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I left Ridgeway, Colorado this morning and enjoyed a beautiful drive through the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado. The scenery was incredible. Arrived at Hovenweep National Monument around noon and set up camp. I was the only camper until late afternoon--there are three other campers here now. Very remote and beautiful campground. I've posted some photos from the drive, the campground and a hike on a loop from the campground.

EDIT 08/11/18 Uploaded a (corrected) Numbers Revision 01 file and a (new) Excel Revision 01 file. Note: I will keep any future major updates or important comments in this first post. I do not want for them get lost in subsequent replies. If you are at all familiar with Excel or Numbers, this may be helpful. I was keeping my records in a variety of forms, and the data was getting increasingly messy and hard to interpret, so with the help of my wife I now have an all-in-one spreadsheet that I can update on-the-fly, as long as I have an internet connection. I back it up in the Cloud, so I can do data entry from my iPad at a campsite as easily as I can from my iMac at home. It has four tabs or sections. The first is the Trip log. The Date column "self-formats" so all the dates look alike. The Total column automatically updates when you enter the Trip (daily) number of miles. Don't mess with the figures in the TOTAL column. [attachment file=Trip log capture.png] The second tab is the Service Schedule/ Tech page. I have service reminders (stuff I need to do soon), torque values, service info and my Squawk List (aka the "Honey-Do List") - stuff I either want to or need to address, eventually. [attachment file=Service Tech Capture.png] The third tab is the actual Service Record, which includes all routine work, repairs, and mods. I did not include extra columns for cost and detailed lists - I summarized since a future owner would only need that rough data. The paper records are there if I need to get down to small part costs. [attachment file=Service Record capture.png] The last tab is an Inventory section, for me to keep track of loose stuff that is carried in the trailer, in case of loss. [attachment file=Inventory Capture.png] The sample file, which includes the data shown in the screen captures above, but not all my history, can be found at my Dropbox page. Follow this link for the NUMBERS file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u4fmo7ko7oxde6y/DAVIES%20SAMPLE%20RV%20LOG%20Serv%20Rec%20Inv%20REV01%20%20NUMBERS.numbers?dl=0 Follow this link for the EXCEL file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/07kvpx7u1d9l7bc/DAVIES%20SAMPLE%20RV%20LOG%20Serv%20Rec%20Inv%20REV01%20%20EXCEL.xlsx?dl=0 I strongly suggest that you save your file as a Master, duplicate it and work with the copy in case you mess up some how. Change all the entries and headers as you see fit. I hope it is useful to some of you. The first and third tabs print very nicely in Landscape, the other two work in Portrait. Use the "Fit to Page" option, print one tab at a time, and they will all stay on one printed page, so they are easy to read. Please let me know if there are any problems downloading or opening the file. I know very little about spreadsheets, but way more than I used to ;) John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks Don. We wanted to see Hovenweep a few years ago when we were at Mesa, but there was no time. We're thinking we might head back that way next spring to pick up what we missed. The campsite there looks pretty nice.

I recently posted about how Berts RV Service fixed my Truma AquaGo. When Bert was finished was finished, he wanted to hook a manometer to the propane line. If there are no leaks, the pressure should remain constant. He tried hooking it up to the stove, but the connection did not fit. I suggested he remove the access panel for the fridge since there is a propane connection there. He did that, and although he did not find a fitting he could connect the manometer to, he did discover something. When he pulled off the access panel and reached in he said “The drain tube is not installed correctly.” I learned is that the fridge has a tube to drain condensation from the fridge. On the Oliver this drain comes thru the fiberglass just below the lower access panel, and protrudes about an inch. This is just to the left of the steps. He said the problem was that the drain tube did not have a P-trap. Even I know that every sink has a P-trap. A P-trap is designed to collect water, and the water prevents gases from going from the sewer to the sink. If the drain tube on an RV fridge lacks a P-trap then hot air from the outside will conduct heat into the fridge. The P-trap acts as a barrier, preventing the hot air from entering the fridge. We were able to quickly make a P-trap by anchoring the drain tube to other things in the compartment, in two places, with some cable ties. I did a google search for “rv fridge p-trap drain tube” and found that others agree with Bert. I have posted previously in this thread that our fridge struggles to maintain temperature in hot weather. Bert said that the P-trap will likely solve this problem. I asked Bert whether this P-trap needs winterizing in some way. He said no, the small amount of water will evaporate quickly, and that the tubing is flexible and could expand if needed. Bert showed me the fins at the back of the top shelf of the fridge, below the freezer. These fins are designed so that water that evaporates in the fridge will condense on the fins, and then drip into a drip tray. This drip tray leads into the drain tube. Bert suggested that before starting on a trip in hot weather I should “prime the pump” by pouring a little water into the drip tray, so that the water fills the P-trap. Sounds like a good idea.

