We Like It On Top - LATITUDE 65
Just us and the stars
Last summer while both of us were (and still are) younger than our “best-before dates,” we decided it was time to hike and explore the many beautiful areas close to home. Our dream hikes included unspoiled wilderness and trails inaccessible in our Infiniti sedan.
Our first challenge was to choose an SUV. It needed to have some serious off-road capability but at the same time be comfortable as our only vehicle. A used 2008 Land Rover LR2 fit the bill. The LR2 is an interesting paradox in the compact luxury segment. As most owners would never have taken theirs off-road, even though LRs are loaded with off-road features, those “Princess Rovers” are an excellent buy in the used market as dual-purpose vehicles.
Although it lacks low-range, here’s what Guide Auto Web says about it:
What makes the Land Rover LR2 a legitimate trail weapon is the pairing of its all-wheel drive feature with the Terrain Response system. Terrain Response is a full suite of off-road electronics that link the transmission, engine, traction control, stability control, and the vehicle’s center coupling in order to appropriately tackle the surface that the Land Rover is facing. Terrain Response allows the driver to choose between Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud and Ruts, and Sand settings (on top of its General Driving setting), via a simple console-mounted button. It also automatically engages hill descent control when more rugged options like Mud and Ruts are selected.
The LR2’s off-road prowess shines in manoeuvrability with a short wheelbase and limited overhangs giving aggressive angles of ascent and descent. It has a reasonable 8.5 inches of ground clearance and almost 20 inches of water-wading depth.
On our recent trip, our LR2 performed well. It carved through blown sand that covered 4WD roads in southeastern Death Valley and crawled four kilometres up a boulder-strewn wash to access the Upper Muley Twist trailhead in Capital Reef National Park. Being a used vehicle, the need to avoid a little boulder and bush rash on the side panels wasn’t an excuse to abort a trail.
Our second challenge was to mate “Rove” with an “Inn.” In Oman in 2014, we rented a Land Cruiser with a Hannibal rooftop tent. We loved it. It was comfortable, and being off the ground, caught breezes for natural ventilation. We were above the food chain and away from creatures not familiar to us, like camel spiders and scorpions. (In the southwestern US, we were above the javelinas, snakes, mice and possums.)
There are two main styles of rooftop tents. The first is like a fabric tent mounted on a folding platform on a roof rack. The tent assembles itself like a pop-up card as the hinged platform is swung open. A ladder provides support to the cantilevered section. The second style has a hard exterior shell like a large cargo box. It’s more aerodynamic than the first style and better protected from the weather when travelling. Some raise with gas struts, others with hand cranks.
We chose a hard shell Airtop with gas struts. After unlatching three safety hooks, the tent pops up instantly and the sleeping quarters are ready. Bedding is stored in-place—a fitted sheet on a foam mattress, a feather duvet and a Hudson Bay/Pendleton wool blanket for cold nights. It’s made by the Italian specialist, Autohome, a company that’s been designing rooftop tents for more than 60 years.
Rooftop tents eliminate the late-afternoon ritual of hunting for prime tenting real estate. There is far less concern if the ground is wet or rain is forecast. With a rooftop tent, all you really require is a level place to park and within minutes, your sleeping quarters are ready.
Once tucked away in a quality rooftop tent, it’s hard not to feel safe, protected from the elements and cradled in comfort. With one exception. Our shell is only rated for medium-strength winds, approximately 30 mph. Above that, you can’t sleep as you become increasingly concerned about its structural integrity. So if winds were forecast, we tried our best to hide behind outcrops or natural wind breaks like clumps of trees. If that wasn’t possible, we headed for cover in a nearby motel.
On our recent 79-day road trip, we planned to average one night in four in a motel to wash clothes, have a bath or go to a nearby restaurant. In reality, we spent a third of the nights in a motel or with friends. Of the 55 nights in Rove-Inn, at least half were in primitive camp spots near trailheads with minimal or no facilities, not even tables.
Rove-Inn, because she’s fairly unique, attracted a lot of attention, mostly from jubilados like Leslie and Glenn from Colorado Springs facing the same decision we had a year ago. Most people had the same questions. “Does it come in a bigger size?” (Yes.) “Is it easy to put up?” And the women all asked Spice, “What’s it like climbing down that ladder at night?” (She assured them how easy it is and recommended keeping a sweater and pull-on booties in the overhead mesh rack for night-time forays down the ladder. We also take our headlamps, Garmin, cell phone, car keys and a thermometer “upstairs.”)
We’re already looking forward to our next trips, focusing on British Columbia and possibly a return to the eastern Sierra Nevadas in California to see the fall colours.
