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Bill, Thank you for reminding me the picture of Buddy is out of date. He has turned into a true rascal of a boy. He goes to Doggie Day Care each week so he can play with his doggie friends. I am way too boring for the little guy seven days a week. At Day Care he is known as Muddy Buddy since he absolutely loves rolling in mud puddles! I support his activities as long as he understands a bath will follow each day care day. He understands and perhaps he is too tired to complain. The pics below capture the transition. This is prior to his haircut. I naively thought maybe a haircut would help him stay clean. Here we have Muddy Buddy after his haircut. He just seemed to get dirtier! Buddy in his bath. Buddy after his bath and a good brushing. He cleans up well. Here he is looking at me with the question, "So Dad, when do I go back to Doggie Day Care?" The little rascal!! Buzzy

Our county is a mess, but a lot of help from everyone. We saw trucks from Union, Illinois in the parking lot near our inland condo this morning. Since virtually everyone in the county lost power,it was a huge and welcome surprise to see trucks from 18 hours away. Thank you guys!!! We very grateful that our home is unscathed. Trees down, and at our daughter s home, near the neighbors roof. We'll get it done. We're actually home tonight. No power anywhere, but we can deal. our dog is a bit upset with all the moving around. So many people had it worse than us. We're helping neighbors now, and hope to move beyond the neighborhoods when we can. So many places got it way worse than us. Thanks for all your positive thoughts, and prayers. just a mile away, it's far more ugly. I'm so grateful.

Back in the day, when Oliver was just beginning to have a presence on the internet, I started the Oliver and molded fiberglass facebook page. Here is the link to it, note the URL It's actual name was "Oliver Posse" ! https://www.facebook.com/groups/oliverposse/

Oliver Friends Oliver Buddies Oliver Family

How about giving a nod to our close proximity to fiberglass maritime design with the use of Flotilla or an altogether new words like Towtilla or Olitilla????

Buzzy - Even with the bad news it is good to hear from you. Certainly it is good to see the picture of Buddy. What a fine companion he has grown to be. Both Buzzy and your spouse may have left you in the physical world, but, they will always be with you in your heart and mind. Listen to them and keep your heart open to them because they both still have much to tell you. I travel in Twist alone 85 to 90 percent of the time. That doesn't put me in the same league as Boskar who is really alone virtually 100 percent of the time - I know Pete is there in physical form but the mental side is lacking a bit. Yes, I miss that extra set of eyes and ears and the sharing of simple things. But you will develop your own routine for the routine things. It is when that routine is changed that things can and/or do go wrong. In these times - listen to your inner self, listen to those hairs on the back of your neck telling you that something is not right, listen to that sixth sense, listen to your spouse and Buzzy telling you that something is not right. All will be OK - if you let it. I'd pm Pete and Boskar - Pete can be bought with a bottle of cheap white wine but Boskar will probably cost you considerably more. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you and I'm sure the same goes for all of us. Bill

For sometime, my wife and I have been unhappy with sleeping on the cushions that come standard with Elite Travel Trailers, not to be confused with the larger Elite II, standard with mattresses. I purchased a single sized foam mattress but this too was unwieldy, not fitting either bed well. I had talked to other Oliver owners and was referred to Southern Mattress located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. I contacted them and they indeed confirmed they would custom make a mattress for my Oliver Elite. My conundrum was how I could configure the mattress to access the components and storage areas under the seats. A full sized mattress would be just too much to lift and hold in place as I pulled out storage items, much less to try to work on a component (electrical, hydraulics, water, etc.). As I explained this to my wife telling her I wanted to split the mattress in half, she pointed out it would be very uncomfortable, sliding down in the crack. She said " split it where the bench ends, 1/3 and 2/3s. The crack will be at your knees and you will not feel it". I contacted Southern Mattress and they agreed to cut it where ever I wanted it cut. I traveled to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and found this to be a family owned company. I arrived in late afternoon and the owner took me to his home. There, we hooked up my trailer with electrical and water on a pad next to his home. The next morning I pulled my trailer to the factory and they began to make my mattress. With each step, they asked me to approve the work, include changes I wanted made, etc. they measured the trailer, made the pattern and asked if I wanted extra room to be able to put bed linens on the mattress. The pattern was a good fit for the 2/3 - 1/3 combination. In short, I was very pleased with the mattress. I selected a 5" firm foam with another layer of soft memory foam. That night, I had the best sleep ever in my Oliver Elite. I also had a mattress made for the smaller dinette/bed. I used the single sized foam mattress that I had purchased earlier in the year. Southern Mattress did not object to this. Again, they cut the foam to the 1/3-2/3 combination. Each matress was covered in a premium quality quilted cover, fire retardant and straps sewn in to make moving easy. The mattress was double sewn all the way around to reinforce the straps. By noon, I was on the road, headed home. That night, I slept for the first time very comfortably on my new custom-made mattress. It now slides over easily and stores on top of the other matress while I access the storage and component areas. If you are interested in a quality mattress, custom made, they now have patterns for both the Elite and the Elite II. They can custom make you a mattress and ship to you. They do not press the mattress in a roll. Rather they box the mattress and ship it to you. Southern Matress Company 1812 Cokey Road Rocky Mount , North Carolina. 800-227-8701 Below are pictures of my mattresses in my Oliver Elite. Coy

I know I am stealing a line from a Nick Jonas album, but it best describes 2017 for me. 2017 has been challenging, so I have not been able to stay connected with the Oliver Forum community. In February, my beloved dog Buzzy died. In June, my spouse died. So, 2017 has been a year with no camping. Sad, but those things happen. Fortunately, my new dog Buddy and I plan to help each other as we camp in Ollie in 2018. He is not yet a camper, but will be! I still have many estate issues to resolve, but should be able to reconnect with our community toward the end of the year. Meanwhile, I hope everyone continues to enjoy camping in the best camper on the market, an Oliver Travel Trailer! Buzzy

