I know what you mean about the clouds. I've had mine for 6 months but soon after had a second kid
so it was moth balled until i started getting more sleep. Since I hauled mine out the other night it has been cloudy and now raining.
I also just went and bought the 2xbarlow. I also bought a moon filter. You'll need that or you go blind in one eye. And I bought the RA motor drive. I'll see how good that is when the clouds move. I think the problem with that is going to be that you can't move it quickly without undoing the lock. It has an 8x speed but that seems quite slow still. but maybe it isn't when you're looking through the eyepiece.
Anyway, It will be fun to be outside again. Good luck with yours.
cheers