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RE: BEE Social in Niobrara, NE NE
I can be found in the city center of Wgtn. MN. for those of your a'travelin I-90 to Nebraska. Its about 3 minutes off the interstate. If need a resting spot....there is a great camp ground in Worthington-Olson Park. It is adjacient to Lake Okabena. The city and lake that will be hosting the 2008-United States Windsurfing National Championship the following week. Stop by and say hi!
bill keitel buffalo billfold company
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bill keitel
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06/01/08 09:09pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: BEE Social in Niobrara, NE NE
Anybody that is traveling from the east... Worthington MN has a great campground on Lake Okabena (S.W. MN. interstate 90- one day drive from the Niobrara). This lake will be the event site for the United States Windsurfing Nat'l Championships June 11-15th. The Lake is 5 miles in circumference. I live across the street from the lake, you'll see the sprinter in the driveway. Park at Sailboard Beach parking lot, walk across the street and say hi!
bill and lauri keitel 404 lake st.
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bill keitel
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05/11/08 09:13am |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Great West Van, Sprinter Legend
Don,
We've spent 44 days in our Great West Van/Legend since Oct. Its used primarily for business, however its caused our "business" to become pleasure!
We looked over every brand and all were nice, we love our selection and have no buyers remorse.
bill keitel
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bill keitel
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05/05/08 08:25pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Leather maintenance
Having been in the small leathergoods industry for 35 yrs and counting, I'm continually approached by folks wanting an answer to this age old question of "what conditioners for different types of leather"
First off.....there are hundreds of different products because there are many different ways to tan leather (for many different uses)
If you are dealing with upholstery leather...most often, that is a chrome-tanned leather with a corrected grain finish. Without seeing what type of leather you have on your seats.....I would consider advising the least invasive product, which would be any brand of "neutral shoe cream". As always test it on a really small spot in some discrete locale......a spot that you want to destroy!
Products like mink oil...are made for the shoe industry to provide a waterproofing agent to the leather (hence oil in the name). Water proof and a bit oily? or clean, supple finish to protect against sun drying & checking the finish.
Saddle soaps are made for oak tanned leathers that often are out in the elements and unless you leave your windows open......I don't think that line of products would be necessary.
If you have used these products....don't dispair.....the grain correction in your upholstery leather probably won't allow for much penetration anyway!
I would highly recommend - As often the reply...."check with the manufacturer and ask their advise"
bill-Buffalo Billfold Company
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bill keitel
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05/05/08 11:43am |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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30 Pots of Coffee-Communique'
I have always used the generator (for 5-10 minutes) to make coffee in our Great West Legend. I've always presumed that it is necessary to carry the electrical load. Today I read that the battery charge on some ,...is big enough to do the job. What the scoop?
bk
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bill keitel
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04/24/08 06:44am |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Smallest Class B with an enclosed toilet?
In a small town just north of here....they have bath tub & toilet races down their main street. That is a "toilet" with wheels.
I think that might qualify as the smallest B conversion.
bk
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bill keitel
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04/15/08 12:19pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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The StarShip (sprinter van conversion) has foundered.
(Attending the Minnesota Bison Educational Conference)
The Starship has foundered.......as the sun is setting...I find myself walking down a dirt and clay road. Twelve miles from the nearest town (of 300 people), five miles to the nearest black top road. The wet & snowy blizzard is just starting. It seems like a television advertizement of a really bad situation.
I know there are people and a house about a quarter mile down the road. This is deep north woods and bear country. Telephone service is very limited, at last ,..I get through to the sprinter emergency towing service line.
I explain my situation. I'm not in Emily MN., I'm not out on little pine road (the black top), I'm beyond ....not on the dirt road......but off the dirt road on a smaller road that leads into the deep woods of my mother and father inlaws property (about 1/8 up a winding pathway.
The StarShip has run aground......up to its axles in spring thaw......and mud. I had nearly made it to the cabin and in the last thirty yards hit a warm soggy pocket mud. I'm far, far, far from a decent road and surrounded by darkness, snow and tall trees.
I explain to the attendant on the other end of the phone line that this is the phone call that should not be taken lightly.........as this blizzard approaches and my future seems quite uncertain. She explains to me that she'll find me a tow truck. I'm relieved but skeptical, I'm not certain that a tow truck can approach my location.
