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If heading toward Greenville, Maine be sure to check out Spring Creek Bar B Q in Monson, Maine. They are only open Thursday.,Fri., Sat., and Sunday though. (They just moved 2 doors north to a newer building from the picture)

Both Yellerstone and Tetons, plus the nearby highways and towns are absolutely swarming with visitors, like a kicked anthill. My advice is to wait until September, when all the little people are back in school and hopefully the air quality has improved. For a boondocking spot good for several nights or longer, try this.... http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/super-boondocking-spot-near-cody-wy/ On the ID/WY border south of Tetons, Palisades Reservoir is simply lovely with many possible camping locations. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/ctnf/recarea/?recid=54449 You don’t have to actually go into the parks for great scenery, and the crowds are gone. John Davies Spokane WA

UPPER SUNSHINE RESERVOIR. The area around Cody is insanely busy in summer, and finding a place to stay that doesn't require a reservation and $50 per night is very hard, especially if you do not have a fixed arrival date. It is one of the main "feeder towns" that tourists go through on the way to Yellowstone and Tetons. We wanted to revisit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and avoid the Parks, but we could not find a place to camp. A little research turned up this gem.... About 30 miles south lies Meeteetse WY, and due west are a couple of irrigation reservoirs; while both offer camping and water access, the jewel is the Upper Sunshine Reservoir, the western-most one. It takes about half an hour to drive there from the town, along a stunning valley with views of the jagged glaciated mountains south of Yellowstone. Most of the access road is high speed WY highway. The last 4 miles are well maintained gravel and dirt (possibly very slick when wet, definitely dusty when not). Location map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Upper+Sunshine+Reservoir/@43.968422,-109.1090158,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x534c5725b1e82ec9:0x278afb15aaf5ba06!8m2!3d44.0490298!4d-109.0627262 Run by the Wyoming Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is a well maintained area with lots of dispersed camping, a boat ramp, pit toilet and lots of fish. It is definitely brown bear country, and you must take appropriate food precautions, but all we saw were antelope and a little Jack Russell terrier that repeatedly weeweed on Mouse's wheel. It is very popular on weekends. Midweek, it is not crowded. Most of the day-fishermen pack up and leave by 400 pm. We elected to camp on the shoulder near the (non-busy) boat ramp because we were worried about thunderstorms. Some of the dispersed spots would be very greasy after a heavy rain and we needed to be gone by 700 AM to get to the Buffalo Bill museum by 800 am when it opened. Even in summer there were a lot of birds including some American Avocet, which has a cool "Doppler Shift" call and curved up bill, and we had never encountered any of those before. The sky was threatening and overcast, and we had a brief downpour at midnight, so we could not do any star gazing, but it should be a great location for that in better weather. Timelapse sunset: https://youtu.be/N8ejZg49EWQ Highly, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you are in the Cody area! Five stars, well maintained, isolated, free. Meeteetse is a pleasant, prosperous little community with a Conoco and a chocolatier, so it is a good spot to refuel the truck and the wife before heading to the Cody Mess. The highlight of the Cody Firearm Museum for me was: The Colt Navy 1861 revolver, serial number 1: [attachment file=IMG_6752.jpg] ...and the Longmire tv show display. Here is Walt's badge: ...and the entire display with his Winchester and 1911, and Vic's Glock and badge; I need to rewatch the series now..... John Davies Spokane WA

Stop and have a peanut butter Whoopie Pie and an ice cold Moxie to complete the experience. We are 2 miles off the Interstate, 40 miles N of Portland if you need anything...

23 dirt road miles in to a stop sign. Turn right on another dirt road for 13 miles to the CG. Roads are maintained by a combination (depending where you are) by different paper companies a nd the state. The CG has timed hours throughout the day for their generator to run. We saw moose, deer, and we're serenaded by loons every morning and evening. Superior fishing, canoeing, and kayaking. Plenty of space without tree cover to charge your batteries with solar...

Evidently the flat grassy area was where a big resort was before the war. It was later part of the POW compound. Water is pressurized all day, electric at specific time when the generator runs. It is the largest mountain lake in the Eastern U.S.. The wind blew with torrential rain one day and washed my camper. Too bad I was half way out and by the time I got back there was over 1/2" of gravel, stone dust, and plain dirt riding my running boards. Most of the area, for miles and miles and to the Canadian border have only a limited amount of logging roads. That applies to most of the area surrounding the northern half of the lake. There is also the newest National monument Park on the Eastern side of almost 88,000 acres and Baxter State Park..neither of which allow camping. A great mixture of Spruce and vegetation gives the air a crisp refreshing smell. There are plenty of coves, marsh and islands to explore, and some huge fish. Compared to the rest of the Eastern seaboard and tourist traps along the way, this is definitely a wilderness. (Shh...don't tell everyone about..it will become too crowded too)..

