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We are so fortunate the have trailers that help us get outside to see spectacular views and critters. But, occasionally, no trailer is required and nature comes to us to show its wonders. Bosker and I were inside, reading a good book when we heard a soft noise at the front door. Thinking it might have been a package drop off, I went to the door and opened the top half of my dutch door and found this newborn fawn hunkered down in the corner. Momma deer often find a safe place where their baby fawn can hide with its natural coloring or someplace hidden away from the eyes of predators, such as at Bosker's front door. Momma will sleep nearby or go out foraging until coming back to retrieve "Bambi". Nature is awesome. Show us your best wildlife photographs you've taken while traveling or at home.

We had this guy camped out in front of our front door a while back. They basically live in our yard.

This little one was in my yard. I think he wanted to come in, it was so cold out!

That is amazing! We had an outdoor cat, so all we'd find at our front door are dead birds, chipmunks, and rabbits... This Screech Owl tested out our old house, but didn't stay. At our backyard feeder We've had Green Herons nesting in a Linden tree for several years. These four fledglings were enjoying a day in the sun. One of a zillion photos from our western travels.

I agree, One can never have too much power. 💯agree never. 😊 Hi Golfnut: The Tundra towed remarkably well even while climbing the mountains in Virginia. The tow haul mode works very well as well as the trailer assist features, we were very pleased. The air suspension makes for a comfortable ride. The Olly tracks extremely well behind the truck and it was easy to forget that it was there at all, never the slightest indication of sway even when passing or being passed by tractor trailers, and no problem accelerating on interstate on-ramps or climbing hills (twin turbos 😍). I never felt uncomfortable towing the Olly even when traversing tight shopping center parking lots. We over packed the truck on this trip so we were slightly heavy on the rear axle, next time out we'll pay more attention to weight distribution and adjust the WD hitch slightly. Towing we got a little over 13 MPG which included a fair amount of climbing. The Anderson Bulldog WD hitch works well but I struggled a bit getting lined up properly for the whale tail to align, I have to work on that! I’m off topic, too. Like that name “Golfnut”! We take our clubs on all Ollie adventures. Nice looking rig! 👍 We enjoy towing our LE2 with our 22 Tundra. Started experimenting with 7th gear around 62MPH with cruise on, getting 15MPG on our last round trip from NC to the TN plateau area and back on interstates. Going up mountain grades I do slow some to preserve good MPG. We don’t have solar on our LE2, keep the ready to camp weight around 4950 lbs after weight savings measures. Early congratulations are in order!! It's been almost 13 years since Deb and I retired. I highly recommend it! 😃 Thanks, Tom & Doreen for your feedback. Our daughter & son in law have a 2023 Tundra ( got in December) they love it so far, they have a 20ft. Airstream Basecamp X. .. I take my Sticks with me every chance I can…

@skalywag This tool made quick work of cutting the new black seals. It provides a nice and clean edge on the seal. It’s also very handy If you decide to install rain gutters over your Ollies windows. It was worth every cent of the $8.00 paid. If you lay your new black trim in the sun it for 20 minutes or so it will cooperate much better after being coiled up when shipped if you live in a cold climate. Enjoy your install, just passing it forward. 😊 Patriot🇺🇸

Hello All - Thank you for your thoughts. We have a composting toilet so no water possible from that source and luckily we had mostly good weather for our ride back to CT (very lucky to avoid snow and ice storms!). For sure, the drain valve was closed as well. In thinking back, I don't believe we ran water in either sink after closing the valve, but I wouldn't bet on it as we did have rest and lunch stops along the way and we might have washed hands without thinking about it. I like the idea of signs near both sinks to remind us not to use them after the valve is closed! We will post some pictures and list the few issues we have had in the near future. Unfortunately, in the week we have been home I have been dealing with severe lower back and thigh pain - apparently from a pinched nerve. PT will hopefully have me ready for local weekend adventures in Olive in a few weeks. Tom retires 3/31 so we will be heading south soon thereafter - very exciting as we love our cozy home on wheels! Best, Doreen

Doreen, I learned my lesson too .. after picking up in July 2022 at Davy Crockett SP last year.. Not to get off topic , how did your new Tundra do on your trip? I’m just looking right now.. My Ridgeline does good .. I have a LE1.. I would like just a little more Horsepower & Torque.

