This was a good little shakedown for our 8K mile trip coming up. We packed everything we intend to take across country. The 18% grade five mile climb (and descent) to the park was a good test for my TV. Didn't have any problem but 40 mph was about tops for us going up. Coming down, a little engine breaking in third gear was no problem. 13.5 mpg for the 6 hour round trip.

So what am I going to expect (grade wise) coming across the northern Rockies on our way back from Olympic National Park in Washington?

fred

We just got back from a great two night stay at the park. We arrived Friday afternoon in time to setup camp and (thankfully) the rDome an a lakeside site. I staked it down well. The park was not crowded at all, the sites are large and well spaced and most of the campers were pretty hard core tent campers. I say hard core because it was a bit cold, windy and rainy Friday night - upper thirties. There is no electric.

Friday night really was a cold, rainy nasty night. We roughed our way by roasting rosemary lemon chicken on the Weber Q "under the Dome" with rice pilaf and fresh spinach salad. With the thermostat set at 70, it got a tad warm in the pod so we decided to have frozen blueberry yogurt and ginger cookies and watch a movie. I did wonder what our tent camping neighbors were up to.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny and cool day. Perfect for hiking the Falls Trail. 22 spectacular falls in a gorgeous forest. We have often taken hikes to visit one waterfall. We have never taken in 22 in one hike! Hot pod showers and burgers on the grill were the perfect ending.

Saturday night was cold and windy. Very windy. I was concerned a bit for the rDome, particularly when the wind pulled the suction cups off the back of the pod. As the wind was coming directly at the side of the rDome, opening the "doors" and allowing the wind to pass through seemed to relieve the pressure. It was gusting to thirty, the pod was shaking a bit but the rDome held up with no problem. It got down to 33 Saturday night (this morning). I will invest in a weather radio. There was no cell signal in the park.

As the sun came up this (Sunday) morning it was cold and still howling. We noticed that several of our neighbor tent campers had bugged out during the night. I don't blame them! After coffee and tea and toast, we decided to break camp early. It was just a bit too blustery to enjoy the park. Now came our biggest challenge - the rDome.

Sometimes you just have to maintain a sense of humor. It must have looked pretty comical as we wrestled and rolled the rDome into a shaped that I could stuff in a large plastic (contractor grade) garbage bag. There was no way it was going back in it's bag and it needs a good cleaning anyway. It was well worth the struggle.

All in all a great first trip of the season. Upgrades/mods that all performed great included:

Weber Q 200 grill

Dual 230 amp hour 6 volt batteries 

Voltmeter

Swagman platform hitch rack

Yamaha 2400ishc - brought it along, but didn't use it.

Lot's of new shelving and storage.

Here's just a few pics. They really don't do the place justice...