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J-Rhett, I've read a number of studies regarding the economics of the RV travel. In the main it seems that these studies argue that between the initial cost plus yearly maintenance, the cost of gas, the cost of fuel, etc. the monetary "savings" to be gained by owning an RV are not terribly great and may even be higher than some other types of travel. I'm sure that one can argue this and depending on one's "normal" lifestyle traveling in an RV may or may not be more expensive. In any case, money is not the main reason I chose to mostly travel via an RV, but, it sure can help. Similar to owning and traveling via motorcycle, there is a sense of being self sufficient and not having to rely on others for my basic needs, comfort, and, ability to get to places I want to see or things I want to do. Indeed, not only is this accomplished, but, many times an RV also allows me to be even closer to places that I enjoy (forests, hiking, fishing, nature, etc.). I basically see it this way - without an RV (or camping in general), one is pretty much stuck with seeking out motels/hotels and, therefore, staying in towns of some sort or staying home. As I see it, there are a number of "problems" associated with all three of these - some of which you have pointed out. On to your questions - Most I ever paid for a night of camping was at the KOA in Jackson, WY ($60/night for a space just big enough to put my tent on and this was right at 10 years ago too). Problems while on the road - I'd be willing to bet that those of us that have spent any time at all "on the road" have had problems. However, in hindsight, these "problems" are part of what makes life interesting and in some cases even exciting. I'm not saying that I go looking for problems or even enjoy these things when they occur, but, it sure does make life interesting and that sure beats sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch. I try to prepare as best I can to be able to take care of whatever "problems" that might crop up. Bill Sometimes you just have to call for help!

You can pressurize your system and blow it out, then close all the taps. Leave the air turned on and spray soapy water on all the connections. Bubbles clearly show minor leaks that may not be obvious when looking for seeping water. Major leaks can often be found by the hissing sound of air leakage. This is a great way to leak test the system after performing any repair that requires disassembly. (This is the same technique used by car mechanics when they pressure test your cooling system using a small pump attached to the radiator cap.) Another trick, if you suspect that a fitting might be leaking, is to place a folded up blue paper shop towel under the area. Any leakage will show up as an easy to see dark blue spot on the paper. This does not work very well with regular white towels. Nice pics, thanks for posting. John Davies Spokane WA

Randy, Thanks for taking a look at the Summerization procedure. Appreciate the correction and comments. Your question on that document was: Does the draw / pump fill the plumbing or the main tank, can you select either? I am no expert < That's Buzzys Job! - high five to the Buzz man :-) > but I took that part of the Summerization process from the Winterization process in the Oliver Manual. And, double checked it with the Valve configuration picture supplied by Oliver. So..... With the valves in the winterization configuration, the rear port will use the pump to draw water through "all lines and faucets". That rear port is what we use to put the RV Antifreeze in... so it should be what we use to take it out. IMHO. That's all I have for now. I am attaching the Summerization procedure for any others that wish to review. Have a great Holiday and Safe Travels, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145 Procedures-for-Summarizing-Oliver-LE2-84RV-1.docx

Unless you're filthy rich you usually hunt for and pick a more economical place to stay. I know, I know, there are some of us who don't care what it costs to stay in a campground such as my nephews who probably make seven figures a year and more. But I'm just a conservative guy hunting for a deal and I'm not crazy about making someone from the East rich while they let the motel go downward and the roaches and bedbugs take over. I've stayed in some pretty nice places and my mate woke up with bites all over. And I've heard lately that some of the bigger national hotels just straighten and smooth the sheets and you get to sleep where some foreigner slept the night before on the same sheets. No thanks, I don't care for that. We stayed in a National Brand Motel a couple years ago and had no idea that there had been dog shows in San Marcos a few days before. Boy did we get an awakening when we found dog hair ingrained in our carpet and then I pulled up the pillows on the second bed and was astonished to find a dog pillow with more dog hair than a years worth on that little doggie pillow. I was not a happy camper. We had rented the room for a week and demanded they re-clean it which they did. One of the main reasons I chose to purchase a RV was to pay less for traveling. A nice motel room on the road now runs about $90 and on up to $200. And the second reason is convenience and then cleanliness. I just found out that some campgrounds are not so economical especially when just staying for a night or two. If you're keeping your home and not full-timing then you always have to keep your place going too so you have that expense, which we do, so one of the main objects is to keep costs down while traveling. Hey, it's ok to splurge sometimes, but I don't want to eat at Texas Road House every night either. And I can understand why campgrounds near and in large cities cost more. There is more demand and more things to do so there should be higher prices in our "Capitalist" country. As I'm writing this I am thinking about what RVers talk about when sharing information about how other campsites operate and why one may or may not want to stay there again. If I'm expressing myself to you I'm going to tell you how the management acted, the amount of fun and peace we had, and the cost of staying. There are lots of variables in life and so out on the road while RVing too. I've heard stories of campers being kicked out of campground for no reason and knowing the people telling me these things I believe them. Some camp managers are crazy. I've heard of trailers being lost because the management didn't warn the campers soon enough that a flash flood was coming downstream and several trailers were swamped and ruined in a flood. Be aware of your surroundings and where you camp. I've just heard stories and some of you have been camping for years. Let's hear some of you interesting stories. What's the most you ever paid to stay for a week end? What is the main reason your purchased your trailer/camper/RV/truck/Van? What are some of the problems you've had a long way from home. Maybe your trailer is your ONLY home. I bet you got some stories to tell! Anyway, I kind of got off subject as my main point was the high cost of staying overnight in a motel vs. the cost of staying in your camper for a small camping fee. How many nights will I have to stay in my Ollie before it's equal to motel bills?? LOL I immediately learned that some camping fees are not so small. I know, there are lots of reasons people camp too. The social life is nicer in the campgrounds and talking and eating around the campfire too. It's bringing back something we've lost in the cities and used to have back in the 50's and 60's and that's neighborliness. God Bless the human race.

