Having picked a weekend for the Go’s maiden voyage, naturally the weather report worsened the closer we got to the big date.  We adapted by lowering our standards for what would constitute good enough weather to not call things off.  Finally the Friday came.  It wasn’t raining TOO bad, so we took off.

First, though, we had to load the Go with all our camping gear. We pulled the Go in front of the house and spent a ridiculous amount of time rearranging boxes and trying figure out how to use our limited number of bungee cords and ratchet cargo straps. After much head scratching and discussion with neighbors we determined that nothing was likely to blow off or shift around or disintegrate. We also took note of the beginnings of a shopping list of necessary items for the Go. NOW we were ready to take off.

We had never towed a trailer before, so we had picked a destination that wasn’t too far away – Dash Point State Park in Federal Way (between Seattle and Tacoma), around an hour away.  T drove (as always – she does NOT like being a passenger – control issues you know), and gained confidence as we went.  It bounced around a little, making odd noises when we hit a bump, but overall towed very easily, even with our little Mini Cooper towing it. As we discovered on the trip home, how we loaded the gear was a factor in how it rode– best to put some weight at the front where it helped steady the trailer tongue. With some weight on the front, there were little to no disconcerting rattles when we hit bumps.

Cranking up the top

We had planned to at least practice setting it up at home before we left.  Of course we never got around to it, so when we arrived at the park, out came the instruction booklet.  Unfortunately the instructions are as poor as the Go is great.  Significant time was spent head scratching, pointing out odd terms to each other, examining fuzzy diagrams, etc.

With the top fully extended, ready to drop the tent

Eventually we figured it out, though. When we finished, we stood back and admired the beauty of the engineering, but what should have taken us maybe 10 minutes took over an hour.  I think we can break our record next time.

Fully set up tent

The weather was rain and drizzle on and off all weekend, but we didn’t mind.  We had a zip on awning that gave us a protected area to sit and read under, and the trailer itself keeps the tent off the ground, so staying dry was no problem. In fact, there was a certain amount of delight in listening to the rain pouring down on the tent and realizing that we were staying perfectly dry and there was to be no insidious seeping of moisture under the tent and into our sleeping bags. And so our first adventure with the Go really began.

With the rain canopy- much needed!