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Even though we don't have our Oliver yet, I'll play. First photo of the year in my photo library. Our grandkids One of three gatherings with the Ohio chapter of Tearjerkers Our current setup Having a winery near the campground was nice! Deb is an Ambassador, so she got an opportunity to buy bottles from "her" barrel, as well as dip them in wax. It was a fun trip A couple days later, we were in Tennessee! Late summer camping with my brothers, their spouses, and our daughter and her fiance Mid-October we lost my mother at age 91. What a full and wonderful life. And yes, that's me. A few days later, we gained a son-in-law. And, just a couple days ago, a fitting bookmark to the first photo. I promise, next year's compilation will have some Oliver photos!

I live in the Mpls/StPaul area in Minnesota and have driven our LE II to Utah/Colorado and back in March (and in the summer). Everything is weather dependent. A pretty major winter storm moved across Nebraska when we made the trip west. We dropped down to Kansas to avoid it. It added a 1/2 day of additional travel. I70 west of Denver closed for a few hours the next day due to an avalanche. Not a big deal to sit out a road closer when towing a camper (you have food, water, heat, and a toilet), but it could have been bad depending on plans and reservations. Don’t plan on covering summer travel distances in the winter. The truck stops and rest areas are always jammed full with semi rigs between here and Denver. You can’t depend on them being accessible for even an hour or two of rest. Rigs are often parked up and down solid in the access lanes. It took five summers of traveling, but I’ve been to every state park in Minnesota. While open for day visitors, most close the gates to the campgrounds around mid October and don’t open again until Spring. The Mn DNR has a good website where you can make reservations. Check it out before assuming they’re open. Mn state parks require online reservations now. Ranger stations will be unmanned in the winter, except MAYBE weekends. Cell service isn’t guaranteed. You may end up backtracking many miles to pick up a signal to claim a campsite even IF you find an open park. The days of filling out a slip and dropping your fee in the box on the post are mostly over. I know that many of the National Forest campgrounds around Ely are also closed during the winter. It’s probably not worth it to plow out the snow, especially in the camping spurs. The Army Corp of Engineers close their campgrounds too. Even in early October I have most campgrounds to myself. Call the ranger district for the area of the BWCA that you plan to visit, it’s pretty slow up there in the winter, they should have time to talk. They’d have a list if there are any camping options. Unless you’re driving freeway, stick to daylight hours anyplace north of St Paul due to deer strikes. At least the rut will be over when you’ll be here. Hwy 35 from Iowa to Duluth will be well taken care of. Same for Hwys 61 and 53 north out of the Duluth area and towards the BWCA. Expect side roads off of 35/53/61 to be slippery and ice covered. It’ll be a pleasant surprise if they’re not. I’ve never seen anyone use chains in Mn. Studded tires are illegal for residents. Everything east of Duluth over to Sault Ste. Marie, MI is pretty desolate. You’ll probably take highway 2 east out of Superior, WI after heading south out of the BWCA. It’s a two lane state highway. Don’t assume gas stations will be open late. LOTS of deer on that road. I haven’t been east of The Soo at all, so I can say what it looks past there. I’ve driven my motorcycle around Lake Superior in the summer. I would not want to tow my camper around it in the winter. No driving up there after dark. If a storm comes through, it can be hours before a tow truck is available. They might have to come from a considerable distance and will be backed up. Plan on spending the night in the ditch if you go off the road late in the day. Cell service is spotty away from the freeway in MN, WI and in the UP. It seems to switch between Verizon and AT&T depending where you are. If I was making the trip, I’d lean heavily on our Harvest Host subscription. It’s more likely a business would have a place for you to park compared to public camping facilities. Hope this helps. It can get VERY cold. I used to live in Duluth. It can be below 0° for weeks, especially as you go north. Let me know if you need anything else. Good Luck and be flexible.

I got the idea for both from other threads here. Parts came from Amazon: Esssentials UW05004 Polar White... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IGF42G?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share White Water Plastic 5-Slotted... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075H3V8HG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share SIBE-R Plastic Supply - Dark... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071KGRGPP?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Plus some weatherstripping from the hardware store.

