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My parents, an aunt and uncle, and I traveled the Alaskan Highway back in 1966. I was 11 at the time. In 1966 more than 1,000 miles of the AH was gravel. We traveled in a 1965 Ford Esquire station wagon pulling a Cox pop-up camper. We traveled the road in July and it had a few really bad sections but mostly we were covered in dust. That was probably a good thing! This guys video brought back so many memories.

I have a 2018 Ford Expedition with the 3.5 l turbo charged engine. We have only towed in the east (Appalachian Mountains) so I have no experience with the big mountains out west. The Expedition with max tow is rated at 9000lbs/900 lb tongue weight. We use an Anderson hitch. The Expedition tows quite nicely. Our payload rating is 1600 lbs. We have towed Oliver with a full tank of water and fully loaded with food and clothes, etc and have never had a problem with a lack of power. We have the cargo box on the front of the trailer, but we don't haul much in it. We generally travel with two slightly overweight adults and a 100 lb dog and other stuff in the Expedition. We haul 2 mountain bikes on the roof. Hope this helps.

Outdoors we have used the Thermacell and it has been fantastic. It protects a barrier of 15 or 20 feet (depending on model) around the device. We sit it on a table between us and have yet to be bitten. I haven't read if it is ok for indoor use but you might check. Sam's has them for a good price and I think Amazon and probably most big box store will carry them. Cindy

At my cousin's in Idaho next to some flooded alfalfa fields, so, lots of mosquitos. I think there's a small gap around the screen door where they were getting in. Got some Off repellent spray and used it on the bathroom window screen and the screen door. Almost no mosquito inside Ollie tonight. I'm not a fan of the Off and it is oily and smelly, but it really worked for us tonight.

I realize I might be an odd duck, but I can't say enough about this national monument. It's strange but I love it. There are about 50 campsites, first come first serve. No reservations. I pulled in today at 11:30 and had my pick of almost any site. Some too small for the Ollie but most are plenty big. There are nice flush toilets nearby and water faucets spaced throughout. Most sites aren't too close together.

Back when I installed my Victron inverter, I talked with Oliver about how they should offer it, and one reason they didn't want to touch it was because it was too complicated. Things change. One nice thing about the Victron is that Oliver could potentially diagnose and change software settings remotely. This seems similar to a problem that I ran into with my Victron when installing it. When the inverter was plugged into a separate controller/display, then it would wait for the controller to tell it to power up. That was normally fine, but if you were starting everything up cold, then the controller wouldn't see that you had an inverter to turn on, since it hadn't been powered up. So the inverter was waiting for a signal to turn itself on that could only be sent if it had already turned on and announced itself to the controller. The solution was to unplug the controller so that the inverter would default back to its internal controls and turn itself on. Then you could plug the controller back in and everything would be fine from then on. They've since fixed that with software, but it definitely gave me a scare when after installing everything, the big moment came to turn it all on and... nothing.

Btw, many of the highways in Canada and Alaska are actually quite good, and most are scenic. Don't let the tales of the poor roads keep you from the adventures. Just plan ahead to travel in your comfort zone. For those of you, like us, who are missing our Canadian adventures this year and last, here's a new little video from JRNY media, and gorving Canada that shares just some if the beauty that makes the drive worthwhile. It's short, encapsulating a 7 day trip by friends through the Canadian Rockies. Places visited: JRNY media's RV adventure: -Abraham Lake A.B. (Preachers Point Campground) - Salmon Arm B.C. (Salmon Arm Camping Resort) -Squamish B.C. (Squamish Valley Campground) - Fairmont Hot Springs B.C.( Fairmont Hot Springs RV Resort) - Canmore A.B. (Wapiti Campground)

Can you apply a UV protectant to slow down the damage? 303 seems to be the one that is most hyped, I have tried it and it seems like Armorall, I am not at all impressed. OTH this is terrific and I use it mostly as a tire dressing and to wipe down rubber and plastic parts in the engine bay to keep them looking new... It does not stay shiny and become a dust magnet like silicone based products. https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/vinyl+rubber+dressing.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search I highly HIGHLY recommend it, I just don’t know if it will help the keyboard cracks…. If that is due to the manufacturer’s poor design or his material choice, it may be like putting lipstick on a pig. John Davies Spokane WA

In the interest of complete fairness to Kool-Aid: Flavor Aid is a non-carbonated soft drink beverage made by The Jel Sert Company in West Chicago, Illinois. It was introduced in 1929. It is sold throughout the United States as an unsweetened, powdered concentrate drink mix, similar to Kool-Aid brand drink mix. The drink became linked to the Jonestown mass murder-and-suicide when it was learned that the cyanide poison taken by or forcibly administered to the commune's members was placed in Flavor Aid. Large barrels filled with the grape variety, laced with the cyanide and a variety of tranquillizer drugs, were found half-consumed amidst the hundreds of bodies. Kool-Aid, rather than Flavor Aid, is usually erroneously referred to as the drink used in the massacre, most likely due to it having become a generic trademark. The association with Kool-Aid has spawned the figure of speech "drink the Kool-Aid" but is regarded by some sources as a factual error. And now, back to our regular thread...

