I guess I should do a better job of keeping up to date.
This is how she is sitting now, all ready for adventure.
I completed the dual battery setup, with the T-Max controller and a pair of Deka Intimidators. I also made up a portable solar system with two separate 75 watt panels connected to a 30amp Coleman controller in the Xterra. (I can use one or both panels, and a single panel seemed to work just fine on our last 3 day adventure)
I installed a couple led strip lights into the rear hatch, so light up my camp kitchen area. I finally stopped procrastinating and bought a full size 285 spare and found that it does indeed stuff up underneath just fine.
While a rear bumper with tire and gas can carriers is on my wish list, it's out of the budget for this year. So I bought a $45 rear cargo rack from Princess Auto and messed with it a bit and bolted on top of the wet box. It allows me to stow my two fuel cans, one water can, chainsaw, and tote with some recovery supplies, chainsaw fuel, air compressor, etc in it.
I went out and bought a 10" tablet, loaded Backwoods Navigator onto it (along with some free on-road mapping software), and mounted it to a holder that slips into the CD slot in the stereo. It stayed put through some semi-rigorous off-roading last weekend, and provided useful to help navigate us in the bushes.
After a couple multi-day trips, we seem to be working on "perfecting" our packing and camp setup. The Wife and I have traveled thousands of miles on motorbikes, so if anything it has taught us to try to be "frugal" when it comes to packing stuff. The one mandatory creature comfort item my wife demanded was a porta-potti, so it rides along in the back with us.
We also picked up a 1" memory foam topper after our first weekend adventure and it really takes the edge of the super firm mattress in the CVT.
One final thing, I really need to commend my Dometic CF-50 fridge. My wife's Scottish sensibilities were a little apprehensive about me spending north of $900Cdn on a portable fridge, but it has to be the single best investment I have ever made. I would recommend that anyone who is considering vehicle based multi-day travel to purchase a portable fridge. It was 30*+ Celsius this past weekend for the duration of our adventure and my beer was waiting for me frosty and ice cold every evening. No spoiled food, no warm soggy stuff, no melted ice all over the place. Just pure brilliant cold food and chilled beverages.
We depart on June 30th for our 2 1/2 week adventure down to Colorado and back, and we both cannot wait for the longer adventure to begin.
