The Good:
We really noticed the extra room. There's lots of floor space for Taz to sleep so we don't have to make up a bed out of the front seats for her. I really like the easy access fridge although it's hard to tell if it's working properly or not when it's -6ยบ outside. The water spray nozzle on the outside turned out to be really handy. (More on that later) In the old van, I couldn't make up the bed by myself because the fold-up mechanism on the bench seat was really awkward and the seat was too hard to slide back. The bed in the new van is so much easier to operate.
The Bad:
What was VW thinking when they did away with the glove compartment? Where are you supposed to stash all of the papers and the stuff that just seems to accumulate when you're out?
Sometime in the middle of the night the furnace stopped working. We were warm enough under the blankets, but we sure didn't want to get up in the morning! We're not sure if the auxilliary battery is faulty (relatively cheap fix), or if the furnace draws so much power that it'll drain even a new battery...Hmm.
Are fireworks the new camping entertainment? We were having a nice evening, sitting around a blazing fire (in our parkas), sipping on Southern Comfort and generally enjoying ourselves when someone set off a bunch of fireworks. Don't get me wrong - I love a good fireworks display, but Taz doesn't have the same appreciation for them. We spent the rest of the night trying to keep her from bolting into the darkness. I thought she was going to sprain her ears they were pulled so far back...
And The Ugly:
Got up in the morning, warmed up by another roaring fire, had a huge breakfast and went for a nice long walk. We were just hanging around the campsite enjoying the sunshine when a NASTY smell started wafting our way. There are cows not too far away, and we thought maybe the wind had shifted and was bringing the smell our way - but cows don't smell that bad. A big honking manure pile right next to your chair doesn't smell that bad! It was intermittent, so we didn't think too much of it, but as we were packing up, it seemed to get worse. There was a lot of: "PU, it's really strong over here" and "Really?, it's not so bad over here anymore". It took us a while to realize that the dog was following us around as we packed up and everywhere that she was - the smell was too!
She had rolled in something disgusting and her collar and all down one side of her was caked with it....GROSS!!! That's when we discovered just how useful that exterior water spray is. We managed to give her a partial bath, but we still had to take a detour on the way home and stop at the doggie coin-op bath in Forest Lawn.
I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that she did that at the end of the trip and not before bed-time....
All in all it was a pretty good test run. We've made a few changes to how things are organized, so I think we're just about ready for the real thing.
Still spooked - even inside the van.
Obviously taken before the "Incident"
She'd be happy if her feet never touched dry land.
