This August in Germany is the first time we have been unlucky with the weather! and it really made us aware just how small the Trout Lake is for a family camping trip!! Because we have always had great weather the tent has been a place to dress and sleep, thats it! All our cooking, eating and relaxing was done outside. With so much rain we found ourselves planning our days and eating inside with no room to swing a cat.
When the sun did finally shine and we were back in the open we discussed the problems we had now discovered. Please don't be fooled we love the tent we really do its just too small when you have to use the tent for more than just sleeping.
Put it this way when it was really cold, wet and the wind was blowing and we were stuck in such a small space with two small boys my wife was talking about giving up camping all together! Whilst I was thinking if I would get away with locking the kids in the car for an hour! Any way when the sun was out and we relaxed we remembered why we do it and all thoughts of no more camping like the rain evaporated. So the discussion turned from never again to how do we resolve the issue? We thought about a day tent but opted against this in favor of a new tent. :) tent shopping! yay!
So we returned home with only a week to go before forum campout so no chance of tent hunting yet!...... yea right lol we wasted no time on that front.
We orginally opted for the Outwell Florida 6, we were sure it was going to be another Outwell unless we opted for a trailer tent which we had discussed such as the Camp-let's due to their quick and easy pitch time. however the expense meant it was not going to be the case. so the Florida 6, after discussing on the forum about our options it turned out that a member of the forum attending the campout was bringing a Florida 6. Excellent we get to see one pitched. We were taken with it immedietly as we sat under the canopy on that first cold evening drinking cough mixture (Jagermeister) chatting to new friends. We returned home to continue our research and search out a great deal that might tempt us as it was now late september and most retailers were trying hard to sell off all remaining stock.
But we changed our minds! The Ohio XL had caught our eye already but we had dismissed due to the color! however again at the campout were a couple of Outwell Carolinas which are also in the Outwell Mocca like the Ohio. And we both commented on it at the time the pictures on the web really don't show you that well how it really looks. So we went back to looking at the Ohio XL and comparing it to Florida 6. They are both about the same size with a very small difference, the layout. The florida 6 has the bedroom pods along the back wall with a changing/wardrobe area between the two bedroom pods with an intergrated rear door. The Ohio XL's bedroom pods are on the left hand side with the wardrobe/changing area between the pods. You still have the rear door but this remains usable even if the changing/wardrobe area is full with all your stuff! The other added bonus is that it also comes with an extra bedroom pod that can be placed in the changing/wardrobe area should you need the extra space. So you go from a 5 berth to a 7 berth. We were sold!
Roll on a month and a few days to today and we are now the owners of an Outwell Ohio XL :) not been pitched yet.. been too windy!! but that time will come.. along with a review no doubt after our first use at Shell Island (May 2011) We got the tent and carpet from The Family Tent Shop for £585 delivered found them very helpfull and the tent arrived 24 hours later. We sourced the footprint from another supplier and still hunting for the awning..
Looking forward to getting out in our new tent and it has got me searching for destinations to take it next year! (found a great site that's a short ferry crossing from Venice!)
Till next year :)