I am so spoiled - decided I want quality nugget ice for my drinks. Just ordered Opal Nugget ice maker on Amazon Prime (a countertop nugget/pellet ice maker - makes about one pound per hour and holds three pounds, so the literature and reviews claim). This thing is pricey for certain, but, hopefully will be a welcome comfort to trailer life when I pickup my Oliver LEII in April 2019. In the meantime, will definitely use it at home (not a fan of the cubes we have been getting from our Samsung kitchen refrigerator the past few years). What do you guys do for ice when camping? The Oliver freezer and ice trays? Purchase ice at nearest Store and keep it in an ice chest? Simply do without? Just curious.

That would be cool.....we will be there (Acadia) the first week of September. Will keep an eye out for you!

BLM - Bureau of Land Management. A lot of land in the western US is public and BLM managed. For instance, at Quartzsite, AZ where there is a fiberglass rally every winter (January) there are miles and miles of BLM land where you can camp for free. No utilities or designated sites, just lots of land. If you use the Ultimate US Public Campground App it will show BLM, FS (Forest Service) and utility areas where you can camp, state and national parks as well as county and municipal campgrounds. It’s the app I use for planning. If I can’t find anything near where we’re going then I go to Allstays which shows commercial RV parks. Mike

Yep, this last trip we stayed in campgrounds much more often than normal, and we learned that the best neighbors were always fellow fiberglass owners. In Glacier, we had set up on a spot without neighbors, but returned later to find we were surrounded by Casitas. Probably the nicest group of people we've run across while camping. For some reason Escape owners seem to keep off to themselves, but Casita and Scamp people seem to be not just invariably outgoing, but also people whom you don't mind hanging around with. And yeah, those wheeled McMansions must be too nice to leave because you never see those people. At Yellowstone, where the campsites are basically parking spaces, we felt like we were camping in an aluminum slot canyon. At least they keep to themselves - just the mysterious glow from all the TVs inside. I do wish the parks would put a major limit on those things. Something in the neighborhood of 23'-6" is probably a good number.

I wonder if there is a psychological link between wanting the biggest trailer on the planet and being clueless about the ramifications of that decision? Wanting to go "camping" but happy to cut the trees down to get in, or clueless about park rules or just totally lacking any respect. Reminds me of the guy with the emormous motorhome in Yosemite who ran his generator all day, even though they were outside chatting. Conveniently, for him, the exhaust vented on the side where we were. Midday, he felt compelled to wander over to my site and mention that my truck was parked incorrectly. Just a public service announcement, I guess. Trying to give me a clue, or something. What a jackass. Next, we'll see some enterprising manufacturer offer a "Chainsaw Option". Or an aftermarket company offer a "chainsaw kit" for problem trees. We'll be reading Amazon reviews about the speed at which it gets the job done. A blog will start up on how to avoid the rangers, or deal with the campers that had a branch land on their trailer, or just don't like the assault on the park. I've been noticing that people with fiberglass trailers, in general, and Olivers, in particular, are nice and generous people that put real thought into what they do. Folks I like to meet and get to know. I never thought I'd be so interested in going to organized rallys, but now I get it. The people are great to hang out with. Fun, unpretentious and helpful. We all have a somewhat common interest and like sharing the scene.

If you set the thermostat on Fan you can use the up/down arrows to cycle through hi/low/auto and it will apply to the AC as well.

I’ll chime back in with a plug for the Cradlepoint router as an alternative to both the Wi-Fi ranger and the Wilson WeBoost. The cradlepoint is essentially a Wi-Fi ranger and Jetpack on steroids, giving you the possibility of having two cellular connections (two carriers), two Wi-Fi antennas, and two external cellular antennas, along with wired Ethernet. For us it’s been a great solution. We have a dedicated Wi-Fi network for the trailer with excellent signal inside and out (more than strong enough to use from the truck while traveling), provided by great 4g service thanks to the external antenna. So we have internet and Wi-Fi calling without the need for an external Wi-Fi or boosted cell signal, though it can use an external Wi-Fi for internet if you want. Right now we just have AT&T unlimited service but could add second sim from another provider and the router will switch automatically as needed. There’s also an expansion tray available that I believe will allow you to use two connections simultaneously for a faster connection. The system was recommended to me by another Oliver owner with knowledge of the field that far outstrips my own. I went with his advice on trust but we’re finding that it’s an extremely powerful device that becomes more and more useable the more we learn about its capabilities. I highly recommend it, with the caveat that it isn’t a consumer product and therefore isn’t as user friendly I imagine as other devices. That said, it worked fine for us out of the box with minimal setup. One of my summer projects (hopefully) is to make an antenna mast for a Wilson directional antenna that will plug directly into the second antenna connection on the cradlepoint. That way we’ll have our permanent antenna on the roof and a more powerful antenna that we can put out for long stays or emergencies.