Twenty minutes later I get a phone call from Lyle at Lake Roosevelt Towing.....he's on his way. We meet at the dirt road ,that leads up the lane, that leads to the cabin. He looks a bit incredulous.........wheres the StarShip? I explain that its up this smaller roadway. He gets a stern look on his face and proclaims "that is not a road!"........well.....thats where we can find the Starship! The precipitation is sleet and rain and its making all things soggy.
He politely asks me to hop in and help him negotiate the slippery drive up toward the cabin....and we find the resting place of the ship. After one look....he asks me "how do you expect to get it out?" I politely ask, "I thought that was your job?" We both realize the tenuous situation, as the StarShip has run aground betwixt looming trees and soggy bogs!
My four wheeled luxury house is sinking in the boglands of the far north aborial forrests.
I ask Lyle (the tow truck man) "If this was your vehicle what would you do?" he states "I'd winch it out, hook to the bumper and race down the muddy slopes as fast as we can!"
My initial reaction is that backing a Sprinter van down a muddy and now.....a very rutted road during a blizzard seems a bit fool hearty. Lyle looks at me and says rather loudly.."fool hearty?" hmmm I reacess my situation and recognize that term "fool hearty" only belongs to one person in the tow truck!
I gain some resolve and ask him...."Okay.....what do I do?" Lyle says" after I chain you up (the sprinter van) , you'll stay six feet from the end of my truck. If I stop or slow down....you do the same or you will incure.....an untold amount of damage to the back of this fancy vehicle." "I'm gonna pull you kind of fast, you put the StarShip in reverse and don't slow down".
At this point I'm quite unnverved but the alternative is to leave the Ship until summer.... until the road (excuse me...Path) drys out.
We do the "winch" thing....he hooks up the chain and we slip and slide down the buttery path toward the dirt roadway. I'm free at last! on solid terra firma.....life has been restored to my domicile & automotive soul!
Its time to settle up with my new friend Lyle.....I'm thrilled that it is under $200.00 ....what a great lesson for me. I'm also given my choice of complimentary stickup calendars. One says "thank you" from Roosevelt Towing Service....the other is a girly calendar (same size) with pictures of unclad women with magnificantly endowed breasts. Hmmmm...I didn't realize this type of calendar still existed? Given the choice of a free calendar....I would normally consult my wife....she's no where to be found and I was able to get one of each for her approval!
As we settled in for the evening blizzard, I boldly stuck one to the dashboard and secretly affixed one by the mirror (behind the door) in the bathroom! I will leave it up to the reader to decide which one was placed in the deep recesses of the sprinter!
My adventuring and offroading days are over. I'm stickin to the straight and narrow......unless the streambed has a gravel bottom.
Tomorrow we are heading out again on the front end of a blizzard.........stay tuned!
Exercise caution and use good judgement,
latcho drom/safe journey
bill and lauri keitel
On edit: Moderator edited out an address.
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bill keitel
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04/09/08 10:22pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Sprinter Vans- highest mileage/breakdowns
After our maiden voyage (with our Great West) to the Southwest we've put on 7,000 miles. We've pulled a very small trailer that has always been completely overloaded! The trailer has 13" barbie doll tires so we feel most comfortable traveling at 68-70 mph. Mileage on this trip was alway betwixt 18.5 to 22.75.
Our GW was fully loaded and packed for the 5 week trek. We are quite pleased with the current results.
bk
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bill keitel
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03/24/08 05:50pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: StarShip leaves for distant lands.
Baywood and Julie, thanks for your replys. We'll be doing something similiar next Feb and March. My wife and I have interests in Birding, hotsprings and geology/archeology/palentology and history,natural history. Seems we should put togather a loose knit tour if there was an interest?
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bill keitel
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03/16/08 08:16pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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StarShip leaves for distant lands.
The maiden voyage of the Great West Van (hereafter known as the StarShip) left for the South Western quadrants of the U.S. We left the docking bay of the MotherShip with temps at -13 and wind at 24 knts. Our heading was due south....bound for Texas. This sojourn is one of commercial enterprise....going where few leathersmiths have gone before. Our mission is to continue to seek gainful employment outside the historic trade area of our ancestral homelands. The intended and contracted art festivals and wholesale exhibits are in Tucson, Tubac (Art and Artisian Community) and the Denver Merchandise Mart. We worked 26 days of exhibits while spending 36 days on the road.