We've never driven the Dempster, but met people who've driven it in good, dry weather, in little sedans. It's really about timing, and road conditions. The day we drove the Dalton, to the arctic circle, from Fairbanks, was awful. Weather (unprrdicted) changed to rain. Lots of mud and construction. Extremely slippery, and had to keep forward momentum or lose it. Paul did a great job. On the way back (we drove it in one day, eschewing the idea of camping for free above the circle, because of the incredible mosquito swarms), we stopped to talk to the guard at the top of the valley run, probably 2 miles. He said it was worse than when we came in. A huge flatbed behind us, with a big drill in the bed, came up. We moved over and let him go first. Followed a quarter to a half mile behind. It was perfect. He squished the trail, with his heavy truck and load, we followed, at twice our speed going up. No rock spray. Our return was relatively delightful, compared to the mess going up. No fwd.

Most good lithium systems, like battleborn and the systems Oliver installs, will lock you out when you drop below acceptable levels, unlike fla and sealed/agm batteries. . That level may be down to 20, or less reserve capacity. That's part of the beauty, and expense, of lifepo batteries. Less weight, and more capacity in the same space. That said, we're still on the fence. Lots of $$ if we replace our agms with lithium, in the next few years. Since agms (and fla before) served us well, we'll see. I'd love the extra capacity on our two battery tray, in an original 2008 Elite 1 shorty. I also find it not that difficult to limit power, and camp with cheaper agm.

That’s slim Potato head he has a decent YouTube channel. He lives in Canada travels everywhere May or may not get some good pointers from his channel.

No, I wouldn't count Chicken. 🙂 Tok is the crossroads, no matter which way you drive in from Canada, and we always stop there for a night at one of the nearby campsites. Speaking of Chicken, and Top of the World highway, do choose your weather carefully if you drive it. The US side isn't nearly as nice as the short, paved, Canadian side, and has very steep dropoffs, and soft shoulders. At the gas station near Walmart in Whitehorse one year, we met a couple in a class a that got two or three tires sunk in the mud at the shoulder, so deep they had to climb out driver's side. Waited hours for a tow truck from Tok. Thousands just for the tow, and they had no idea what the body repairs would cost. We've driven it, but wait for at least two days of clear weather (no rain) preceding your trip. We were told the ritual is to meet oncoming traffic slowly, or pull as close to the inside as you think safe, and stop. Apparently, this is common advice. One time, at one particularly narrow part (and we were on the outside ledge) , a big truck and fifth wheel stopped, planted himself in pretty much the middle of the road, and made us pass. Paul got so close our mirror touched his. Me, sitting on the outside passenger seat, looking down the cliff,, wouldn't honestly have cared if he'd taken the guys mirror off. He had at least 4 feet to the shoulder. I was looking at treetops far below me. That said, on a good day, you might meet only 10 or 20 others on the whole stretch. We left early from the Yukon River campground.

Looking back through all your previous posts in this thread. You stated: "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed 1408 pounds." I'm not sure where the max tongue weight of 920 pounds comes from. Your tongue weight probably won't be 700 pounds. But it probably will be around 600 pounds give or take. But, your stated calculations are correct.

It's nice to see you made the trip safely.

Glad the trip home is complete. Each trip will be a learning experience and soon you’ll be giving advice to new owners! Mike

Hi, Kathie. Glad you and Melanie had a safe trip home. With retirement around the corner, and the Canadian border opening, the world is your oyster.

Oliver used this Sierra Pacific latch on mine, but a quick google search didn't turn up a source. If you can't find it, you could try Oliver. Southco makes an almost identical model and Oliver uses the lockable version of theirs for the basement door.

Donna and Scott I was reading about propane gas tank valves while researching camp stove. That site was recommending to not turn the tank valve on all the way. With a gas flow problem, they recommended turning the tank valve completely off then only turning the valve on one full turn (and not more than that). Good luck.

FYI, the bridge is now back open. Might even be safe to use.

Oliver Travel Trailers Service Portal Knowledge Base Please visit the service portal and review our knowledge base area. We will be adding new articles and new videos periodically. This is the best place to get specific troubleshooting information as well as contact the service department for assistance. Latest Article: Xantrex Inverter - Error 20 This system does require you to create a user account & setup a password so that you can manage your service tickets. It is an Oliver Travel Trailers Service portal for the purpose of customer support and is maintained by service department personnel. You can also visit the Oliver University located on the Oliver website that includes operational manuals which is maintained by the Oliver Travel Trailers marketing department.