Driving back this past Sunday afternoon I kept thinking about the night before. The night before was the first night that we were spending in the Ikamper, our new roof top tent.
It was sometime last year, Loz lost her father to cancer. He was a great man and I miss and love him very much. Loz is doing her best. Before he left us, he left us their rooftop tent. This was one of the reasons that we bought Franklin in North Carolina. It was either purchase him there, or pay $$$ to ship the Ikamper to us. We decided that driving back was the best idea. So, we now own an RTT. Something I never thought I would say. I think I would like a couple more nights in it before I base my opinion on the RTT.
This would be our first little shake down trip with Franklin. We knew that he would do fine as far as getting out there and all that, but what we didn't know was how much we would love loading him up. Since this was my first pickup I wasn't aware on how easy it was going to be to load the truck to go camping. Most of the time we would have to take an hour or 2 just to get the auto loaded up, but this took us just a couple of minutes. I was so happy about that. There was really no tying of anything down as everything was packing nice and tight in the bed. We tried so hard to make sure that we left enough room for the Danes, but we ended up having to put some of the soft things into the cab with us.
With the morning doggie walk, and breakfast we were off. The drive out was pretty great and uneventful. Loz captained Franklin, and we made our was to Hoquiam for lunch. We of course stopped by Al's Humdinger for a couple of Chicken Burgers. I would highly suggest that you stop if you are in the area and the have time.
After lunch we made our way through the twisty and turny roads out to Pacific Beach. We ended up pulling into to the campground a little after 3pm and found our spot very easily. It is safe to say that you can see the entire campground from anywhere in the camp.
The entire camp was filled, but it sure didn't feel like it. Most of our fellow campers were staying in either vans or campers. I was just a little concerned with how some of the clouds were looking.
We tossed the wood onto the beach and headed down for a little sunset fire. We watched people and dogs walk and run by as the sun faded into the earth.
We lit our torches and headed up for dinner. Seared sirloins and a bag-o-salad was for dinner. To be honest, I was too cold to make anything else. The lack of a fire to sit around when it is 33 degrees makes hanging out pretty tough. While I cooked, Loz make sure the RTT was nice and make up for the night. She climbed down and we shivered and ate.
Climbing up to that thing might be the biggest pain the in ass about it. You're tired and sore, and you just want to go to bed, but first you have to climb a ladder. Once you're up there it's great and fine and you're stoked to be so high. We looked out the window into the darkness and thought about the day. Warm in our sleeping bag, we dosed to sleep.
When we woke up in the morning, you could see the condensation on the inside of the tent. That is when we knew we had kind of screwed up by not venting one of the windows. Normally our tents are well ventilated or it's hot enough for the condensation to evaporate off. Either way, that didn't happen this time. This time we had to air it out when we got home. Nothing turns your neighbors heads like deploying your RTT in front of your house.
As I emerged from the tent and down the cold wet ladder, I noticed that there was ice all over the top of our RTT! I knew that this was the downside of a RTT in the Pacific Northwest. It was kind of the reason that I was a little weary of them in the first place. Knowing how much it rains here, and how not many sunny days come after those rains. Not many in the winter when you need them the most. Although, we were going to be that lucky. It was nice and sunny with just a few clouds in the sky. Temps still just as low as the night, but at least we could see!
Now packing up the tent might be one of the best things about it. We were all packed up and loaded within 45mins of getting out of the tent. With pads and sleeping bags rolled, the personal bags and our gear boxes all in the truck we were on our way to Brunch 101. Another favorite of ours when we are passing through in the morning. They serve a bunch of great options, but I suggest getting there as soon as they open as it's a pretty popular spot. This time around we ended up getting there a little late, and had about a 20 minute wait. It was perfect though, we needed gas. This way we could just jump right in and take off. With a quick bite, and a little drive we were home. Another great trip in the books!
All these photos were taken on Coast Salish and Quinault land.
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