Although my wife is coming around to the idea of family camping, I don't think she will ever be as enthusiastic as I am. My daughter, on the other hand, loves it. So I need to set up my vehicle to accommodate all four of us when we're together, but realistically the most use it will see will be me or myself and my daughter (fingers crossed about the younger one). I purchased a RTT after our GSMNP trip, but after having multiple units damaged in shipment I scrapped that idea. We thought about buying a tow behind camper, but I don't have a place to store a trailer and I didn't like the idea of being confined to KOA campgrounds. When I saw
CampTeq was offering a discount on the first five units it sold in 2013 I called Eric and placed my order.
Fast forward a few weeks. I'm driving from Prospect, KY to Aspen, CO on 4/28 where CampTeq will perform the surgery - yes, the roof must go. Eric offers a few options. You can mount the tent on top of your 80 series while leaving the entire roof intact. You can also do a mini cut (think rear sunroof), a half cut (just aft of the main cross support after the front sunroof), or a full cut. I opted for the half cut to take advantage of the interior space and gain standing room. This will allow us to leave most of the structural support from the roof while removing the sunroof glass to save weight.
I decided to take some time for myself while I am out that way. Last week, on a flyer, I sent in a reservation request for two nights on the White Rim Trail. By day's end I was confirmed for Airport and Potato Bottom! So I'll be heading to Canyonlands National Park for a few days for some testing after the install in Aspen. I'll probably stop in at Cruise Moab on my way out later that week. So now I need to do a few basic things to get the truck road trip worthy.