We got the Truma AquaGo water heater, and we have been happy with it. Until it started leaking last week… We were on our way to meet up with two groups of friends at Moon Lake, which is in the eastern Uintah mountains, north of Duchesne, Utah. The NFS campground is at 8100 feet, in an area with almost no cellular reception. We stopped for lunch at a rest area west of Duchesne, and since there were no rest rooms, we turned on the water pump and used Ollie’s toilet. When we came out of the trailer we saw water on the ground, and water dripping from the Truma AquaGo access panel. I opened the access panel and turned the water pump on and saw water gushing into the interior of the Truma AquaGo. Not good. Fortunately, there was no water in the compartment under the curbside bed. I opened the Truma AquaGo instruction manual, and it provided no guidance here. The manual said the unit had a 12 month warranty, but we picked up Ollie 23 months ago. Oh well. We had good cell reception at the rest area, so I called Jason Essary, who was very helpful. Although he did not have a quick fix, he did provide me with info on the RV service shops in Utah that they had used for warranty work, and he contacted them. He also provided me with info the two RV Service Centers near Salt Lake City that Truma lists on their website. Finally Jason confirmed that that we could isolate the Truma from the water system by closing the winterizing valve. Closing the valve prevented water from spilling out when the water pump was on. So we decided to go ahead with our camping trip, but without hot water in the trailer. We heated water for washing and dishes on our outside stove, like we did as tent campers. The camping trip was great, and I am glad our hot water heater problem did not spoil the fun. I called the two RV service shops that Jason had given me, and they said they don’t work on Trumas. I called the two shops that are Authorized Truma Service Centers. Airstream of Salt Lake City said they only work on Airstreams. The other shop said they don’t work on Trumas, despite being listed on the Truma website. I next called Truma, and was connected to Stewart Neville, Truma’s Regional Mobile Service Technician based in Southern California, and he was awesome. First, he was pissed that the Authorized Service Centers were of no help, and said that he would deal with them. Second, he asked me if I had the extended 2 year warranty. Huh? It turns out that when I picked up Ollie there was a form that said if I register the Truma online I get an extended warranty. I was pretty certain I had, and lo and behold, I found the email from Truma with the subject line Extended Warranty Confirmation. Remember I said we purchased Ollie 23 months ago? Advice. If you purchase an Ollie and get the Truma AquaGo, do the online registration and get the free extended 2 year warranty. So now I had to find someone to repair the unit. Two years ago a friend recommended a local shop. They have good online reviews, and I had used them to repack my wheel bearings. I called them, and they were unfamiliar with the Truma. I then googled “RV service,” and google autocompleted with “RV service near me.” Okay. I remembered forum posts suggesting that many RV repair shops are incompetent, dishonest, or both. (I am thinking about you, John Davies.) I found an independent guy, Berts RV Service, that had five five-star reviews on google. I know that reviews can be gamed, but these looked real. Additionally there was a blog post by someone who had used Bert Warner. And Bert was mobile. He came to me in his van, rather than me schlepping the trailer to an RV shop. Bert learned his trade working at RV dealer, before he went out on his own. He talked on the phone to Stewart from Truma, and learned how to remove and open up the Truma Aquago. He found the problem, a loose water connection fitting (correct word?) that was not even finger tight. He cleaned it, put on lots of Teflon plumber’s tape, and reconnected it. No leak! I was very pleased with Bert’s work. He used fresh butyl tape and silicone when he reinstalled the unit, and verified that there were no propane leaks. He even cleaned up the broken rivets and stuff from the floor. I had never heard of butyl tape, but it helps waterproof the chamber. I learned stuff watching him, and that doesn’t happen at a regular shop. All components can break, and I am glad I got this fixed. I don't want to dissuade prospective Oliver buyers from getting the Truma Aquago. We really like it. Bert told me he had looked up Truma Aquago online, and they have great reviews, unlike the Girard tankless water heaters. Leave it to Oliver to select the highest quality components. So, I'm a happy camper!

Does anyone else feel like they should be down on knees bowing up and down while mumbling, “We’re not worthy, We’re not worthy...”? John, thanks so much for sharing all your labors of love regarding your Oliver! Alison

Issue 1: Fan inoperative Issue 2: Fruit Flies or Gnats in toilet Models Impacted: All models delivered before 8/8/2018 Information: Nature's Head recommends using a 2-5 amp fuse for the composting toilet fan. Many models may have been produced with a 1 amp fuse in the converter for the fan and may result in it blowing. Fruit flies and/or Gnats may become a problem in the composting toilet gaining access via the top roof plumbing vent. Resolution 1: Replace the 1 amp fuse with a 5 amp fuse. You can use a 2, 3, or 4 amp fuse as well just as long as it is within Nature's Head recommended size of 2-5amps. Resolution 2: *Place a mesh screen, like the material used in the window screens, over the top plumbing vent pipe. You can also use products such as Diatomaceous Earth or Gnatrol as well. You would need to refer to the Nature's Head Compost Toilet manual for the recommended process for adding these products to your toilet. Please see attached manual. *By placing a mesh screen over the vent pipe you will need to periodically clean this to keep it from becoming clogged and causing a plumbing issue. Natures-Head-Composting-Toilet-Manual.pdf