Our first camping experiences
The outdoor shower curtain rod being installed for the first time
After months of delay due to COVID-19 we finally headed out on the road. We were hoping to ship the truck to England in June but instead delayed our departure until August with our Immediate destination being Utah and Colorado. As we grapple with the appropriate time to ship to Europe, we are testing out the truck and the sleeping arrangements. So far the Tacoma has worked very well. We have driven it over 9,000’ high highway passes maintaining 50 mph In fourth or fifth gear. We could go faster but why push it? It is also surprisingly stable going around curves, probably due to the aftermarket anti-sway bars. It almost doesn’t feel like we have a camper onboard. Driving down the freeway at highway speeds, is very quiet probably due to us adding sound deadening to the doors and floors. The manual transmission is simply amazing, probably the easiest shifting transmission we’ve ever driven.
Our second night of wild camping high in the Warner mountains of southern Oregon
The camper is also exceeds our expectations. The queen bed is super comfortable after adding a 2” memory foam mattress topper. We find that it is actually as comfortable as a full size mattress. We’re also finding that the kitchen is actually liberating in that we are making fresh, healthy meals with just two pots. The 85 liter refrigerator stores enough food for us for several days. After car camping and backpacking for 3 decades, having a frig is simply amazing as food and drinks are always cold and dry and a bonus is never again having to worry about finding ice. Having the flatbed version adds a super amount of storage in what would otherwise be wasted space and allows us to carry enough food for a couple of weeks.
We have also had opportunities to use both the inside and outside shower; WOW! For exercise we do we seemingly daily multi-mile hiking and to come back to the truck and take a shower, hot or cold is simply awesome! For me, the indoor shower is a bit small since I am 6’5”. But the outdoor shower is great, we can get clean using about a gallon or two of water each. It will be interesting as the weather cools though.
Testing the outdoor shower curtain rod