Depending on your language skills, you may find it helpful to download French to offline translation on google translate app. We made do with a phrase book, dictionary, and a lot of good will. We had a flat tire on the truck in a French town on the Gaspe. A nice young man with limited english skills, (but better than my French skills,) directed us back 10 miles or so to a great tire shop in an "English" town. The further you get from Montreal and Quebec City, the less likely you will be to find bilingual capabilities , in the small French towns and villages. But, we felt very welcome everywhere, and we always managed to get what we needed/wanted. It's part of the adventure... Do stop at some of the local cheese shops and creameries. Yum. Sherry

Hi Frances, OK, buckle up. Here we go with my $0.02 on the subject! At a very minimum if you are buying a used car you need to pull the CarFax report on that vehicle - see http://www.CarFax.com. You'll need the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of the car/truck in order to do this. You can buy just single car reports, but if you plan to do much shopping you can get a 30 day subscription to the service that allows for any number of reports to be generated. Understand that these reports aren't perfect, but they will give you a good idea of how many owners the car has had and for how long, what the real mileage is, and a reasonably good idea of whether or not it's been in a wreck, salvaged, etc. Numerous owners, major accidents, salvage activity, a series of dealer swaps, and any sort of mileage discrepancies are things that I would consider to be red flags about any given vehicle. It's possible that the report somehow doesn't include accident repairs (for example if the owner made the repairs themselves) so always have a qualified mechanic check the vehicle for any signs of body or frame work even if the CarFax looks clean. It's just my opinion but clean, low mileage, one owner vehicles bought from a dealer that specializes in that brand are *probably* your best bet. The optimum would be a local trade not bought via some form of auction. If you can actually talk to the prior owner so much the better! Obviously just about any kind of warranty, especially CPO (Certified Pre Owned), included with the purchase is a good thing. Be wary of expensive aftermarket warranties that may or may not be a good value, though ... Find a good local mechanic, whether the dealer for that brand or an independent, and pay for a pre-purchase inspection (PPI). This won't be terribly expensive but is very worthwhile if you're serious about a vehicle. This should NOT be a mechanic employed by the selling dealership! This PPI should include a compression test on the engine given that you'll be towing (and the former owner of the vehicle may well have towed as well). If you're really paranoid you can pay for an engine oil analysis to see if there are signs of internal wear or failure. I hate to say it, but consider buying an on-line subscription to Consumer Reports and check out their vehicle reviews and reliability rankings. I generally don't see eye-to-eye with these folks but if you're new to this game the information presented may be helpful. They'll tell you straight up if there are certain brands/models/years that should send you running in the other direction ... Check out the towing guides published for that model and year (usually available on-line from the manufacturer but also published by Trailer Life on an annual basis) to make sure that it has sufficient hitch weight capability and towing weight capability. I know that it sounds like vegetable soup but you need to make sure that you're within limits for both the GCWR and GVWR for the tow vehicle. Gross Combined Weight Rating is basically the maximum weight allowed for the loaded truck plus the loaded trailer ready to roll down the road. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is basically the maximum allowed weight for the loaded truck (truck + occupants + stuff + hitch weight from trailer). These ratings are a function of engine power, cooling capacity, transmission, tires, brakes, frame, etc. and are assigned by the manufacturer (and their lawyers). These ratings are not easily changed once a vehicle leaves the factory. The Oliver is relatively lightweight, so I doubt that you'll see any issues here for a tow vehicle of any substance. When all else fails, trust your eyes and your nose ... I'd rather have a vehicle with some signs of good honest use vs. one that's been dolled up by the seller in order to hide a problem of some sort. Steam-cleaned engine bays, for example, are one sign of recent major engine work. Overly perfumed interiors might be hiding a water issue or a smoking PO (prior owner). Fresh paint could signal a major accident. And so on ... Happy Hunting! Stuart