Leaderboard

Your eyes see the beauty, yet what the camera captures is only a fraction of the reality, Lake Guntersville is one of those places. I am reminded of Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi - There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home. We arrived late Tuesday afternoon, traveling the short distance from Hohenwald where we had some service work completed. The drive into the park is full of beautiful scenic vistas of the lake and covered tree lined forested roads. The campground is located about 5 miles inside the 6,000-acre park. We checked in at the Country Store just as the staff was getting ready to close up for the day. After a quick exchange of information, we were handed a map with our lot number and on our way. The campground is made up of semi-circles starting at the lake’s edge and going back up in elevation into the trees. Most if not all lots offer a view of the lake. We later learned that a tornado in 2011 fell thousands of the trees in the campground, they have replanted many and in time the canopy will return. There are before and after picture in the Lodge that shows just how many trees they lost. We camped at D18 right on the lakefront and close to the docks. Our pad was gravel and level with plenty of room to back in. There are a few concrete pads but most are gravel. Well placed 30/50 electric, water and sewer hookup made our setup effortless. We had a stone fire pit, grill and picnic table that just beckoned to have us sit by the fire and enjoy the view. The grass grounds are well cared for and clean. The park is open year round and the staff could not have been any nicer. The Country Store offers everything you could need and anything you might have forgotten - firewood, ice, propane, fishing tackle, RV repair items and lots of drinks & snacks. The Bathhouses! Clean, modern and air-conditioned, with larger private shower stalls each with a locking door. Tons of hot water and water pressure that made showering an event you looked forward to after hiking or being out on the lake. The park has so many things to do that embrace its natural beauty. With over 30 miles of hiking trails, fishing, a golf course, boat rental, nature tours, geocaching and of course killer zip-lines through the forest canopy – there is something for everyone. Just sitting outside your Oliver and taking it all in came to the top of the list. The morning mist coming off the lake at sunrise with all the waterfowl beginning their day is otherworldly! Our Oliver Owner’s May Rally should afford us cool temperatures at night and pleasant days of discovery. We had the pleasure of meeting Sandy Tesney, Director of Sales. She is working with Coy Gayle (Our Owners Chairman) and Matt Duncan (Oliver Travel Trailers) to plan our May 2018 Rally. Sandy showed us around the Beach pavilion where our daily meet-ups for breakfast and cookout will be held. The pavilion is located just to the south of the campground entrance and a short walk from the campsites. Located right on the lake, this large covered octagon seats 250 and has great facilities for serving meals and group gatherings. In addition, we got to see the meeting rooms at the lodge where we will share a dinner and have some of our meetings. The lodge can easily host many hundreds of people and Sandy told us they hosted 23 weddings in just October alone. That fact alone, speaks to the grandeur of this place. The Lodge sits high up on a cliff above the campground and at night the lights make it look almost magical. If you are considering staying at the lodge, it is a grand retreat, with massive balconies overlooking the lake and a beautiful rustic interior. Sunset at the lodge is breathtaking and should not be missed! You can hike up to the lodge about a 40-minute trek or drive one of the two the paved roads. There is a full restaurant and bar that matches the high quality of everything about the park. Early morning or evening has the many deer come out along the roadways. We saw new fawns and large bucks, all going about their business as if we where not even there. If you have not booked your reservations to attend the 2018 Oliver Owner’s Rally, we hope our brief introduction to Lake Guntersville State Park stirs you to action. Merely call the park at (256) 571-5455 and ask for the discounted rates ($22 per night + taxes,) let reservations know you are with the Oliver Owner's Rally (Group Code 7066.) While Oliver Travel Trailers and other great vendors are sponsoring parts of our Rally, there is a $35 fee per person that we as owners pay to cover food and the park facilities. 100% of these proceeds go to the park. Many hands make light work – if you want to help make this event one to remember, volunteering is simple. With lots of small rolls that can make a major difference, contact Coy Gayle (gayleman@aol.com) like we did. We look forward to meeting all of you in this enchanting setting.

I can't imagine what Oliver expects everyone to do with a spin weld fitting and no tools to drive it. The "tools" required are a router with a 1/2" colette, with at least 1 HP, for that size fitting, and the drive tool itself. The router must be a certain design that allows for removal of the base plate, has a particular type of switch and is not too long. Plus it requires an operator that knows how to spin weld, or the tank can be damaged to the point where it becomes very difficult to repair. That "kit" is further evidence that Oliver just doesn't seem to get it. Who is the qualified person to do the work and who is responsible when a tank is damaged in the process? How many RV repair shops have the right router and the experience to install spin welded fittings down in a compartment with limited access? I designed this repair and all the fittings and procedures required, then I offered to do some installation work out west through my company Active Energy Corporation. I even called Oliver, and left a message when nobody answered, to see if we can arrange for some of these to be done and discuss how to do it. A video was posted on the process. But I have never even had a call back from Oliver. I'm glad all the new trailers have the improved fittings, but I wonder why they think that simply sending a fitting out to current owners will solve their customers problems. Now they are even talking about setting up qualified repair stations for other problems, but they only offer silence toward the tank repair. My water tank pickup tube design is an excellent fix for a mistake Oliver made. I've done it to mine and I've done it to Reed and Karens trailer. I've posted pictures of the parts and Reed posted a video of the procedure. It works perfectly. I called Oliver to talk to them about it and never heard back. Then they claimed there wasn't a problem at all. Now, they are installing it in all their new trailers. Interesting. It might be interesting to call Oliver and ask them what they expect you to do with a spin weld fitting and none of the other required parts. I love my Oliver LE2, but I wonder how they can can be successful while being unable to follow through with repairs, or do warrantee work, without requiring an owner to drive, in some cases, 2000 miles. There is a lot more infrastructure required than they seem to be willing to deal with. But they are quick to tell us that we are "part of the Oliver family" once we buy one. What does that mean exactly?

The next is the center TV mount that flips up for travel. Thanks to Windwalker for this idea. I used an aftermarket bracket and added a loop of 1/8" nylon cord to help hold it up during travel:

The next is the water tank fix: I designed a dip tube and spin welded a fitting to the top of the tank to install it. This fixes the problem of not being able to access all the water in the tank. It works.