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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.

We would like to announce the location and dates for our 2018 Rally. The 2018 Oliver Rally will be held May 4-7, 2018 at Lake Guntersville State Park in Alabama. Lake Gunterville State Park offers many fun activities including an 18-hole golf course, fishing, hiking and biking trails, boat rentals, ziplining and more. More details to come. For now we ask to hold off on questions. We will update the webpage dedicated to the Rally as we get more information. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/rally/

Thank you. I will look on door when I get home from my business trip. I have the automatic transmission with the manual shift buttons, that should work. Don

Nope... never been there. We chose the E section because of people we know on the forum. Might not be too late to change. And... no worries... People will be able to find the ONLY red Oliver at the rally. :-) Travel Safe and see you in 2018 Gregg

Thanks for the awesome write up on Guntersville. It's going to be a great time for everyone!

Hi everyone, I have been compiling a list of folks who have registered for the rally. There will be quite a lot of us and thought it might help people get to know each other. Put a name to a forum face. OK... i have a horrible memory and this is for me. But, I am happy to share. Please send me a PM if you would like to add information to the list. (either I missed you completely or some info is missing) This info is all compiled from this forum but if you don't want to be on the list please let me know and I will make the adjustment. Thanks.... Here is the list of so far: Names Forum Name Spot # Lives at Hull # Gregg & Donna Scott ScottyGS E-17 NJ 145 Steve & Tali ScubaRX E-9 TX 50 Brandi Shaffer Bshaffer B 06 TX 10 Mike & Carol Thompson Mike and Carol E-10 TX 135 Greg & Janet Gato Greg & Janet Gato F 42 FL 122 Grayson & Ann dharmardr E 13 CT 112 Mike & Gerri MikeandGerri E 22 ? 189 Foy & Mirna Foy_Mirna G-24 FL 227 Laura & Dean (casita) DeanCHS1980 D-4 KY Casita ? trumpetguy D 8 FL Airstream Supersize Life SupersizeLIFE E 31 AK 249 ? dedrol E 21 OH 238 Clair & Kathy Clever Beast Kayrae51 ?? TN 245 David Stillman DavidS D-10 UT 164 Don Thompson donthompson E-39 IA? 126 Dennis & Pat G 15 NY 153 Malcom and Ursula M. Monlezun ?? CO 204 Bill Topgun2 G13 NC 117 hardrock hardrock ?? AL 73

I've been learning a lot here. Lots of great ideas and techniques posted and many thanks to all who have contributed. Having looked hard at my Elite and considering all that has been presented here, I can say for certain that the only way forward for me is to spin weld a fitting on top of the tank. There is just no room at all to work with the existing fittings, even using John's technique. The water heater tank mostly centers on the back of the FWT, completely covering its fittings, there is no room. Even if I was to remove the hot water tank, which would be a huge project for me, there still would be minimal room with high chance of failure. You can just make out the back of the FWT in this pic: There is a clear area on top to spin weld a fitting but it is about 12" forward from the rear of the tank. I guess this means I would have to use a longer siphon tube that would reach to the back of the tank, which is where I believe it should be located. Tape is hooked on back of FWT above fittings. I sure wish Oliver was a little more supportive about this issue. At least identifying shops that could do this work for us folks who live very far away from Hohenwald. I told them about this issue 04/15 when we kept loosing prime on our trip home. It didn't take long to discover the problem. I still am in disbelief that, as well conceived as the Olivers are, that this PITA water system ever got off the drawing board. Sure glad we all have each other to help make our Olivers what they should be- the very best! Dave

All To date, (Oct. 28)we have 30 trailers registered for the rally. While there is no hurry to register, the choice for trailer spaces will be less to chose from. Looking forward to a great rally in Guntersville, AL Coy

On our way home to Florida after our Ollie factory tour, Duke & I stopped by the Lake Guntersville State Park. All I can say is that this is the nicest State Park I have ever visited! We hope to attend the May Rally & meet everyone!

Jason Essary at Oliver advised me that the only way to make sure there is no drain on the batteries in storage is to disconnect the cable to the negative post in the battery compartment. I have 4 6-volt AGM batteries. There is a main negative cable that is easy to disconnect. This is the method I used until yesterday. I now have electricity in my indoor storage space, so I won't have to do this in the future! Don

Thanks for the rally update Matt. We made our campsite reservations long ago and most likely wouldn’t have noticed that we need to register with Oliver too. I’m pleased that we can do the Oliver registratioon online.

Crucifix for spiritual oversight and as a reminder to pray for our many blessings.

I love the advance notice and the time of year! Most everyone can work this into their spring travel plans. Did I read zipline? on my bucket list, along with rope course.