Got a call from Anita today. Turns out production is running ahead of schedule. We were scheduled to pick up our trailer Oct 30, but now can pick it up as early as Oct 2!!!!!! Needless to say, I didn't get much work done today as I am so giddy. The challenge is going to be schedule rearranging to try to get there. She said of course they will hold it for us if we can't get there before the 30th, but how can I sleep soundly knowing it's just sitting there waiting. I am on cloud 9 today! - Angela

That's great, always good to hear news like that. We were just the opposite, our schedule slipped from early October to the first part of November, so missed the October great camping weather. By the time we got home a wicked cold front came through and the temps were close to zero, real bummer. Enjoy your first trip. Stan

Sorry for your loss, Your postings and videos have been very helpful for Jane and I in making the decision to purchase our Oliver. thank you

Buzzy, Clair & I are thinking of you as you go thru this very sad time in your life. I, personally, can not imagine losing my sweet Emma or my loving husband as you have experienced. I lost my father in April so I do understand all of the estate issues involved. They can be very trying when you are dealing with grief. Please take your time as you go thru the healing process. Buddy will be a great comfort. You have many friends here, sending hugs & prayers your way. We are all anxious to see you out enjoying your life again and posting your words of wisdom here. Best Wishes,

Dominion Energy has sent hundreds of employees and equipment from Virginia to Florida to aid in the restoration process.

SeaDawg Yesterday morning while on the way home to Amelia Island we stopped for gas in Waycross Georgia which is about 40 miles north of the Florida and Georgia state line. While there a huge convoy of out of state utility trucks passed heading south at a high rate of speed with police escort both front and back. The Waycross police were blocking all major cross streets to let them by. There's a lot of resources moving in. We are lucky and just have to clean up of our yard full of downed limbs and debris. We are also working on an elderly couples yard and driveway next door who are still at a shelter nearby. Lots of neighbor helping neighbors on our street. We have the Oliver fully stocked and backed into our driveway as we wait for our power to be restored. Keep us updated. Hap Hap.

Or an Ollie Cluster

Passel of Olivers....An Oliver Passel!

When we have two or more motorcycles in the garage, we call it a herd, or getting rid of some, thinning the herd, "Herd of Ollies".

Buzzy, I'm terribly sorry to hear about your loss. I wish that I had a wonderful piece of advice for you, but unfortunately I don't. Just know that you have friends here and elsewhere that you can lean on whenever you need.

You need to give yourself some time to mentally recover and most counselors will say take 3 to 5 years after losing your spouse to stay single and recover. Basically, you want to take enough time to let you feel good about your life and get back to making good decisions again on your own. I solo camped for 7 years in many places, thru many states and I have plenty of friends to visit from coast to coast. A lot of the time in the beginning, I preferred to be alone and I spent much of that time watching others so that I could learn how to feel normal again. The emptiness was tough at first and right now for you, it's a new beginning where you will be second-guessing yourself, while thinking about the ways that you would have done things together. You make movies, and for me, this was a big part of my recovery. You know what it's like now being alone, you know how it feels at its worst. I would sit out in the woods for hours, swimming in emotion and regaining control of my life. A lot of the time I spent just talking to myself in front of the camera just so that I could go back and see how far that I had come. Because you will always remember just how you felt at that time, when making that little clip, I recovered, then remarried 7 years later. In that time I put out a bunch of movies that to this day, continue helping others, but many other hundreds of hours never made it to the public because it was for my recovery, for me to be able to see myself and know exactly where I was. Honestly, you don't need much when solo camping and for me, the first thing that I noticed was that it didn't need to cost anything to camp. In those first few years of being alone, I rarely ever stayed in campgrounds, only if I was visiting a National Park and you will be shaking your head at how much it costs for you to live now, compared to when you were a couple... :) There's so much more, but don't sweat over details, just set up your Ollie your way now, for you and you alone. Then set out and don't look back. Find new friends on the road, enjoy your new beginning. It really helps to have a network of friends and you have made a bunch right here, so start visiting everyone when you feel ready :) Reed

How about a basket of olivers...as in eggs?

A great idea. First to mind is: a Town of Olivers, maybe as in tow'n. There are places that Olivers visit, from metro areas to a ghost town, that are named towns. Some places we visit only have two housing units, (some have less), and they are called towns. But if you ever see two or more Olivers , at the same time, they are probably together. As in a small town. But, if we have a town, do we have to elect a Mayor? At first I liked Pod, but the connotation of a group of whales in the middle of the highway seemed to be slightly negative. Especially if they were holding up traffic? A gathering of baboons is called a congress, so that is definitely out.

I finally have enough bandwidth to say that we are all ok. The storm moved east late, and we only had force one or maybe two. Not sure. I turned off notifications, and ent with my gut, and the radio. Lots of trees down, including ours, and our daughter and neighbors. We're busy trying to help everyone we can. Everyone is tired. And also grateful that we didn't experience a huge storm surge. No one I know has power. The county is littered with down wires , poles, and major debris and trees, as we expected This morning I made coffee on the camping stove. Another neighbor made pancakes. We'll get on Hoping.g all of those affected worse than us rebound. It's a huge, and ugly, storm. A huge grateful thanks to first responder s and power company employees. We love you,veben though I sit in the dark. It is what it is. Sherry Working off my brick. No power anywhere available. Signing off