Illinois Newbies

My wife and I  pop-upped for about 10 years while raising the kids. As they got older and found interest in other things, we sold it and took about a 6 year break from camping (bought a boat). Now that they are adult, we bought a new 182G in June 2011 on a whim, with the idea that we could "move up" later if we wanted. I can't tell you how much fun it has been. We had it out 5 times in 2011 from the heat of summer till late fall. We just love having AC and and a comfy furnace and a potty for those middle of the night urges. The garage feature on the 182G is amazing, and was the selling point for us, as we are usually "indoors" only if it rains or to retire in the evening. We pack a cassette butane stove that stays in the garage and use it and the campfire to do nearly all of our cooking. We did use the the convection oven once for a meatloaf and found out just how sensitive a smoke detector is in a confined space. We love our pod and are having a ball with it. One upgrade I would suggest is the riser kit. I bought it direct from Forest River for less than $100.00 and installed it myself. It's really not that difficult for someone with average mechanical skills and the right tools. The trailer, especially the stabilizer jacks, is just too low from the factory. We tow with a V6 Highlander AWD with trailer package. No problem at all.