My wife Kris and I are the proud new owners of a 2007 Camp-Inn 550 Ultra, serial #174. We purchased it July 3rd from Dale Albee, and Diane Bruehl in Saybrook, IL.
It was kind of a whirlwind 1130+ mile round trip from our home near Mora, MN down and back in about 36hrs, but it was broken up with a nice dinner, Dale's home made apple pie, and a stay in a beautiful B&B all provided by Dale & Diane so we could get a fresh, rested start home early on the 4th. Our TV when we brought it home was Jeep Grand Cherokee, but now that I have a hitch installed, and wiring harness done, we plan on using our 2005.5 VW Jetta TDI manual transmission as the primary TV.
We took it out for our 1st night stay, to St. Croix State Park, on the St.Croix river on the MN/WI border in east central MN. Things went quite well towing with the VW. Did notice that braking needs to be started a little earlier, and I may eventually install electric brakes on the CI after I get a better chance to evaluate it. We had an electric site for the AC, but didn't end up needing it since the temp dropped off nicely in the evening after several hot muggy days/nights leading up to it.
Seemed to have a little problem keeping the burners lit at low temp settings while making morning breakfast, maybe there is a learning curve on that.
My sister brought her toaster over for us to use from their pop-up parked in the next site, but it wouldn't work on the kitchen outlet in the CI, but did in her pop-up. The 110 was hooked up OK since I could turn the AC on, and get it to turn off and on by tripping the kitchen outlet GFI button. I checked the CI kitchen outlets when we got home, and my trouble light worked OK when plugged in, so not sure what the issue was there.
Ours has the TV/DVD option, but it is the older analog type TV, so won't work as TV since signals are pretty much all digital now. Was thinking of replacing with digital, but noted here some were just using their laptops or iPads. Was wondering how that's been working, and if anyone came up with a nice replacement shelf/door to set the laptop/iPad on, and turn the old TV/DVD compartment into additional closeable storage space?
All in all it was a successful 1st outing, with hopes for many more. The next one for me will be a trip to Oshkosh in about a week or so for the big airshow. Kris can't make this one, so 'Ill be on my own(with 500,000 other attendees). I plan to stop by Camp-Inn headquarters in Necedah on the way, and hopefully get a few pointers from Cary, Craig, and Betsy on CI ownership. along with some brochures for all those admirers!
We've spent quite a few hours already reading many of the posts on the forum, and are grateful for everyone's input. It should be a great resource for us in this new adventure!, and one we hope to add to as well when able.
Thanks
Dustin & Kris Paulson
It was kind of a whirlwind 1130+ mile round trip from our home near Mora, MN down and back in about 36hrs, but it was broken up with a nice dinner, Dale's home made apple pie, and a stay in a beautiful B&B all provided by Dale & Diane so we could get a fresh, rested start home early on the 4th. Our TV when we brought it home was Jeep Grand Cherokee, but now that I have a hitch installed, and wiring harness done, we plan on using our 2005.5 VW Jetta TDI manual transmission as the primary TV.
We took it out for our 1st night stay, to St. Croix State Park, on the St.Croix river on the MN/WI border in east central MN. Things went quite well towing with the VW. Did notice that braking needs to be started a little earlier, and I may eventually install electric brakes on the CI after I get a better chance to evaluate it. We had an electric site for the AC, but didn't end up needing it since the temp dropped off nicely in the evening after several hot muggy days/nights leading up to it.
Seemed to have a little problem keeping the burners lit at low temp settings while making morning breakfast, maybe there is a learning curve on that.
My sister brought her toaster over for us to use from their pop-up parked in the next site, but it wouldn't work on the kitchen outlet in the CI, but did in her pop-up. The 110 was hooked up OK since I could turn the AC on, and get it to turn off and on by tripping the kitchen outlet GFI button. I checked the CI kitchen outlets when we got home, and my trouble light worked OK when plugged in, so not sure what the issue was there.
Ours has the TV/DVD option, but it is the older analog type TV, so won't work as TV since signals are pretty much all digital now. Was thinking of replacing with digital, but noted here some were just using their laptops or iPads. Was wondering how that's been working, and if anyone came up with a nice replacement shelf/door to set the laptop/iPad on, and turn the old TV/DVD compartment into additional closeable storage space?
All in all it was a successful 1st outing, with hopes for many more. The next one for me will be a trip to Oshkosh in about a week or so for the big airshow. Kris can't make this one, so 'Ill be on my own(with 500,000 other attendees). I plan to stop by Camp-Inn headquarters in Necedah on the way, and hopefully get a few pointers from Cary, Craig, and Betsy on CI ownership. along with some brochures for all those admirers!
We've spent quite a few hours already reading many of the posts on the forum, and are grateful for everyone's input. It should be a great resource for us in this new adventure!, and one we hope to add to as well when able.
Thanks
Dustin & Kris Paulson
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