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Floresville issued a voluntary evacuation. They are projecting 70mph winds for tomorrow. We don't have our camper shed built yet, so we loaded up the JellyBean and took off. We are hunkering down in Burnet, TX at Inks Lake SP. Had to bring the dogs. Weenie dog fits fine. It's another story for the Great Dane! Lol.

AKA, how to keep your kitchen gadgets inside the drawers when traveling, where they belong. And to keep from busting the latches away from the wood. The standard Soft Close system is cool but totally hopeless in terms of keeping the drawers closed if there is any weight at all in them. Especially on twisty roads where there are repetitive G loads to the left.... Oliver offers some additional latches that mount behind the drawers but they are flimsy plastic, problematic to install and you lose that lovely Soft Close feature. I chose to install 1 inch nylon webbing and stainless footman loops. I chose black since I knew they would be hard to keep clean, and I preferred high contrast so I could see at a quick glance that they were installed and tight... You may prefer white webbing. All the parts are very high quality and came from Raingler Nets. Qty 2: Footman loop 1 inch PAIR. https://raingler.com/products/footman-mount-set Qty 2: Tie down strap 1 inch x 72 inch, with pvc coated flat hook. https://raingler.com/products/tie-down-strap-with-hook Qty 1: Steel flat hook PAIR, pvc coated. https://raingler.com/collections/hardware-accessories/products/flat-hook-set?variant=23658618433 I did swap the plated screws for stainless, and I waited until I was finished to trim the excess webbing. I ended up removing 20 inches from each. That leaves a short length for grabbing and lets you loosen it up enough to unhook and remove each strap, without having to completely unthread the webbing from the buckle. This also keeps the loose hooks from getting lost. When not towing, I store the two straps in the bottom left drawer, which is my electrical/ junk drawer. They work great, and provide good peace of mind when the roads get interesting. John Davies Spokane WA

I spent the morning bringing in lose items, putting away umbrellas and generally getting ready for some weather. The trees are now waving and the rain has started. We're projected to get 8" of rain this weekend with winds at 30-40mph. We're 170 miles north of Corpus Christi where Harvey is making landfall. Our son and family in Houston are supposed to get 20+ inches of rain. It's going to be an interesting weekend! Our trailer is tucked away in covered storage. Mike

Reed, I like the second cutting board. What size is that?

Have been watching the news all day. Have many friends & family members in Texas. Hoping that everybody has battened down the hatches & found a safe place to go. After living in FL for 23 yrs I know this is no fun at all. Brandi...love the photos! The quarters may be tight but you are safe & everybody looks relaxed & happy!

Steve - I use that stuff all the time for cleaning my tires and wheels. Do not let it dry on virtually any surface. The cheapest price that I've been able to find is at WalMart. Bill

Those are the valves that are used to switch from "standard" pressure shore water hookup to Boondocking (i.e. drawing from the fresh water tank) to using the water pump to suck water into the fresh water tank from a non-pressurized source (i.e. five gallon bucket). Bill

Mike & Carol - our thoughts are with you guys and certainly with those directly in the path of this thing. Good luck and if there is ANYTHING that you might even think we could do to help, just yell. Bill

Tali and I participated in the original design conception for the Oliver Elite II. We had previously owned one of the original 2008 smaller Oliver elites with the stove turned vertically. I suggested at that time that the stove be turned horizontally to create more perceived counter space. That is how it became the "standard." I did not like having to reach across the front burner to the rear. All the observations made by everyone else are valid and it really boils down to which is your personal preference. The amount of counter space is exactly the same no matter which way the burners are turned.

Our white vehicles sit under some kind of tree that provides a ton of shade in the summer but they also drop gallons of sap all over them. A year of so ago The Outlaw Oliver sat out of the garage for a month while I was working on it. The top got so much sap on it it was almost black. I went to NAPA and asked the guys for a recommendation and they suggested this. It did a good job of removing the black stains, although not without some scrubbing.

I don't think that "303" will help solve your black streak problem. For those streaks under the "porch" lights you are going to have to seal those gaskets with something - Captain Tolly's Crack or you might want to call Richie (he took Jason's job in customer service since Jason is doing other stuff) - at 931-306-9232) and ask if he still has some of the sealer that was given out at the 2017 Owner's Rally for this purpose. I've used any one of a number of brands of "detailer" that are sold in auto stores and WalMart to clean both the porch light and other black streaks - its easy, spray on wipe off. Good Luck! Bill

Bill, we saw you folks as well on I 40 heading East. We were just heading West going up Black Mtn. with our Elite II #208 and red 2017 Tundra tv. We stayed overnight at KOA Asheville West then onto Riverbend CG in Hiawassee, GA for a week. Must have seen 6 or 8 eggs heading East on I40 on the 22nd!

We didn't have a choice in the original, smaller Oliver, but I like the sideways mount. It's not only a splatter guard, but a nosy dog guard. Our little dog would never try to poke around the lid... No big deal to operate the controls from the left side. I would, personally, love to have the extra counter space inches created by the sideways mount in the bigger trailer, with the wider counter. Sherry

Look forward to seeing the the finished product! lol! This combo came up in our discussions too but for a different reason: Go Thunder! ????

Good point about the cover flipping to the right. On the Oliver Facebook page someone posted a photo of an Ikea-like shelving system that they mounted on the wall behind the sink & stove that the cover might interfere with if it weren't sideways. We did. We hope since our Ollie build won't begin until November, that when we go up in October if we don't like our choices we can change them. It's unsettling to select something sight unseen that is rather pricey. Floor - Seagrass; Fabric - Tuxedo Grey; Blue & Orange stripes - Go Gators!

Bill I called campground reservations this morning to determine the number of people that had registered to attend the rally. I was told that we have only 16 registered for the rally. However, it appears that there are a significant number of Ollies that are attending the rally based upon the surge of reservations for campground sites for that week. When making reservations, everyone should use the code 7066 to receive the rally discounted rate of $20.00 per night for a campsite. If someone has not registered using this code, please contact Guntersville Lake State Park Reservations at (256) 571-5455 to receive the discounted rate. This also provides a headcount # so we will know how much food for the meals we will provide Coy

Also... I went down to Guntersville State Park last weekend. We did the Phase Two zip line tour. It was a ton of fun! The views were priceless! A few of the zip lines are about a half mile. This is pretty much the only one I didn't get all the way to the end and had to pull myself into.

Daniel... you cannot go wrong with an Oliver. The width. The value per square foot of floor space. The smart use and upgraded interior electronics are all great features... and I have not seen one in person. Yet. It is not unusual when a couple or family buy their first trailer to discover... it does not work for them. They may be lousy at towing anything. Their tow vehicle is not appropriate. The family likes the $150 a night hotel accommodations much better than living in a 'tiny home'. New buyers of a trailer discover that 'backing up is hard to do'. Some are totally frustrated immediately. There is no school for trailer towing everywhere, and it is not cheap where there are such options. Most trailers owned by a couple who have not yet retired have virtually no wear. What a windfall for someone who knows a good deal when they find one. Oliver is a company that can make improvements, if needed, or updates when technology is tested and is a good replacement for value... immediately. There are no thirty year old Olivers out there. They are all virtually all modern inside and out. The other brand is 8 to 8 1/2 feet wide. An Oliver 23 or 25 at 7 feet. A go anywhere trailer. The stationary 'tiny house' is not much larger than the 25 foot Oliver and not mobile. For those who want to travel the National Forest roads... you are among a small group of trailer owners. For those who camp only at RV Parks... you will fit anywhere. A win/win.