My Summer Vacation 2008 At Mt. Rainier National Park, WA.
 

Wow, great time, but short.
I am already planning on going there again next year for a whole week or more.

I had to cut it short this time.
Even though I took sunscreen with me, I was kicking back in my camping lounge chair in the shade underneath my Camping Labs awning.
Well, the sun shifted and my face was exposed for about ten minutes or less.

Being up at that high of an altitude you can cook really fast.
I was red like a tomato, but it did not hurt all that much.
I thought it best to come home a little early in case I came down with a fever which has happened before when I have received a sunburn.

This was my first vacation since about 2001.
I took a week off last summer after building up vacation time after my Boeing recall, but did not do much.

I have also been out of camping for a long time, I would say my last trip out was around 1997 with my sons when they were quite young.
So this trip was pretty much known as a “shake down run”, testing out new bought gear and getting back into the swing of it again.

I am hooked, making plans for my next vacation there already.

I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked, I was to busy walking and hiking around the area.

Met a lot of people who use to come to this campground long ago like I did, and met some who come every year to the same campground.
I use to come here ages ago when the kids were younger.

I did not get any pictures of the inside of my AirLand, but it sure slept nice.
The first night I slept close to nine hours.
At home I am lucky to get five to seven hours on a work night, and around eight hours on the weekends.

Sleeping up ever so high in the roof top tent was a blast.
I did not get much peace there though.
There are 112 campsites there, and I swear almost everyone had to stop, stare, and ask questions about the Maggiolina AirLand roof top tent.

Many had never seen one before yet alone a regular style root top tent that is all canvas, and not canvas and fiberglass like mine.
They all thought it was pretty neat, and wanted to know if it was warm.
Heck yes, the temps got way down late night/early morning up there, and I was nice and toasty in the penthouse.
It also helped though that I had flannel sheets and a winter weight down comforter.

I woke up the first night for a bit, and I felt the outside of the comforter, and it was ice cold.
Yet I was as warm as toast underneath.
I get cold in sleeping bags, even good ones.
This felt like I was sleeping in my own bed at home, only except the 3” mattress is a lot harder than at home.

The weather was warm, with a light rain Tuesday evening for a few hours.
I ducked under the Camping Labs awning for awhile, then later got a nice fire going and stayed by it, and the fire pretty much kept me dry from the heat.

Lots of wildlife up there.
Camp Robbers, the birds that swoop down and steal food from your hand, blue jays, chipmunks, deer, and bear.

I was shooting a video as you will see in the YouTube video, and coming back into camp when I saw a deer the next site over.
I got some good footage of it, but was not able to switch the digital camera back to photo mode to squeeze off a few pics of it.

Also there was a black bear and its cub on a trail I was hiking with others, we gave it plenty of room.
I was not able to get the camera turned on in time to get a decent shot before they scrambled into the trees off of the hiking trail.

I will have a separate thread up on the gear I have stocked up on this past season, and I will update this thread with the link.

Even though my trip was cut short, I had a fantastic time.
It is nice to be away from work for a week, and to take a break from computers, TV, and phones!

The YouTube vid is three vids put together.
In part of it, you can see the cravaces on Mt. Rainier.
The face right there I saw climbers going up with the guy’s binoculars that has the fifth wheel rig at the spot where I was shooting from.

[youtube]NPYkbKsU_xM[/youtube]

Forty pictures here, so it may take awhile to load the eight MB or so of them..

http://www.pnw4runners.com/camping_trips/aug08/1.jpg

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Here is the review of the camping products:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f172...ws-ton-151694/

Dang! Quite the camping gear Corey.

Thanks, I thought long and hard about the stuff I have bought this past year.
With the gear I have, I could go for along time.

The only disappointing item was the small tent for the PETT toilet.
It is OK for the crapper, but not for the shower.

I will look into something HUGE for next year, maybe this one.

Vid
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/co...elter_int.html

I am sure I have been bigger too.
The one above has a floor which is kind of nice.
The PETT one does not, so dirt splashes back up you.

Nice rig Coery. I was behind you today honking as you drove by Enumclaw Les Schwab. Hope I didn't scare you. It has been a while since I have been to the site ,looks great. Nice pictures I bet you're happy you came home before it got to hot. Your Land cruiser looks better in person. :banger:

Thanks Paul, I saw you!
I did not know it was you, but I looked in my mirror and I saw you waving.
I figured it was someone who knew the YotaTech.com sticker on the window, and I actually thought it may have been you for some reason.
Weird huh?

