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Sometimes, it's not all about the scenery. It's sometimes about the fire, and friendship We spent almost two weeks with Pete and Bosker. We swapped info, stories, (lies, haha) and, sometimes, we even swapped dogs. Bosker is in Paul's lap. Our dog Liv rules the universe from Pete's. Every day is an adventure. Both dogs love the Appalachians, as do we. Campfires have a way of rekindling old friendships. Sherry

So, you guys have us itching to go back to Australia, and camp the half lap around the west and north. We've camped the entire east and south coast and tasmania, but only as far west as Adelaide. The mdc owners group is really fun, like our own. We've met the nicest people camping down under. Thanks for the memories. I'm looking at flights and camper rentals ... We love camping in Australia and New Zealand. And, seeing the very interesting campers and caravans. Mostly, we've enjoyed meeting the Australian people. They're great campers. Lots of tent camper vehicles. No big campers Always fun, always interesting stories. Sherry

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

This could go in Modifications, but it really has to do with protecting the suspension and subframe from gravel rash and water while towing off pavement. Moderators, you can move it there if you like. This is an easy mod, you just have to get over your fear of drilling into your frame. Why would you want to do this? It will stop the paint on the axles, hubs and shocks from eroding and rusting (gravel rash). It will help to protect the plated finish on the steel subframe. It will reduce or at least soften the high pressure water blast that sprays up onto your spring bearings in wet weather from your tow vehicle, washing out the lubricant. It may help to reduce the blast on the rear bumper and bumper compartment. And it looks cool. The material is 1/8 inch sheet neoprene, cloth reinforced. I think it is used for conveyor belts. I located it in bulk at a local rubber supplier. A 3 x 4 ft sheet cost $90. The rest of the material was used elsewhere on Mouse. I cut two strips 12"x 26". They meet in the center and extend about 3 inches beyond the frame angle. The extended part will protect the shocks, which are pretty far outboard. Hardware is 1/4" x 1 1/4" stainless bolts, washers and nylocks (locking nuts). To keep the rubber off the steel I used 5/6-18 nylon nuts (full plastic, no steel) as spacers. They are a little hard to find - the box stores and Ace Hardware keep only a few in stock. You might be able to use circular nylon spacers, but these nuts work fine and are half the cost (about $0.60 each). Drill a neat row of 1/4 inch holes at 6 inch spacing along the bottom of the front-most steel cross angle. Use a sharp pilot bit first and it is not difficult, just a little messy. Wear eye protection and old clothes! Drill the rubber to match the spacing using a 5/16" bit. Clean the steel with a good solvent, not alcohol. Use of alcohol for prepping the parts before sealing will prevent the sealant from curing! Install the bolt and washer with the threads facing forward, with a dab of 3M Fast Cure 4000 or another excellent marine sealant under the head. Add another dab of sealant on the shank and push the nylon nut into place, and add a flat washer. Place the flap onto the threaded part of the bolt, add another washer and a nylock. Repeat for all the holes and tighten evenly. Unless you were frugal with the sealant this could be MESSY! You can use a good solvent like Acetone or MEK to clean up any messes. The rubber I used is curling since it was in a tight roll for six weeks. I think it will straighten out when exposed to wind blast and heat, if not I can install some stainless strips along the bottom to weight them down. John Davies Spokane WA

They used to be, but now they aren't. I think the change was with the 2019 model year but I'm not certain about that.

Thanks for sharing your blog 4-ever-hitched! I've found it's a great way to keep a travel journal – hope you keep it up! Janie (Hull #125) https://travelswithollie.com

I took The Wonder Egg to Alaska last year. It had everything in the front and below the belly band covered with multiple layers of Vortex and automotive paint to match my gelcoat. Overall, I was very satisfied. Nothing will ever chip my front lower section again, however, a few small bits of the automotive paint were chipped. These were easily covered over with touch-up paint from any auto store ... the key is to find the right brilliant white color match for your trailer. John's Stone Stomper gravel guard would preclude those tiny hits in the lower front. I spent 200+ miles on dirt roads in Alaska and felt very protected. BUT . . . The only bigs whacks my rig received weren't on dirt roads, instead, it was the numerous large construction trucks speeding in the opposite direction on narrow, paved two lane highways without adequate tarps on top, tossing off rocks and hurling stones from their wheels. I received a nice front windshield chip on the truck and one high placed chip on the front shoulder of The Wonder Egg. When you see one of those construction trucks approaching, the best course of action is to move to the right as far as possible and slow down until they pass.

