spent more time near water this year so far as Connor is
getting more daring with the water. Kyle woke up very early in the
morning so I had to take him for a couple of very long walks while Becky and
the kids slept. Pulling the camper and setting up went really good I took
along some boards from home that we used to get it close to level right away
and then front to back leveling went much easier. All in all a good time
was had by all. Ed and Jilayne used her brother and sister in-laws
trailer that he rebuilt for about the third the price of a new one. We
pulled out on Tuesday and Jilayne’s brother pulled out just after us about 2:00
or so.
8-4-00-----8-6-00
I don’t really want to be typing this in it went that
bad. The trailer and the kids were great ”REALLY GREAT” and the suburban
ran great pulled the camper just fine all the way to Mantua, OH yogi bear
campground. The campground was beautiful with a nice spring fed lake in
the middle. However the management sucked, they double booked numerous
sites throughout the campground and then wouldn’t admit to or help out in
anyway. From the moment we got there it seemed the weekend was in
trouble. After waiting several hours we took a lot not to far from Kim
and Ron and set up the camper. The next morning went pretty good we
showered and got ready for a day at sea world. We had pancakes for breakfast
and then all piled into the Burb. Off to sea world. The kids were
really pumped to get there.
After arriving we checked out some attractions one of
Emily’s favorites was the Penguins, she was quite in awe of them. Connor
really liked everything although his favorite probably was Shamu the Killer
Whale. He thought that they were just way to cool jumping into the air
and splashing. He also liked petting the stingrays in the stingray
pool. Some time after all this I started to have pain in my left
side, After 1.5 hours In the first aid area the sea world people sent me
off with an ambulance to the hospital. That hospital diagnosed Cory with
a bad Appendix. Then they sent me to another hospital St Vincent’s to
have it removed. After a few days there I came home. In the mean
time Becky had her Mom and Dad and Tom her brother drive down to Ohio to help
her with the kids and also pack up and pull the travel trailer home. They
pulled it home and My sister took care of the kids Sunday night while Becky and
her mom and found a room at a hotel and sat with me in the hospital. All
in all wasn’t one of the greatest trips of our life. The kids still had a
pretty good time overall though and are ready to go camping again, Connor
just doesn’t want to go to sea world real soon he said. I guess Mom and
Dad don’t either. This was the Readers Digest version of it the real
version is etched in our minds forever.
9-25-00 We just bagged it for this year, will
start again in the spring.
Last update 9-25-00
