We just finished a three day stint in Tahoe. It's our annual "Hanukah in the Mountains" trip. This year we added the new baby, now at 5 months.
It was also the first time we brought our Nissan Quest up to Tahoe in the snow. We bought it back in March and I like to think of it as a "Roadship". It's huge and has a dazzling array of electronics, glass, LCD panels and other high techology road-worthy details.
In our Roadship we had the following configuration: My wife and I up front, the baby in the second row, the other second row seat folded flat with a dog bed on it, and our 3 year old and 5 year old in the third row. The area behind the third row was packed with food, diaper supplies and "accesible ready" items. I used a roof mounted storage device to hold the Hanukah gifts, clothing and other inert items. I like the roof bag we're using as it's easy to put up there and when we get to our destination I can just take it off and fold it up.
I was a bit concerned about the snow, as the Quest is front wheel drive only, and I did pick up some chains (cables actually). These innovative things can be put on without having to drive over them first. To be honest I've owned two pair of these, the last one for my old Saab wagon, and I've never had to use them. However, if it's snowing in Tahoe you need to have them in the car. I just sold my Saab tire cables on eBay for $35, so all was not lost on that venture. And of course, I practiced putting them on and off in my garage in the dark a few dozen times just in case. I'm kidding. Net net, since it was early in the season, the snow was not a big deal.
The DVD system worked well, although we forgot the IR headphones. I was blasted with "Ice Age" on the way up (and "Totoro" on the way back). Although there are rear speakers on the Quest, it seems like the sound is primarily driven off the front speakers, reflecting off the windshield to the back rows. Hmmm. Also, ideally the audio system is two zone so they can get the movie back there and I can listen to NPR up front. Fixes for next year's model?
The navigation system worked well although it didn't have the tiny road that our cabin was on in its database. Close enough, though. One thing I did notice was that due to the enormous surface area, the thing gets awfully dirty up there. It also took a while to defrost the massive windshield one morning.
Other than that it was a huge success. Driving it down the freeway you feel like you are piloting a 747 over the Atlantic.
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