Btw. I followed John's link to the portal. The comments on Black series weren't impressive. https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/black-series-hq-tips-tricks-and-learning.203716/ I hope the mdc isn't diluted to lower American standards.

I requested joining their 10,000 member facebook owners group. This, and the island queen (walkaround queen) are new models. At around 21 ft, it's a nice floorplan, for two.. Unlike John, I love the outdoor kitchen. The standard floorplan has a climbover queen, but has a big kitchen indoors, and an oven.The walkaround queen deletes the oven. Both have a tiny fridge, but lots of freshwater. Either is a great floorplan for two, and one grandchild. To me, it looks heavy for a single axle. Looks like lt tires. Big tires. Most roads in Australia have lower speed limits than ours . American price? 64k au is about 44k us, plus plus? I'll look forward to hearing your report after seeing it. Looks a bit top heavy to me, but maybe the dealer will let you test tow?

Don, I have never heard of MDC, what is their reputation in Australia? Like the Black Series, these are built for warm weather use only. I think the design looks great, although I do not care for the trendy glass bowl sink in the bathroom, nor for the sliding outside kitchen. The latter would be simple enough to remove if you wanted to use that volume for storage. Before I bought one of these Australian imports, I would want to crawl around underneath and inside for at least an hour, and look at how they run the wires and plumbing, and how stout things are like the “rock sliders” - are they cosmetic or do they actually function? How easy is to service appliances or electrical stuff when something fails? The video says that it has a diesel fired furnace, this is a huge plus for me, but I bet they use a propane one here in the USA, darn it... Has anybody at Expedition Portal discussed these? If not you might post your questions there and see what they say. .... https://expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/expedition-and-overland-trailers-retail-models.42/ Thanks for the info, those look very cool indeed. John Davies Spokane WA

Many similarities to the Black Series HQ15 and HQ19. Why can’t U.S. manufacturers produce something like this?

We doing the same investigations as we spend 50% + time on gravel. We are using Rock Tampers and they help but don't get the job done for us. There is a lot posted about clear 3m film and the like but we would like more protection than film can provide and a permanent low to no-maintenance solution. Vortext and Line-x spay on pickup bed liner materails are high on our list as a possibility. The Vortex looks really nice but there are no suppliers within a reasonable distance of our home and the cost is $3k+. We met with our local Line-x dealer last week that has done a great job on two of our pickups about spraying a "mask" on our Oliver. He has done several trailers (fiberglass and Alu) and said has had good bonding and overall durability with the Line-x process on fiberglass trailers. We were told "Line-x's boding to fiberglass is more than sufficient for the application/function of heavy duty rock protection. This said, it will not be as "bomb proof" as are applications on steel or aluminum pick-up beds. You can throw hammers onto Line-x in the bed of a pick-up with little if any damage. " We were quoted $800 for a full front mask (tongue to lower front marker lights to the bottom of shell seam). We discussed black but Line-x offers color matching so will follow up to see if white is a line-x option. We have yet to pull the trigger and are interested in what everyone will have to say about vortex vs line-X vs other film/coating options per Bobfirst's post.

John D: First, really cool way to avoid deterioration of the under side of the Ollie! A. I assume you are standing off the rubber from the frame with the spacers to avoid corrosion of your steel sub-frame. Correct? B. Scrap used conveyor belting is very available. It is used at airports, warehouses, mining, bulk material yards, equipment rental places and many more. Just look for an conveyor in a yard and you will find the old belts piled up. The former users of it are generally very willing to just give it away. What happens is that it physically gets damaged and they usually replace a lot more than just the damaged section. So there is just about always a lot of good belt sitting there waiting to be cut off. Another quality idea and execution from John D! Thanks, Geronimo John