Hot, yes, I caught the 5 PM news today.
It is going to be schorchin' here tomorrow and Saturday.
Today was hot too.
78 out still as I type this.
My air-con has been on since I got home, as I got pretty hot unpacking my rig.

What was nice though at Rainier even though the sun was out most of the time, there was a very nice breeze that felt like natures air-con up there.

And last night was a clear night, and we were sitting around the campfire (neighbors were competing with me for a big fire :D ) at about 8:40 PM we could see Venus I think it was.
No stars yet, just one bright spot.

Then stars a little bit later.
It gets pitch dark up there.
You should see the mountain up there as the sun is going down on it, simply incredible looking.

It is a pretty popular campground with it filling up most every night.
Some where there for the longhaul too, around a week.

Cheap trip, not counting food and gas:
$15 park entrance fee
$24 for two nights
$10 for two nights of firewood @ $5 per bundle
____
$49 total
Can not touch that with a hotel, or even get the kind of experience being up there in the mountains.

Thanks for the comps on the rig Paul.

Bedroom--check

Bathroom--check

Kitchen--check

Dining Room--check

Expedition Outfitted FJ--check!!!

Living Room with view--priceless

Great writeup, pics and vids (remarkably good quality perfect for YouTube) Corey, thanks for sharing. Just looking at your location makes me want to go somewhere...so off I go to the beach with the dog in an hour (temp 104 inland today, mid-70's at Sunset Beach in Gearhart).

I had friends over for dinner last night and called them into the office to look at your pics and everyone was amazed at your rig and equipment. Me too!

Thanks Bob.
I just saw NWCN, and it looks like you are in the oven today.
We will be mid 90s here, to hot for me.
I am off to the store to get fresh fruit:
Tomatoes
Avocados
and lots of other stuff for hot weather.

Tell your friends thanks Bob.
Yes, it was a great time, but short.
Already plans are running through my head for next year up there.
We should get a few to go.
Best time is this week weather wise I think, and you have to get there early to claim a spot.

I pulled in around 9 am Tuesday, and out of the 112 sites, there were about 20 open perhaps.
They fill up by evening there.

I bet there is some good camping by Mt. Hood down your way?
I sure love Mt. Rainier though, as it never disappoints being able to see deer up there in your campsite.
They just meander through like they own the place.

Oh yeah, they do, they were there first :D

sounds like fun corey... also sounds like you're missing just one thing... a big telescope. imagine how clear it would be up there, and how great the planets and stuff would look in the scope. it sounds freaking amazing

You know, that is a great idea.
I do not own one though, but would like to pick up one some day that could be transported (space wise) in the rig.

A family was camped next to me with six in their party.
We were talking about seeing Venus Wednesday night in the sky before the stars came out since Venus was so bright.
They said they use their telescope and have viewed Saturn and its rings with it.

I am going to check up on that...
Any suggestions for a decent one that does not break the bank?

uh... i believe i got mine for like 400

http://cgi.ebay.com/BLACK-3-TELESCOP...QQcmdZViewItem

thats like mine. very good scope for the price

Hey Paul. Its about time you poke your head up:banger:

Very nice Corey. Looks like an awesome place to camp.
The river still looks like it has some damage from the flooding last year.

You may get to go back up sooner. I hear contract talk isn't going too well.:(

Your gear looks great. Looks like a family lives there with everything set up:guitar:

Thanks Ozzie, will have to look into that.

Todd, that is what I was telling a few up there, that I may be back to camp in September :D

Surprisingly the gear did not take all that long to setup.

Yes, where that fifth wheel rig is in the pictures, extend out about 25 to 30' or more, and that was the campfire circle.
It got washed away.

The circle is now on our loop further down from me.

Also the river is further away, it use to be closer to the cliff behind the fence there.
I could hear boulders getting rocked around at night as I slept.
That is one powerful river.

Todd, have you camped there before?
Great place to go.

Car top tent
 

Hi Corey:
I am new to this site, and look like you pack a lot of stuff when you go camping :-)

I am interested in the Autohome Airlander, i too have an FJ w/ factory rack, looks like your medium size looks great, but I have a 4 yr old boy, so I am thinking about a large, do you know does a large look very ackward? as it may be slightly larger than the roof top dimension.

Couple other questions:

1. have you camp anywhere that is NOT a camp site, just pull over at some nice view area and camp? Is that pretty safe? I am in the Redmond WA area, and probably go camp within 3 hours radius of Seattle.