Autohome, the one we chose, is one of many rooftop-tent manufacturers.
Our 79-day route:
In our 79-day trip, we stayed at 62 different places and loved our home-on-wheels. Guess which state was our favourite?
Amazing photos! And here I thought driving with you in Japan’s remote areas was about as exciting as driving could get. Your off-road adventures make driving through the Iya Valley look like a piece of cake!
Thanks for the comment Lynn. As the designated navigator, you allowed us to avoid many of the garden paths that our Japanese-speaking satellite navigator was trying to lead us down. A similarity in both trips was having the luxury of time to explore the scenic routes avoided by truckers and commuters because of the deadlines controlling their lives.
Fascinating. What an adventure!! Great write-up too.
Parts of this was trip were like going back to our youth – driving on gravel through pot-hole strewn roads in rural Saskatchewan. Except now, everyone had seatbelts and there weren’t any kids lying on the shelf in the back window!
Looks like we might be your stop #60 on the map. We are so pleased you stopped and helped us celebrate Lynn’s “last” birthday… she wants to stop acknowledging that she has been on this earth for almost seven decades! Your visit really made her day!
#60 was one of our favourite stops. Alberta beef. Cupcakes! Scott’s dry wit and Jennifer’s horseshoe art. No matter what Lynn says about this being her last birthday, you haven’t seen the last of us inviting ourselves to Chez Perfection B&B in Lethbridge.
Nothing like having your home with you, being able to stay any where you want is the best. If you want to enjoy nature and avoid the crowds you have made excellent choices.
I applaud your adventurer spirit and adaptability, not surprising, knowing you both, simply awesome.
Nice touch to tell us about Rove-Inns features and roof top Home, every type of RV/camping rig has it plus and or minus features, being adaptable is key to making it happen.
“CAMP ON”
Your experience and rig, complete with ATV and boat, lets you explore very deep into the back country. By comparison, we can only “soft-road,” particularly if we are reliant on self-recovery. But we love it, and appreciate your encouragement.
MSD Team says
Hi Latitidue65,
Thank you for using our free road trip planner! What an amazing adventure. Wishing you many more happy travels!
For this post, I used MyScenicDrives as retrospective tool to see where we had been. We are now using it to plan a multi-city tour of Portugal and Spain.
We Like It On Top - LATITUDE 65
Just us and the stars
Last summer while both of us were (and still are) younger than our “best-before dates,” we decided it was time to hike and explore the many beautiful areas close to home. Our dream hikes included unspoiled wilderness and trails inaccessible in our Infiniti sedan.
Our first challenge was to choose an SUV. It needed to have some serious off-road capability but at the same time be comfortable as our only vehicle. A used 2008 Land Rover LR2 fit the bill. The LR2 is an interesting paradox in the compact luxury segment. As most owners would never have taken theirs off-road, even though LRs are loaded with off-road features, those “Princess Rovers” are an excellent buy in the used market as dual-purpose vehicles.
Although it lacks low-range, here’s what Guide Auto Web says about it:
What makes the Land Rover LR2 a legitimate trail weapon is the pairing of its all-wheel drive feature with the Terrain Response system. Terrain Response is a full suite of off-road electronics that link the transmission, engine, traction control, stability control, and the vehicle’s center coupling in order to appropriately tackle the surface that the Land Rover is facing. Terrain Response allows the driver to choose between Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud and Ruts, and Sand settings (on top of its General Driving setting), via a simple console-mounted button. It also automatically engages hill descent control when more rugged options like Mud and Ruts are selected.
The LR2’s off-road prowess shines in manoeuvrability with a short wheelbase and limited overhangs giving aggressive angles of ascent and descent. It has a reasonable 8.5 inches of ground clearance and almost 20 inches of water-wading depth.
On our recent trip, our LR2 performed well. It carved through blown sand that covered 4WD roads in southeastern Death Valley and crawled four kilometres up a boulder-strewn wash to access the Upper Muley Twist trailhead in Capital Reef National Park. Being a used vehicle, the need to avoid a little boulder and bush rash on the side panels wasn’t an excuse to abort a trail.
Our second challenge was to mate “Rove” with an “Inn.” In Oman in 2014, we rented a Land Cruiser with a Hannibal rooftop tent. We loved it. It was comfortable, and being off the ground, caught breezes for natural ventilation. We were above the food chain and away from creatures not familiar to us, like camel spiders and scorpions. (In the southwestern US, we were above the javelinas, snakes, mice and possums.)
