Love Our 2012 177HRE

We purchased our r-Pod from some really nice folks (we are the third owners). We live in Washington state. They live in Montana. We bought the pod in January, but could not go get it until this past week. The weather in the mountain passes was too sketchy and unpredictable. They were kind enough to leave it parked on their property until we could get there. Like I said...really nice people.

We drove straight through to Montana, arriving late in the evening. We got a room, slept, then went to pick up our new toy. We got a really good tour of the trailer, pointers, a survival kit for the road (bag of snacks, water, etc.), and felt like we had some new friends.

On the way home, we realized we were thoroughly exhausted and shouldn't attempt to get all the way back in one day. We could have gotten another hotel room, then thought...hey, we have a bedroom attached to our vehicle. We don't need no stinkin' hotel room. What we ended up doing was stopping at a Wal-Mart for the night. There were a dozen other RVs in the parking lot. It was actually quite the fun adventure. I'm sure not all Wal-Marts are as safe, interesting, and fun as the one we stopped at, but I wouldn't hesitate to try another one under the same circumstances.

There is only one problem I have right now--trying to find out the brand of the totally awesome memory foam mattress that is in our r-Pod. I would REALLY like to have the same mattress for my bed in the house. I have a bad back (surgery in June 2010), and I have never slept on a better mattress. The people we bought from are trying to find out for me from the person they bought from. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can find the same mattress here in Washington.

Love the forums...however, they can be a rabbit hole! I've been here for HOURS!

Welcome from a fellow Washingtonian from Open Sores (Ocean Shores). We've had our RP 175 for 3 years and still really like it. It's holding up darn well after lots of use. We're so fortunate to have so many great places to camp in our state, and our Pods fit in many forest service and national park sites that are not a good fit for most TT's. Having a memory foam mattress is nice for you, as the stock Pod mattress is very weak. We got out memory foam one from Overstock.com, and like you are really comfortable now. Hope you have an able tow rig, as our state has some pretty challenging areas for towing.

Good2. Donna and I got a I know (walmart) memory foam mattress. it has two different levels of firmness made together. I was a little skeptical but after we slept on it, I was hooked. $99.00 , we got the full sized, I think 3 inch. We can't believe how comfortable it is. We have a sleep number at home, but I am telling you that little mattress made a world of difference. We sleep on the short queen in our 172, this means we have to tear the bed down to use the dinette. I made a folding 1/4 in luan wood stiffener I put between the factory cushions and the form mattress. When not in use I roll up the foam pad and use 2 bungee cords to hold it in shape, and then put it on the top bunk in front so we can use the dinette. The factory cushions are unacceptable to sleep on. Good Luck, sounds like you had a great first trip.

Welcome.  We've done Walmart a few times over the last few years, but we're taking it to a new level this summer with a 3-week trip across the south.  About a third of our nights will be at Walmarts (or equivalent).  Other options are truck stops like Flying J, Camping World, Cabellas, Cracker Barrel.

Always call ahead and/or check in with the management when you arrive to ensure you won't get a nasty knock on the door at 1 am.

Sequim! You have SO many great campgrounds within an hour or two of your home. You're gonna enjoy! I love your town. Great size, nice people, super rain shadow--which we could sure use in Ocean Shores.