Hi Patti,

As a multiple owner of non-Westy Vanagons, I am very familiar with
camping using ice chests. So if you've decided not to use the Dometic,
by all means, get an ice chest. Use ice (block ice is preferred over
cubes), not dry ice, unless you like ice cream, in which case get a
second "el cheapo" model made of styrofoam and use that one for the
dry ice and whatever you want to keep frozen. Head down the the local
Kwiky-Mart and eyeball the size of a block of ice, then get an ice
chest that will hold the block plus whatever else you're planning to
take. On packing the ice chest: put all the heavy stuff like cans and
jars on the bottom, and if you get one with a rack or tray, put all
the stuff you don't want to get wet on that, or if you can't get one
with a rack, just put it all in large (1 gallon or larger) zip lock
bags. Make sure the drain hole doesn't drip, and don't go draining the
ice-melt water from the ice. Your stuff will stay cooler longer if you
retain the icy water rather than draining it out all the time. And
don't forget to secure the ice chest while you're driving!

Enjoy your trip!

Gary

>
> Date:    Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:22:55 -0700
> From:    PB <pbrattan@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: First camping trip!
>
> About the Dometic...I haven't tried it out, yet, and don't know if I will.
> Should I try to use it as an ice chest by filling it with ice cubes?  Would
> dry ice work better?  Or should I use it as a cabinet and just bring an ice
> chest?  I would eventually like to replace the Dometic with something more
> efficient.
>
> Thanks again.
> Patti
> 90 Westy Automatic