Calling all non-podders and ex-podders

I guess I'll step to the front of the line since I was actively looking for a 177 or even a 178 for almost three years, but could not find one near me to see in person. I had even bought a cover and other essentials in anticipation of my purchase that I eventually sold to other owners on this board.
There were also some amenities I was looking for that were similar to the pod, and then some:
I wanted lots of windows for a sunny and airy interior, standup height ceilings (I'm almost 6'), large fridge, dry bath, light weight (under 3k lbs), dual propane tanks, electric tongue jack, electric awning, easy tow (17ft length or less), and under $15K out the door price.
Didn't really care about AC or microwave since we always boondock with solar only for charging, but I realize that comes standard on most TT's. Also had to be easily towed by a mid size, 6cyl SUV.
So, I finally gave up and found a substitute on RVTrader (2015 GulfStream Vista Cruiser 17' RWD) at a wholesaler in Ohio. It is very similar to the r-pod in many ways, but yet different. Very cozy and warm, like a dollhouse on wheels.
So far very happy with the purchase, but I do wish the GS owners had such good camaraderie as Podders do, so I still checkout this site and learn/share tips
Sorry for rambling....

Thanks,
JD

The photo below was taken last August at Spruce Knob, WV (elev 4860 ft), while boondocking at the Almost Heaven Star Party (solar panel on the ground by the TV). The night sky is unbelievable!

What you see is what we have so far, with the biggest section the non-pod mods. Initially I messed up the settings and new posts needed to be approved but that should be fixed now. I noticed johnmaci's post, above, still needed to be approved (which I just did) but that was posted before I made the fix.

Suggest any new sub-forums or re-arrangement.

Taking our new FR Surveyor out next week for its maiden voyage. We have been assured by both our Nissan dealer and the trailer salesman that our Nissan should have no problem pulling the Surveyor. BUT, just in case, we have our eye on the new Nissan Titan coming out in December. We are going to an RPod rally in S.D. next July and we want to be prepared for those mountains. Talked to our dealer today and he sold our "old" RPod 3 days after we traded it in (last Friday) for the Surveyor. They are popular.

Kindell,

Two years ago I traded my RPOD 172 for a Camplite 21RBS. I towed the Pod with a Honda 4WD Pilot, but switched to a 2013 Toyota Tacoma 4.0L 4WD to tow the Camplite. The Tacoma should be about equivalent to your Frontier, but the Camplite is only 3500# empty. Anticipating the  mountains of Colorado I added a belt driven supercharger to the Tacoma. The Tacoma/Camplite combination worked well climbing the 6% Colorado grades to 11,000 feet at 60MPH. We also maintained 40+ MPH climbing California's 8% grade of Tioga Pass to 9000+ feet, but the Tacoma was working. My guess is, without the supercharger and with the heavier Surveyor 220, I would have wanted a V8. Dealers will tell you anything.

We took our new Surveyor 220 out for first trip since trading in our RPod 179. We are still towing with our Nissan Frontier V6. Though a little slow ion the upgrades it handles pretty well. Art is still set on buying a V8 or diesel before we head to S.D. next summer.