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We arrived at our site at Rainbow Plantation…an Escapee Park near Gulf Shores on Thursday. Friday morning I got up and took our dog Nick outside to take care of his business. I came back in and was finishing breakfast when I needed to go back out to get something out of the truck. The door was locked shut and we couldn’t get out. We tried several times, but we were locked in! I crawled through the egress window and thought if I keyed in our code it would unlock the door…no luck.. I tried 2 or 3 times and still nothing. This time I tried the key and moved it to the unlock position…still nothing, then I tried the FOB and still…NOTHING. So here we were, I was locked out and Gerri and our dog were locked in. I called Oliver and talked with Jason and tried his suggestions…nothing. I called RV Lock company from where the lock came from and talked with Dave, a tech there. He had me tell Gerri to take off the 4 screws on the inside and then pull the red and white wires connection off. She did that…nothing…we were still 1 locked in and 1 out. I talked with Jason again and tried a couple other suggestions…nothing. After 1 hour of trying, it was suggested I call a certified rv tech to come and unlock the keyless entry. The RV tech worked for 2 hours following everything that Jason and the tech from RV lock told him to do via. the phone. Again, NOTHING. The RV Lock company said they had never had this problem before and definitely nothing like this. The lock was somehow jammed and was not unlocking. After 3 hours of trying, it was decided to do all we could to break the lock off. Finally we did, but by doing that, part of the door by the lock was damaged. We were now UNLOCKED, but no lock or handle on the door. We once again called and talked with Jason and it was decided that we should come up to the plant and they would replace the door and lock. So about 2:15 pm we bungeed the door shut and headed north. After about 7 hours of driving, we found a safe campground that had a spot for us. We then bungeed the door shut from the inside and went to bed. We got to Hohenwald around noon Saturday and Dustin met us there since Oliver graciously allowed us to park in the showroom/PDI area since we had no way to lock our Ollie. Anita was there so she let us in. We were allowed to borrow a key to the building so we could come and go as needed. Monday morning we took our Ollie to the plant and met Jason there and talked about the solution and possible causes. Jason said they would put on a new door and whichever lock we wanted…no cost. He also checked the egress window framing as we crawled in and out of that window several times while we were trying to fix it ourselves. Before we left, Jason said they were going to do some R&D on this problem to see what could have caused this. It could have been a total fluke with the lock, we don’t know. He said he would get back with us about what they found. For now, we put the traditional lock back on until I regain my confidence in the keyless entry lock. Oliver did an incredible job attending to our needs and fixing our Ollie so we could get back on the road. I cannot say enough for the positive support we received from the Oliver Company…100% Kudos. I don’t know of any other rv manufacturer that would have been as open and supportive as the Oliver Company.

Honestly, there's too much to list... And with all of the changes that Oliver has gone thru this year, it looks like they have a better hand on things now, then they did during the transition and remodeling of the office. Put some faith in the Oliver team and because it is an RV, expect to make repairs and changes because it's just an everyday part of life in any RV. Plus each trailer will have it's own set of problems or defects that can usually be fixed down the road and these are things that take days or weeks to appear. The one thing that I would add to the list is simply, learn everything that you can about the trailer before picking it up. There's a ton of info on here, Oliver has a ton of information and videos listed in the Oliver University section, I have my movies listed on my profile page, Buzzy has his listed on his profile page and every new trailer that comes out has its own modifications that weren't offered when we picked up our trailers. Others here just have their movies just listed on YouTube and I would love to encourage everyone to post your videos and important pictures on your profile pages here, maybe a video section could be added for people to post their videos? Do a search on YouTube and learn everything that you can before pick up because the list is constantly changing and growing :)

Who would like to join us on a caravan to the Quartzsite, AZ gathering this winter? We plan to leave here (North Mississippi) in mid January, drop south to I-10 and travel west, meandering and stopping along the way as the mood strikes us. It will probably take us a week or better to get there. I want to arrive in Quartzsite sometime around January 24th or 25th so as to catch the end of the 35th Annual Sports, Vacation and RV Show. If you’ve never experienced the “Big Tent” it’s sure to be a memorable event for you. We will camp approximately 5 miles west of Quartzsite south of I-10, alongside the Dome Rock frontage road. This is where the gathering is held each winter. The gathering is for all brands of Molded Fiberglass Trailers! The dates for the gathering are: February 5th to 8th - Early bird Quartzsite Pre-Gathering (Monday thru Thursday) February 9th to 11th - Main Event (Friday thru Sunday) This is BLM and although you must obtain a free 14 day permit, there is no fee for camping here. This is pure boondocking, as good as it gets. There are no hookups of any kind, no parking pads, no picnic tables or fire rings. Just hundreds of square miles of open hard packed desert. Clear blue skies as far as you can see. February daytime highs are usually in the 70's and nighttime lows in the 40's. It must rain sometime, but we’ve never seen it do so. The wind can blow pretty good though. Water and dumping is available in town as are good places to eat, grocery stores and a laundry. There’s either plenty to do or nothing to do depending on your inclination. Currently there are at least four Oliver’s that have plans to go. Let us know if you are interested.

Mike and Gerri - I hit the "thanks" button above not because I don't feel sorry for the situation you found yourselves in, but, because you recognized and appreciated the efforts put forth by Oliver to help you. Certainly this could not have been pleasant for the three of you. However, you still acknowledge the assistance that was given to you. Hopefully Oliver and the lock company will soon find a solution to what initially caused the problem. Bill

For many years we’ve had an annual Google Map produced for Molded Fiberglass Travel Trailer Rallies. 2018 Rallies are shown at https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=11P_08T4i-xRMwcBJo7V0ZxgJyck&ll=20.98468032985113%2C-119.57887642619619&z=3 Now RV Compass is producing a very similar annual rally map for full-timer gatherings (regardless of RV type). If you know of a 2018 rally/gathering for full-timers, please private message (PM) me. Provide event dates, name of event, location and an online landing page (website, FaceBook link, etc.) I’ll get it on the map. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1U5fh7AaIT5qwpK3XJkx7_exmj5dYaiue&ll=40.20608290535938,-106.77981606354979&z=4

When searching Buzzy's original checklist will now probably be listed as being done by Anonymous, he changed his login after that to his new Buzzy listing

I will be going to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) Jan. 10-21 and then plan on remaining for the Big Tent. Would very much like to meet-up with other Oliver owners. Especially would like to connect with owners located in the northern California - southern Oregon area. Frank McMichael Hull101

Ray & Betty Jo - Try typing "check list" into the search box. A member name Buzzy did one of these a couple of years ago and I know that John Davies has also done one. Both were fairly extensive. Bill p.s. in this search function you will also find check lists for all sorts of other things related to your new Ollie.

Reed, I've been reading up about altitude sickness. It is absolutely nothing to trivialize. Betty Jo and I were taken up to Trapper Lake in White River National Forrest by my nephew who at the time was the parks only LEO. From the parking lot you have to walk up a moderate slope to get to the lake. We were pretty much out of breath. I thought I was out of shape but then my nephew explained that we were above 10k ft. Sorry to hear Karen suffers from the effects so severely. Have you ever tried to stay for a few days at say 6k ft to allow further acclimatization? Taking that kind of steps about like deep divers avoiding the bends.

Wow, this sounds like an event of historic proportions. I wish it was closer to home.

We are planning to attend the Quartzsite Rally again this year. Had fun last year. Pure boondocking! The view from our trailer: Three Olivers at last years rally: Mike