We have everything on auto-pay also but we just let the post office know that we will be gone and they throw it all into a box for us that we just pick up when we get home. If you let them know, they will hold it all for you

Coy, thanks for taking the initiative on this. I'm putting it on the calendar and will plan our spring travels so we can attend. Mike

Randy, Used my shop AC and set the line pressure at 35PSI. The garden hose brass fitting thread would not thread completely into any of the Ollie fittings, but using an extra garden hose gasket, tightened the connections completely. Even filed burrs off of some brass threads, but only way I could get an airtight connection was with the gasket. Here's the 12V pump information and close up of the inlet strainer on the 12V pump. Guessing it would draw a little air in at the loose suction strainer, since I would occasionally hear a little air in a faucet when running water system with the 12V pump earlier this year. Fittings to connect to quick disconnect fitting on air hose. Like always I take too many photos including a thermometer shot in the Ollie this morning. We're in the Charlotte NC area.

Bill, Thanks for the parts pictures, I used the generic air fitting for doing it but can see that your creation will work much better. That strainer is also the only place I noticed any water leaking, although using a VIAIR portable, my pressures where a little higher than recommended and even that barely leaked at all. With yours leaking at 35, what kind of water pressure did you have in your shower running off the pump last summer?

As a California gold miner, camping is second nature to me. For years I didn't even use a tent because this is how I was taught. We'd take the bed roll off of the back of the horse at night and sit around the campfire just like in the old westerns, then roll over and sleep on the ground. It was a great way to be brought up and I did the same with my children when we went camping as they were growing up. I've had a bear try too push me off of my foam pad at night as he was snuggling up to me to stay warm... True story... Then when I was a boy scout, I woke up to another bear sniffing my face and we both smiled at each other, the bear and I. It was second nature for me to be in nature all of the time. Then in 2005 I inherited my first motorhome, a 32' Pace Arrow and it stayed down at the mining claim for the next 5 years. It was nice having an RV and always having to fix something but I gave it to a friend because just having it sit down at the mining claim wasn't doing it any good. Plus, I still love tent camping and I have a lot of great camping movies on YouTube about them and some of our mining adventures. So I'm used to staying in the woods and not paying for anything other then food. Today at 57, I spent last summer tent camping again and this is where I will be for the rest of my life, tent camping when possible anyway. My wife and I were in a car accident in 2013 and for a couple years it was really hard to put up a tent and then take it down when we were moving to a new area, so we bought a Casita and used it for a couple of years. Our Olli went on to the assembley line last week and being retired now we wanted a trailer that we can depend on year round. Here it is 1am and tonight I am sitting in another $150.00 a night hotel room because tomorrow I am towing another friends trailer home for her because her car blew up... As far as paying the most for a camping spot for the trailer, at Carpentaria State Beach in California, the 25' space was $80.00 a night for healthy people but with our disabled tag that we earned in the accident, it cost us $20 for the 1st two nights and then $40 for the next a week later. But we were on the beach at the Pacific Ocean and it was a great place. Being on the beach was great but being next to the water was even better at Emma Wood State Beach a campground just down the road. Having a trailer makes it easy to keep a home away from home. Now that retirement has set in we have started touring and so far have hit 13 States and many great places that we could call home even if it was for just a few days. Spending all of my days camping at the river while gold mining is a thing of the past now with all of the new laws here against mining anything in our country and my way of making a living ended in 2009 with California's ban on Gold Dredging, but my mining from days gone by has set me well enough that we can make ends meet and still do what we love to do - Travel. I still miss those days as a child just camping on the ground and sleeping with the bears but these days the real reason for having a trailer is to sleep in comfort, in your own bed at night, nice and warm. We've traded out the wood burning campfire these days for a propane campfire and it has honestly become a great piece of equipment in our arsenal. It's nice not having to find a place to stack half a cord of wood in the back of the truck with all of our gear, so today we have 2 auxiliary ports on the Olli just for that. Typing on a tablet is OK but tomorrow is a new day and we will be making the 7 hour drive home while towing our friends trailer for her, so I will check back and add some more next time ;) Reed