The trip south was uneventful and I had the enjoyment of reading about the history of Oak trees and also another book on the history of Cotton. The tippy top of Texas was the first place of curiousity. We breezed past miles of cotton fields and I had the opportunity to stop and walk thru one of the fields.....looking for a sample of a real cotton boll. The word is boll, not ball. The machinery used to pick cotton is precise and thorough, the gleaned 160 acre field yielded two cotton bolls of the new world variety "barbadense" (strands about an 1 to 1 5/8 inch long. The history behind cotton is profound.....its commerce, its wars, its inhumanity, stories were to be told all in this little boll. Nearing the end of the tippy top o' Texas we came across a town that touted the "Largest Cross" in the western hemisphere.....hmmm...they make'em big in Texas. We'll give'm that claim to fame....and move on.
Prior to setting up our exhibit in Tucson we headed up to Phoenix and spent a little time in Sun City with good friends. A place where everyone is over 55 , semi active and talks of golf, truly the most homogeneous place we've ever been. We lit out down the road to the Tucson Rock Gem and MIneral Show.....a place that we find magnetically curious. Universities send their geologists, anthropologists, sedimentologists, palentologists to look for new rock and fossil finds in this amazing environment. The show is an eclectic mix of purveyors, (which is why we are here). Mining concerns from all over the world come to Tucson to show and sell their particuliar geologic finds.
Our exhibit is set up next to a friend from China, on the other side, a friend from Australia. The mix gets more complex as we wander around this exhibit site. The "bead show and metaphyscal sciences" are part of this blended stew of humanity. A sign on a tent (within my vision) states "Anti-Aging Water"....hmmm, where is the Academy of Science when you need them. Rastafarians mix with the Tibetans, the folks from Antanarivo have a Malagasy party, the whole place is teaming with (what we have come to appreciate) profound diversity. Chrystal worship?....you've got it! bones and antlers placed in man made orifices....you can find it here!
Curiously comfortable, we have once again, come to realize that we are drawn to people and their differences. We've come to appreciate the mix of sciences, academic's, the hucksters, the down and outers, the snake oil salesmen and the genuine artisians with which we can associate. Our shows were modestly successful and we'll do something similiar next year.
On a day off we found ourselves at a place called La Peralta Trails. The washboard roads slowed many people down and we continued into the backcountry desert. The week prior was wet and the desert was as green as we've ever witnessed. The density and diversity of cactus was the best we've ever seen. The arroyos we're still running and these aren't the decorative ones that you see in front of every house in AZ. and NM. We would have to stop and check the depth before we would decide to ford the fluvial barrier! None of this treking would have happened in a larger StarShip. Our little craft (with trailer in tow) handled every challenge it was set upon.
We move on to the Petrified Forest and then up to Mount Princeton Hot Springs, the best kept secret in the west! Real, natural, hot springs! unfettered with crass commercialism. Real natural pools of hot and steamy water (no sulfer, no stink!) Our fifth return visit, Mt. Princeton is a place of solice and is good for the soul.
We cross the mountain pass at 9,500 ft and the weather goes from sunny 50 degrees to near serious blizzard condititons. It lasts 20 minutes and we start to descend and return to the sunlight and lower elevations, Whew!
The Denver Merchandise Mart and the Denver Gift Show bouyed our commercial spirits. The show was a roaring success as we doubled our sales from past years. Musician friend Sonny Boy Elkins (harp player) is always a welcome &exciting in addition to our travelin show and we hope to do some performing next fall in western South Dakota. (yet to be announced).
Cheyenne Wyoming was a beacon of hospitality! The kindly folks at Cheyenne Welding and Machine Shop repaired a serious collapse of our "trailer tongue". The oversight was due to ...to much "tongue weight" , they welded another tube beam underneath the broken channel beam. Our journey continued to Hot Springs SD. (Hey folks....this is the tour of Hot Springs!) We spent the night and hiked the a.m in Wind Cave National Park (South of Custer).....another best kept secret!
Our trek and sojourn was continually punctuated by the numerous folks that stopped us along the journey, most were past friends that we've have met out on the trail and some were even more kindred......like yourselves. Thanks for reading this far!
Glad to be home, looking forward to the next trip.
bill and lauri keitel
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bill keitel
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03/16/08 12:47pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: HOW ARE THE CLASS B?
Sandy,
We've searched the world over to find what would best fit our needs and the Sprinter Conversion won us over. The price tag is not for the faint of heart but the ease of driving and agility made us believers. We have looked for a number of years at every conversion and all brands have some interesting yet similiar features.