Karick Lake South, Baker FL in the Blackwater River State Forest about an hour from my house. Was able to load the bike and close the tailgate to take it camping. Great trails and perfect time of year for this part of the world.

We love the second awning. A lot of our trips this season were summer dry camping on the shore with little to no shade. I tried to park the trailer in a north-south orientation with the bathroom to the south. As the day progressed we'd shift awnings from the east side to the west side. This kept the main cabin as cool as possible and maximized our shaded outdoor seating (we moved the chairs from one side of the trailer to the other). We didn't use the awnings very much in the rain. The window vent I made, along with the added gutter, allowed us to keep the dinette window open, even in heavy rain. That's been enough so far.

I'm thinking, as this year draws swiftly to a close, a capsule of this year's adventures. We've had an awesome year, with and without our little Elite. We took the hull plaque to Chile/Patagonia and Antarctica, since we couldn't take the trailer. I hope you have had awesome adventures as well. 2022 in ten pix, for us . A pic of our last camp, this week, in wnc, rounds out the year, as we began and ended the year in the beauty of North Carolina.

You may be ruling out a return air obstruction but there is still the supply side that is more likely to be a problem with these installations. Since the LEII duct restriction is right at the minimums for proper furnace operation, be sure the dampers in all the warm air outlets are fully open. Better yet would be to totally remove the the damper disks from at least two of the three outlets. A significant air flow imbalance could cause the sail switch to flutter, intermittently shutting down the burner and re-sequencing the operation.

Gerry, no offense, but I think it is a foolish crazy idea. But this is from a guy who parks his trailer thru the entire winter. I have been towing for 50 years, and I do know the perils of winter driving, especially on cleared roads (hard packed snow.) Ignoring the nasty effects of mag chloride, you could not pay me enough to tow “Mouse” over them. I suggest that you at the very minimum install a set of 100% winter tires on the truck and the trailer… . No All Season can begin to compare, even if it has the snowflake symbol on it. The compound is too hard below 40 deg F. My LC200 has studded Nokian Hakka LT tires and they are wonderful. I scrapped a set of three season old studless Nokian snow tires with 70% tread left after a sphincter tightening experience on sheet ice on the Interstate that almost killed me. That exact same scenario involved my son and my old Land Cruiser 80, four years ago, but he totaled it. Studs rule! Unfortunately soft tires will wear really fast when towing and the steering will be disturbingly vague. The trailer may not like them either. Around here the number of TRAVEL trailers you see on the road from Dec through Feb can be counted on the fingers of one hand... I believe deep down that for a trip like this you need a truck camper on a big pickup. Period. John Davies Spokane WA

Apparently either on his feet or at the foot of the bed. 😁 Bill

It is difficult to tell for sure - but - it does not appear to me that there is significant "scoring" on the ball of that Andersen. Yes, the shiny finish is wearing off but there is nothing like the gouges that JD's outfit showed. I would not worry about this at all. Bill

I went over 10 so I'll post a link instead. 25 photos at the bottom, Oliver delivery to the last trip: https://stephndudb.blogspot.com/2022/10/2022-12-end-of-season.html?m=1

We used the Andersen for almost 6 years, 70-80K miles. There was some wear on the ball but not enough to be concerned about. I sold it when we got our 2500 and I believe the current owner is still using it with his Oliver, so it is going on 7 years. I did grease it occasionally. Andersen ball wear is not something I would worry about. Grease it, wax paper it, do it dry, it’s going to be fine based on our experience. Mike

Update on furnace not working below 45 degrees. Ended up being a faulty thermostat wire. Originally, the thermostat had an error code of E1 when we turned on the furnace during our first cold morning this fall. I rebooted the system, the error code went away and the furnace then worked fine above 45 degrees, and below 45 would cycle with the burner only staying lit for 5 seconds. This would repeat a few times during a 20 minute period with the blower running the whole time, then turn off completely. There where no error codes on the furnace circuit board. Then it just stopped working completely until the temps warmed. Finally it just stopped responding completely. Kudos to the service manager at the local rv dealer for an evaluation and repair. He talked with an Oliver tech who described the rather difficult process of running a new wire as the continuity was broken on 2 of the 3 wires running up to the AC. This apparently has infrequently occurred where the wire is pinched between the hulls during assembly. In this case, the wire was compromised and during cold weather the wire contracted enough to short. Then after more miles were driven the wire severed. I’m very happy to have established a strong service relationship locally. It was interesting that the local dealer was skeptical of the brand as it was the first one they worked on, but very complimentary after completing the work and engaging Oliver’s service department with constructive dialog to resolve the problem. Dometic HVAC system. Mark Hull 1111 Chelsea MI

Hard to choose but here are a few of my favorites! The first photo was the day we brought our Ollie home.