There are two main styles of rooftop tents. The first is like a fabric tent mounted on a folding platform on a roof rack. The tent assembles itself like a pop-up card as the hinged platform is swung open. A ladder provides support to the cantilevered section. The second style has a hard exterior shell like a large cargo box. It’s more aerodynamic than the first style and better protected from the weather when travelling. Some raise with gas struts, others with hand cranks.
We chose a hard shell Airtop with gas struts. After unlatching three safety hooks, the tent pops up instantly and the sleeping quarters are ready. Bedding is stored in-place—a fitted sheet on a foam mattress, a feather duvet and a Hudson Bay/Pendleton wool blanket for cold nights. It’s made by the Italian specialist, Autohome, a company that’s been designing rooftop tents for more than 60 years.
Rooftop tents eliminate the late-afternoon ritual of hunting for prime tenting real estate. There is far less concern if the ground is wet or rain is forecast. With a rooftop tent, all you really require is a level place to park and within minutes, your sleeping quarters are ready.
Once tucked away in a quality rooftop tent, it’s hard not to feel safe, protected from the elements and cradled in comfort. With one exception. Our shell is only rated for medium-strength winds, approximately 30 mph. Above that, you ca
n’t sleep as you become increasingly concerned about its structural integrity. So if winds were forecast, we tried our best to hide behind outcrops or natural wind breaks like clumps of trees. If that wasn’t possible, we headed for cover in a nearby motel.
On our recent 79-day road trip, we planned to average one night in four in a motel to wash clothes, have a bath or go to a nearby restaurant. In reality, we spent a third of the nights in a motel or with friends. Of the 55 nights in Rove-Inn, at least half were in primitive camp spots near trailheads with minimal or no facilities, not even tables.
Rove-Inn, because she’s fairly unique, attracted a lot of attention, mostly from jubilados like Leslie and Glenn from Colorado Springs facing the same decision we had a year ago. Most people had the same questions. “Does it come in a bigger size?” (Yes.) “Is it easy to put up?” And the women all asked Spice, “What’s it like climbing down that ladder at night?” (She assured them how easy it is and recommended keeping a sweater and pull-on booties in the overhead mesh rack for night-time forays down the ladder. We also take our headlamps, Garmin, cell phone, car keys and a thermometer “upstairs.”)
We’re already looking forward to our next trips, focusing on British Columbia and possibly a return to the eastern Sierra Nevadas in California to see the fall colours.
Autohome, the one we chose, is one of many rooftop-tent manufacturers.
Our 79-day route:
In our 79-day trip, we stayed at 62 different places and loved our home-on-wheels. Guess which state was our favourite?
Amazing photos! And here I thought driving with you in Japan’s remote areas was about as exciting as driving could get. Your off-road adventures make driving through the Iya Valley look like a piece of cake!
Thanks for the comment Lynn. As the designated navigator, you allowed us to avoid many of the garden paths that our Japanese-speaking satellite navigator was trying to lead us down. A similarity in both trips was having the luxury of time to explore the scenic routes avoided by truckers and commuters because of the deadlines controlling their lives.
Fascinating. What an adventure!! Great write-up too.
Parts of this was trip were like going back to our youth – driving on gravel through pot-hole strewn roads in rural Saskatchewan. Except now, everyone had seatbelts and there weren’t any kids lying on the shelf in the back window!
Looks like we might be your stop #60 on the map. We are so pleased you stopped and helped us celebrate Lynn’s “last” birthday… she wants to stop acknowledging that she has been on this earth for almost seven decades! Your visit really made her day!
#60 was one of our favourite stops. Alberta beef. Cupcakes! Scott’s dry wit and Jennifer’s horseshoe art. No matter what Lynn says about this being her last birthday, you haven’t seen the last of us inviting ourselves to Chez Perfection B&B in Lethbridge.
Nothing like having your home with you, being able to stay any where you want is the best. If you want to enjoy nature and avoid the crowds you have made excellent choices.
I applaud your adventurer spirit and adaptability, not surprising, knowing you both, simply awesome.
Nice touch to tell us about Rove-Inns features and roof top Home, every type of RV/camping rig has it plus and or minus features, being adaptable is key to making it happen.
“CAMP ON”
Your experience and rig, complete with ATV and boat, lets you explore very deep into the back country. By comparison, we can only “soft-road,” particularly if we are reliant on self-recovery. But we love it, and appreciate your encouragement.
MSD Team says
Hi Latitidue65,
Thank you for using our free road trip planner! What an amazing adventure. Wishing you many more happy travels!
For this post, I used MyScenicDrives as retrospective tool to see where we had been. We are now using it to plan a multi-city tour of Portugal and Spain.