Hello From Minnesota!

[Puckfan99]

New member hailing from Minnesota! Looking forward to seeing many new tips!
Picking up my new TT next week, and we're super excited to get out there!

[2nOZ]

Welcome to JOF from Dorothy and Toto land.

[oldmanAZ]

Congratulations on your new (next week) TT and welcome to the forum.

[Jagiven]

Congratulations! Been thinking about pulling mine out of storage as it has been so warm around here.

[Puckfan99]

Crazy Mother Nature! We've had a mixed bag here, haven't we?

[Wampuscat]

Welcome and Congrats Puckfan99. Happy Camping.

[Puckfan99]

Thank you!

[sennister]

Hello, I am pretty new here as well. Did you buy at the RV show in MPLS a few weeks ago as well? We just happened to go there on Sat and ended up putting money down on a new Jay Feather. When we went back to Hilltop to complete all the paperwork they mentioned that they were not able to sell anything on Sunday because a dealer up north complained that the dealers were selling stuff on Sunday at the show when it is against the law for dealers to be open on Sunday. I guess they could still talk to people and get contact info just could not do any deposits or initial paperwork.

We won't pick ours up for a while yet. We were not in a rush. Not much opens up for a month or two unless we wanted to camp in the yard which we might do anyhow once we get it.

Do you have your first outing planned yet? We live up by Stillwater so we will be heading out to Lake Elmo Park for the first outing as it is only a couple miles from the house. Dakota County has some nice camp grounds if you haven't tried them. I happen to work for Dakota and have been to Byllesby and Lebanon Hills. Another favorite that is close to you is St Croix Bluff park in Washington County. It is right along the St Croix ans has some nice facilities. My only complaint about Wash Co Parks is that you have to pay for vehicle permits for all your vehicles. Though as a disabled vet I get them for free. It is just a hassle that Dakota doesn't mess with. Not that we normally have more than one vehicle but we have gone camping in the past and my wife stays there with the kids and I have gone to work during the day.

[Puckfan99]

We did buy it when we were at the show in Mpls. Hilltop folks have been SUPER responsive to every question I've had since. We finished our paperwork a couple weeks ago and pick it up next Friday.
We have a few trips planned. We like to camp at Frontenac State Park, so that's first. We have a date for Sakatah and Itasca as well. I do want to check out a Dakota Cty one or Lake Elmo, as it is close for us as well. We hike Lebanon often and really enjoy that, too!

[sennister]

If you happened to look at the Jay Feathers and went through the 25BH that was on the floor you went through our camper. We would have rather taken one that was not at the show but the one there was the closest to what we wanted as far as options.

When my wife said she wanted to go to the show I did some research to get an idea of what we wanted to try and look at. We have been looking for a while and knew the basic floor plan we wanted (bunk house, sleeping for 4 without converting sofa/dinette, outdoor kitchen) but the challenge always was staying under 7000# GVWR so we didn't have to run out and buy a new truck. The Jay Feather was about the only thing I had found to meet everything. I also wanted to see what the Murphy Bed setup was like in the 23BHM. While it would sacrifice the outdoor kitchen we would gain a 2nd door right into the bathroom and shed a bit of weight. While they didn't have one at the show they had a White Hawk 24MBH and while the back is a bit different we could get the idea of the Murphy Bed setup. Turns out the 25BH and 23BHM were the same price.

I thought they were really great at helping with questions and not being pushy at all but then I figured out we were talking to one of the several factory reps that were there and not a Hilltop Employee. They introduced us to a saleslady and she was super nice and easy going.

I have to say those chocolate chip cookies they sent out are pretty darn good. They didn't last long around our house. I was also shocked at how quick they got us a license plate for the trailer.

Lebanon is nice for us with the Zoo near by as we have young kids. It makes for a nice retreat during the day.

As I mentioned of all the parks I think the St Croix Bluff is our favorite. They built a new shower house a few years back if you don't want to use yours. Also during the summer on Sat nights at both Lake Elmo and St Croix Bluff they bring in people from the zoo or other nature programs to give talks. I think they call them campfire talks or something like that. A lot of it is geared for kids but it is interesting for the adults as well. For instance we have seen the raptors, amphibians and reptile talks which are all pretty neat. They bring in live animals for the kids to check out. In fact the program is open to anyone but is near the camp site in the event there was something you were interested in.

We don't camp a lot at the parks though. There is a place outside Ellsworth WI where we normally go which is a private campground along the Rush River. It is fun because it is a lot of family that is normally there but also dry camping so we will probably only go if a nice weekend. Besides the camping sites flood out if there is too much rain.

[Puckfan99]

The cookies were great!!!!!
You have a nice rig! We walked through about 60 different ones.