2. Is there a club of some sort that camp in the "off road" condition, no camp site? Is it legal just to sleep in the public land?

3. How happy are you with your Mag unit? Do you get reduced MPG driving with it on all the time?

It is quite a bit of money, i would hate to buy it and then not like it enough to use it too often....Thanks for your help.

Sinbad

Hello Sinbad, and welcome to YotaTech.
The medium sized AirLand is quoted to fit two adults and one child.
I think this size is ideal for two adults.
http://autohomeus.com/rooftop/maggiolinaAirlander.php
I have not seen the large on an FJ.

1. This was my first camping trip since 1997, so it is the first with the Maggiolina AirLand.
Safe, you are only as safe as your surroundings.

2. I joined a local Overlanding forum a few months back, but just abut any forum has someone in your area that you can hook up with to camp.
I am not to familiar with your area, heck if it was not for my Pioneer navigation headunit, I may have not found Rack&Road in Bellevue where I had the AirLand installed back in March.

3. My gas millage went down maybe a tad, but only when there is a strong wind I encounter on the freeway.
I am working on that situation, and I will post pics at the end of this post.
Yes, the Maggiolina units are more money than the all canvas roof top tents, but you get what you pay for.
Ease of setup, if you have not seen how they setup, click on the link in my sig to my Penthouse to see how easy it is to setup.

They are also pretty much wind and waterproof.
The guy's that run the AutoHome site out of Nevada own these units, and are out camping in them all the time.

If after getting one and you do not like it, you can sell it very easily as there is a high demand for these Maggiolina units.

The only complaint I have is not the tents fault, but for being on the stock roof rack.
There are many of us who run the Maggiolina AirLand on the stock FJ Cruisers roof rack.
The only problem I encounter is getting tossed around a bit on the freeway between 55 and 60 MPH if there is a lot of wind.
If the tent sat lower this would not happen.

A guy on another forum sent me some pics of what he did.
He used the ARB "fit kit" for the FJ Cruiser.
This is not the full ARB rack, just the kit that bolts to the six positions on the roof.
He then had a friend notch down 3/4" of an inch and sunk in some crossbars and had them welded in place.

I work just down the road from ARB, so I will be stopping in maybe even this coming Monday after work and show them these pictures and see if they can hook me up.
Not sure if my Yakima crossbars can be utilized or not, as they are sleeved with a plastic sleeve on them.
More than likely I would need some new bars fabbed up.

This all would take place during winter after I pull the AirLand off for the winter and store it.

But you can see how low his sits, and he reported to me that the buffeting going down the freeway has been totally eliminated since the tent sits closer to the rack.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/bjorno...nd/RTT%201.JPG

http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/bjorno...nd/RTT%202.JPG

http://www.pnw4runners.com/fj/bjorno...nd/RTT%203.JPG

Corey:
Thanks for the reply. The reason that i am considering a large one is because my son will eventually grow up, then will be like 3 adults....or perhaps my wife won't be interested in camping at that time :-)

To reduce wind effect, I am wondering if the Yakima fairing would work in this case, make it more areodymatic...here is the product:

http://www.yakima.com/racks/rack-sys.../fairings.aspx

I like my factory rack, so I like to utilize it, and if someday i remove the tent off the roof, i don't have to mess w/ the rack. I think i'll end up driving with the tent on forever though, looks painful to take it off.

BTW, you havn't camped for over 10 years and look how equipped you are for the first camping trip! First class luxury!

I went to the Bellvue Rack and Road last Friday and they also recommend the Airland. now just M vs. L......

Bellevue Rack&Road is who installed my tent for me.
They got it shipped there from the AutoHome warehouse out of Nevada.

Thanks, I had been buying up new camping gear since last spring.
Still not done.
Ordered a nice rolltop table that will be here next week, and got a much bigger/better shower/toilet tent that came in last Friday.

BTW, did you have to pay for the sales tax for the tent at the Bellevue Rack and road? (8.8% x $2700) or just the sales tax for the labor and bars? Because I was thinking if i buy them and have them installed, it's shipped from Nevada should be Tax free, right? They should not charge the sales tax on the item that they are not paying for the sales tax. Hope that makes sense, worse case, i have it shipped to my house and a friend and i should be able to mount the thing. It's close to $300 for the tax that I want to put towards other stuff :-)

Thanks.

Come to think of it, I think I only had to pay for the two crossbars, labor, and tax from the install.

I took two new crossbars in with me, and they sold me two more since they wanted to use four.