We chose the Great West Legend, its floor plan suited our needs and the quality of materials & workmanship seemed to stand out above the rest. We've just come back from a 36 day trip.
It was my fear that on day number 24 I would be eyeing the hotels along the way with longing interest. I'm here to tell you that we never felt in need of motel lodging. This form of travel will expand our boundries like never before.
No buyers remorse.
Bill and Lauri Keitel
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bill keitel
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03/14/08 05:24pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Awning Blew Completely OFF
This is great if your insurance company covers it!
I've got 10 or 12,000 worth of awnings on an old historic building and they are specifically NOT covered by any policy. It requires an additional premium that is just to much after the first few years.
bk
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bill keitel
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01/22/08 09:55pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: fresh water communique'
We do live in a climate of "fear" when it comes to clean water. A number of years ago a friend (and city utilities manager) made the comment , that the water softener salesman are creating a new market for their water filters. It is a lot easier to scare people into buying something than to have them make informed decisions regarding the stringent water codes that we already have in place. Many soft water sales people with limited educations are touting the science of cleaner, better, healthier water with ....the filters...that they are about to sell you. Disregard the scientists that have spent a lifetime studying the subject. Selling from fear.....is pretty easy to a skeptical population. It all amounts to an amazing number of people that lack scientific understanding and knowledge. Its good to be a skeptical inquirer and resist the "fuzzy logic" that so many can easily succumb.
I'm considering throwing caution to the wind....if so... I'm pretty sure which holding tank I'll want to drink from!
bk
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bill keitel
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12/16/07 07:36pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: fresh water communique'
Could anybody hazard a guess as to what percentage of class b people drink the "on board" water vs just carrying bottled water and using the water on board....for grey water usage.
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bill keitel
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12/16/07 11:51am |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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fresh water communique'
I've winterized my Great West and in late January will head south to Tucson. I realize that I'll be needing to then....fill with water.
Do I take my own water hose? If so....what length would suffice?
As always, this forums wise council is appreciated.
billkeitel
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bill keitel
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12/15/07 07:18pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: New Kid on the Block-Communique'
Karyn, we'll be located at the T.E.P. Tucson Energy Park for the first two weeks in Feb., we'll also be doing the Tubac Art Festival from the 6th to 10th...(I think). Our home will be in the Energy Park Parking lot, either in the public parking area or we might elect to pay for a more private lot....with electricity. However the extra charge for electricity is (I think $30. per day) seems kind of high? The fact that we can dry camp is good enough for us.
Anybody that is going to be in the Tucson area is welcome to stop by and pay us a visit!
I think our esteemed moderator of this forum is also from Tucson?
Can't wait to shed my parka and leave the tundra behind.
bk
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bill keitel
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12/06/07 11:52am |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: New Kid on the Block-Communique'
So, Davydd, After reading a few posts.....I went out t0 the "Starship" and took the boxes of instant oatmeal and grits out of the vehicle. As for the "sonic rodent" device.....I put that by my phone & the front door of my house....it keeps solicitors away.
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bill keitel
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12/04/07 06:45pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: New Kid on the Block-Communique'
I've never seen the "Starship" (sprinter), with snow on the top until this evening......I intend to leave it out for the next 60 days and run it once a week to keep it ready for our February trip. Any pointers?
bk
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bill keitel
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12/01/07 09:17pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: New Kid on the Block-Communique'
We are planning out first "open house" with the sprinter this weekend. It will be held on Idaho Ave. in St. Paul. Our kids are hosting Thanksgiving and with a house full we will be staying in the Great West Van... hmmm...at 20 or 30 degrees , we'll be able to test the heater. We've already winterized it.
Does anybody have an outside temperature that they feel is their tolerance level? (when it come to cold temperatures).
bk
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bill keitel
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11/20/07 08:33pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: New Kid on the Block-Communique'
Dang, I've been edited!....opps checked the rules and I guess I can't do that http stuff. Well, sorry.....I just don't know how to put a picture of my Great West up on this forum....I'll learn in time.
Sammy, I'm not fearless.......sometimes I've been known to display a "devil may care" attitude....but rest assured, I've been around enough that its time to "exercise caution and use good judgement".
bk
http://www.buffalobillfoldcompany.com/images/PL4T3615-640_new.jpg width=650
On edit, moderator added photo. :)
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bill keitel
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11/16/07 08:59pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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