This sounds like you're attempting to change the differential setting with the thermostat mode set to something other than OFF. The thermostat controller in the overhead has no interaction with the differential setting but it may be getting confused by the procedure to change it.

"We didn't use the awnings very much in the rain. The window vent I made, along with the added gutter, allowed us to keep the dinette window open, even in heavy rain. That's been enough so far." Do you have pictures of both of those? John

If I thought the temp was going to drop much below 0 degrees F, I would drain the entire system (long before the cold hit!) and blow it out with air, then do an antifreeze treatment, and then blow THAT out with air. The real worry with using only compressed air is that there will always be a little leftover water in the system, and it will accumulate at the low spots like the street side check valves. Doing it twice with AF in between should make the system freeze proof. The folks who really get screwed don’t winterize nearly soon enough, and when they do try to do it - “OMG an arctic blast is here!” - all the drains are frozen solid and it is far too late. This is all entirely theiretical for me 😬. The coldest my unheated but attached RV bay has every gotten is +42 degrees F. John Davies Spokane WA

We have always struggled with what to do with our shoes other than a pile at the bottom of the closet. After much thought, we came up with the idea of a rack suspended below the lower closet shelf. This is two shelves made of 1/4" MDF suspended on threaded rod, with 1/2" PVC concealing the rod and providing some stability. It is set back just far enough to allow the clothes hangers in front to move freely. As a bonus, the offset from the black vent pipe leaves just enough room to snugly tuck in the extra piece of hypervent. Looking forward to road testing it in the coming year!

Oh yes, ask your truck and trailer insurance rep for any limitations/ exclusions about such an extensive off season trip in inclement weather. John Davies Spokane WA

There are more Mn state parks open for the winter than I thought. Make sure you make reservations in advance. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/winter_camping.html Ken

Thank you!!!

@GAP, we only camp in Minnesota in shoulder seasons and summer, but I know that many state parks are open for winter camping. (Some primitive, some electric only, no water, for sure.) Sometimes flush toilets in the visitor center of bigger parks, but no dump station, nor water at sites. Some places vault toilets in winter, others, you're likely on your own. How far south in Minnesota are you looking? I94, or i90? Do you include cross country skiing or snow shoeing in your trips? Lots of great trails, from what my friends tell me. Especially around Lanesboro/Harmony/ Spring Valley bluff country, where the glaciers didn't scrape the landscape clean. I know there's a state park near Mankato that's open for camping in winter, and I have friends who have a home on one of the Kato lakes. I suspect they'd check it out for you, if I asked. When will you be in Minnesota? You must know it can be super cold in January. It's already been sub zero at night up by my brother outside Brainerd, for a night or two. January can be really, really cold, like highs around zero, lows 30 or 40 below. Depends on the year. February often brought ice storms when I lived there. Not as cold, but bitter, and crappy driving. March was unpredictable. However, if you can stay put, Minnesota plows work magic. I can reach out to Minnesota friends, or you can explore the mn state parks website, for camping. Some dnr parks also. As for highway info, mn 511 app is pretty good. @Minnesota Oli, and a few other hardy Vikings, could probably give you better info. I learned to ski near Minneapolis, at Buck Hill. Ditto, took my daughter (Florida girl) up there to learn to snowboard, from my parents' home on owatonna. It's not a great run, pretty much straight down, pretty much view of the interstate... cross country is more interesting. My hat's off to you. I gave away my skis and boots years ago.

We chose the second awning too. We picked up on November 7, so basically have only spent ten days in ours just around Hohenwald and the six days coming back to Oregon. Do you find that second awning useful? I think it will be good for being able to have cross ventilation even on rainy days. John

Your method would sure leave less grease on my leg or pants! Hope it works well. Please do keep us updated.

