The Tent

I currently have a love hate relationship with our tent. The things that are awesome- are freaking amazing. But it has also been a bit frustrating too. After waiting months on back order I got an email from REI saying the order was canceled. Brooke was not a happy camper because even in bigger towns like Anchorage and Fairbanks- there are a lot of limitations to what you can get. I called them just to ask why since it gave no explanation and they happily ordered me a new one that was delivered to the Anchorage store two weeks later. I chose to not ask questions and just be happy with the fact that we got the tent.

Roof rack ready to go! I feel very important when I help with these things...

So then there was the roof rack. I have a pretty stripped down base model Ford Escape. Scot bought a used stock roof rack that we didn't get to see until we got into Anchorage. When we opened the package we discovered it was made of plastic. Now- if you google what the stock roof rack's weight rating is- there are no answers. Unless you are more internet talented than I am. Why in the world would a person want/make/put a plastic roof rack on a vehicle? SOOO to REI we went to get a Yakima rack. Which are crazy expensive. I mean I have nothing to compare it to. To me it's not a fun thing. It's like buying tires. You need them- but definitely more of an 'adulting' expense than a fun one. $420 later... and that was squared away. 

We headed to REI where we knew we were going to have to put the tent on the car in the parking lot because it's gigantic. So this is where my love for REI is kind of tested. I feel like their customer service is usually pretty top notch. So after spending over $2000 on our tent and roof rack they just kind of plopped it down in the parking lot and were like "Here ya go- good luck!" And of course as all good stories go- it was raining. The tools we needed were provided and setting everything up really wasn't hard- but at 150 pounds I  couldn't help get it onto the roof. The car is just too tall and I had pretty major surgery this past winter and lost a good amount of muscle. You can have REI install things for $60 an hour. Except for Tepui tents. Not really sure why that is a stipulation... We were able to get one employee to help get it onto the car- but honestly we needed more help than that. They are HUGE. And awkward. They dropped the corner on the wind shield and then scratched a 10" gash into the roof of the car down to the metal. I mean- you can't see it because it's under the tent and I paid cash for the car and am planning on driving it into the ground- so it's not that big of a deal. But I feel like their customer service would have been a bit better on this one...

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The flopped down in the parking lot tent unwrapping!

First glimpse..

Ahh- Now I am getting excited!

Gathering the tools and pieces...

The cover is on- now we just need some muscle!

One scratched roof later but it is on! Get ready world!

I can't express to you how excited I was to open the tent up for the first time! It was amazing. We slept in it in the backyard of a friend's place. Comfort wise. Not bad at all. There is a 2" foam mattress so it will beat camping on the ground any day. But like I said before, I am still on the road to recovery from surgery so I woke up a bit achy. We added a memory foam mattress the next day and it's perfect.  It's a little harder to put away- but for my current needs, totally worth it. I would say for the average person the way it came would be just fine though.
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We opened her up for the first time!

This is a 3 person model. It's about as wide as a queen bed- but then maybe a 6-12" longer?

First in the tent selfie!

And the last bump in the road.... I want to stress this happened before we added the extra 2" of memory foam. The zipper that zips the cover onto the tent got caught in the tent fabric and broke in half. We took it to a tent repair shop and they said the zipper just had a weak point and was basically a lemon. They didn't have a zipper the right size so we contacted Tepui. They are sending a replacement zipper. They even said if we took it to a shop to get repaired they would reimburse us for the repairs. But again- we have been unable to find a place because- we're in Alaska. They said it was easy to replace and I could do it myself. So once it gets here- we shall see. Until then we have been adding ratchet straps to keep it down. It adds one extra step that is kind of annoying- especially when we think about how much the set up cost. But we've had good attitudes about it. Scot calls it "bootleged" and I use the term "hoopty". So I guess that is who we are now. We've been out with it for about a week now and are loving the freedom we have to just stop anywhere. We aren't pulling behind a trailer- we have 4 wheel drive. A few stream crossings here and there and open her up and we have home for the night. It's a beautiful thing. ​

Our hoopty new set up into the zipper install.

And we are off! YES. FINALLY.

Baloo is so ready too.

Sneak peak into our first night!

River camping!

We pretend to plan. But this first go around is all random, "we have more to explore than 30 miles of road so lets do all the things!"

Update

It took just over a week but Tepui sent us our new zipper system at no charge. And they were right- it was really easy. It's in place with a special tubing you just feed through the metal frame. I think it took us less than 5 minutes to replace it. We were in Valdez yesterday and saw another Tupui tent that wasn't zipped up- I'm assuming it was the exact same problem. So I guess be a little ginger with the zipper on the cover- and if it breaks, know it's easy peasy to fix and the company was great to work with. 

New zipper system straight out of the package.

Just slide this baby into place. Couldn't be easier.