We’re Mike and Brinda and the pups: Reba, Bailey and Cody. Reba is the elder stateswoman and Bailey her sidekick. Cody is the baby. An 80lb baby. You know it’s 80lbs when he launches into your lap and slobbers.
We got our Pod in June 2013. We chose the R-Pod for the following reasons:
- It’s light weight. Our tow vehicle has a max weight of 3500 lbs.
- It’s got enough room for three big dogs. As long as two of them like sleeping on the dinette seats. The jury is out on that one. We need a few more trips to verify it. We sleep in the bunks.
- It has a shower and bath. As my wife calls it, a shoilet. Call it what you will, on our very first trip it turned out to be the most wonderful thing we had. Ridgeway State Park in Colorado in June is hot. Very hot.
- It had the external room – the R-Dome. The dealer was sent the wrong model initially so we haven’t used it yet. Our first test of the R-Dome comes in a couple of weeks.
We live in Colorado and our first trip went over Monarch Pass (11k ft), Eisenhower tunnel (11k ft) and Vail Pass (10.5k ft), with our Saturn Vue XR pulling the R-Pod. No problems. I do have a higher end brake controller installed in the Vue. Other than that, I just had the sparks and wires replaced and the oil changed before the first trip. We’ll see what happens on subsequent trips.
We’re still open to upgrading the tow vehicle. But since we just bought a vehicle for my wife, it may have to wait till next year.
Questions about our Pod? Feel free to contact us.
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Gallery
Status of our Mods
Complete Mod 
Re-wallpaper Paint walls Re-cover dinette cushions Replace bunk lights Replace Halogen with LEDs New showerhead (actually just replaced) Fix dinette storage lid Add memory foam mattresses IKEA wall storage in bunks Water Filter Storage Box Wireless media server (Raspberry Pi) Wifi-enabled backup cam (Raspberry Pi) DLP projector display (Raspberry Pi) wireless speakers XM Radio Inside temperature gauge (Raspberry Pi) pictures kitchen utensil holders Bathroom Ikea mirror Hangers/Hooks Updated lighting fixtures flexible storage in bunks improved under bunk access riser assist in bunk access panel air flow holes in upper bunk soft cabinet handles kitchen shelving stove cover smaller faucet
Hi: Did you replace the bunk mattresses? If so, what did you get and where did you purchase them from? Our rpod 172 is a 2010 we purchased used last year and looks very much like yours. It’s in great shape and we are slowly venturing out with it. I absolutely love the dinette recovers. Did your wife do that herself? Very very lovely. Thanks for your blog. I enjoyed it.
We did replace the mattresses. We ordered them from Wal-Mart. They’re Spa Sensations Memory Foam, I think. My wife bought them. They’re very comfortable. She bought a California King and cut it in half. Each half fits nearly perfectly with the bunks. There’s maybe 1/2″ on each side, if memory serves (the pod is in storage at the moment).
The dinette recovers were my wife’s idea. She did them herself. She’ll be pleased to have someone compliment them! She also re-wallpapered most of the inside, and painted the rest of the walls. It’s a much brighter look.
I’m glad you liked her work and the blog. We hope to do more soon, but it may be a little while before we get back on the road. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for good weather!
Enjoy the pod!
I love this redo. Cuddos to you and your wife.
We just purchased a 2009 R-pod 172 and want to try to do some work to brighten it up too!
Wondered if you were worried about the wallpaper or paint peeling with different conditions? Did you prep your walls beforehand?
Also, what kind of fabric did you use for your cushions? Vinyl?
It looks awesome!
Hi Fiona, thanks for the compliments. 🙂
I didn’t prep the walls – just used the recommended paste which is Roman Pro 880. For what it’s worth,this wallpaper was not the prepasted kind you dip in water. It Is holding up so far in the heat and the cold. I used vinyl to recover the cushions to make sure they were as dog proof as possible. It works out great, just wipe them clean. I painted the walls with Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter. I only needed a quart. Once again, right over the original wallpaper and had no problem.