ScubaRX And were do they get stored when your get mud in the threads?

GJ I used bags made by Air Lift in Michigan. They were a bit more costly than the Firestones and were more highly recommended by the dealer (Les Schwab Tires, a chain in the Northwest). Mine are the 5000 series and have twin nylon fill lines. So far I am very happy with them. I will occasionally have to top them off a few pounds but leakage is minimal. They are rated to 100# but I find 35 - 45# does the job quite well. They will lift the rear end so adjustment of the Anderson hitch was necessary but simple. A set of heavier shocks would help as would tires with tougher sidewalls than those that came with the pickup. They have tamed the porposing greatly. Jim

SeaDawg, Beautiful photos of a great year!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!! Some of our Ollie TN & NC adventures during 2022:

It’s the lever from your hot water heater bypass valve. Normally located on the back side of the hot water heater. JR Products 62255 3-Way Brass Diverter Valve - 1/2" MPT x 1/2" MPT x 1/2" MPT https://a.co/d/01O5kMI

It's a tight fit depth wise, but I was able to size the dimensions to provide a small amount of clearance to the plastic hangers shown in the picture. It could be scaled back a bit if just used for odds and ends, or if someone has smaller feet than my size 13's. I have about 13-14 inches of shelf depth on the left side, and the depth decreases as it follow the contour of the hull around to the right side.

Nope - Remember that the "ball" is in one piece connected to a "shaft" that extends from the ball down through the "body" of the Andersen and comes out at the bottom - this is where you then attach the "whale tail". When the trailer is attached to the Andersen there are two points of contact - 1 - the ball and -2- the whale tail. When the shaft "rotates" inside the body it creates friction and the "brake" material inside that housing expands due to the heat. This, in turn, applies more and more pressure on the shaft as friction is increased due to these rotational forces inside this body. When "sway" occurs - never have I heard of this happening with an Oliver - the rotational forces are greater and greater as the sway gets worse. The friction and thus the braking material continues to expand until there is enough force applied to the shaft to slow the rate of sway/rotation. This is how the Andersen controls sway - which basically we Ollie owners do not really need. Greasing the ball will tend to allow the ball - hitch connection to move more easily against each other than intended thereby negating the "benefit" of having this connection force help to move the shaft inside the housing. Yes, you still have the whale tail that will rotate that shaft but you are then relying on the whale tail's connection to the trailer via the chains to slow the rotation while when the ball is "solidly" also connected to the ball and therefore the shaft and therefore the whale tail you have all things moving (or not moving) at roughly the same speed/force. In older models of the Andersen grease ( and water and dirt and all kinds of stuff) often seeped down into that "brake" material somewhat negating its functionality. But, with the newer designs this old problem has been virtually eliminated. Bill

Hook up and take a ride. A short trip at about 60 mph should clean off any debris?

Just completed a 2600-mile adventure from San Antonio to Sedona, AZ to the Gila Wilderness, NM. Stayed 6 nights at Rancho Sedona RV Park in Sedona. Pricey, but convenient! Loved the hiking but crazy busy especially on the weekend. The highlight was actually the Gila Wilderness where we enjoyed a quiet, dark, and unplugged stay. Stayed at Gila Hot Springs 4 nights. Saw multiple Ollies in the wild on I-10. On 25 Oct, we saw two Ollies in West Texas while traveling westbound. One was headed east and the other we caught up with heading west. We then saw the same(?) Ollie (TN plates) heading west in AZ on the 26th after staying the night in Demming, NM. Above: West Fork of Oak Creek Trail, Sedona, AZ Above: Devil's Bridge, Sedona, AZ Above: Gila Hot Springs, NM Above: Cooking breakfast in Gila Hot Springs, NM Above: The Gila River making its way to the Gulf of California. Not a human structure in sight!

Once again this type of service from Oliver proves to me that while these people are not perfect - they are one heck of a distance ahead of whatever is in second place. I simply find it very difficult to talk to non-Oliver owners about this kind of service since I and the people I have spoken to about it have nothing to compare it to for any product at any time. Bill