I may have stumbled on a simple cause for your frequent furnace cycling, especially when it is colder. I had not been very pleased with the Dometic CT thermostat in my 2020 LE II and had at one time experienced the clicking noise but only when I tried to change the deadband from 2 degrees down to 1 degree. I occasionally experienced erratic performance from the thermostat and more so when the temperature dropped rapidly outside to temperatures below 45-50 degrees. I recently decided to change out to a new wifi thermostat (Micro-air Easy Touch RV), primarily because I store my trailer outside across town at my son's house and his wifi reaches the trailer. It now allows me to turn the furnace off and on, monitor the cabin temperature and change the temperature setting from my home or anywhere else. I can also monitor when the furnace is actually running or not from anywhere. When changing out the Dometic OEM thermostat, I discovered that there is an almost 1 inch diameter hole behind the Dometic thermostat that the thermostat wires come out of and this hole is directly behind a big hole in the back of the thermostat. The hole is large enough to allow a significant air exchange between the cabin and the basement/hull cavity between the outer hull and the inner hull. I think what is happening is when the furnace is running, the return air into the furnace is naturally creating low air pressure in the basement that pulls return air from the cabin through any penetration between the cabin and the basement/hull cavity. Most of this warm cabin air is pulled into the basement through the return vent at the rear curbside floor, but some air is pulled out of the cabin into the basement through other small openings such as around the drawers, etc. It will also pull warm cabin air through the thermostat and out through the hole behind it. This is not a problem although it could cause the thermostat to occasionally turn off earlier than it should. The real problem occurs when the furnace shuts off and warm cabin air starts exiting the cabin through the max air vent if open or other small air gaps around closed vents and the windows creating convection air currents. This creates a low pressure situation in the cabin which will cause much colder basement air to be drawn through the basement scuppers and into the cabin through any and all penetrations between the basement and the cabin, including cold air from the basement exiting the hole behind the thermostat and through the thermostat into the cabin. It is not unusual to have the basement temperature be 20 or more degrees below the cabin temperature. I believe that as soon as the furnace turns off when say the cabin temperature is 65, almost immediately a small current of much colder 45 degree air starts flowing out the hole from behind the thermostat, through the thermostat and into the cabin. This sudden inrush of much colder air into and through the thermostat causes it to quickly restart the furnace again and once again warm air gets pulled into the thermostat causing it to quickly turn the furnace off, which causes cold air to almost immediately begin entering the thermostat from behind and the cycle repeats itself. You can test my theory by unscrewing the Dometic thermostat and let it hang away from the wall and put a piece of tape over the hole behind it. If the rapid cycling doesn't happen anymore, you may have found the cause of your issue. Me, I am going to seal the hole in the wall behind the thermostat to seal off the air flow, and then put some little pads on the back of my new thermostat to hold it about 1/4 in off the wall to break the thermal coupling between the thermostat and the colder wall.

Our backyard Cardinals…

Hi, Doreen. You don't have to worry about the kitchen sink. Only the bathroom sink can back up into the shower pan. Hope you feel better soon. Maybe we'll see you guys at Hammonasset sometime! Dudley

Standard flooded batteries are cheaper than AGM's but they are definitely not lower maintenance. AGM's are sealed and require no maintenance beyond keeping them clean and appropriately charged. Flooded batteries require topping off with water (preferably distilled) on a regular basis and also present an explosion risk.

No. The only way that clean fresh water can get into the shower pan is from above. Black water CAN find its way into the pan from below but that’s a whole ‘nother issue requiring a perfect storm of very specific circumstances.

Congrad on your upcoming retirement. I have more to do now that I am retired then when I was working (except during the colder winter months).

@bugeyedriver Oh my goodness how precious!!!

Although we have the heaviest suspension then available in the F150 when we bought it in '21, we still found that there was a bit of porposing while towing when you encounter severe frost heaves or a road bed which is extremely uneven. Added a set of air bags under the rear springs and that cured the issue. I also suspect the problem can also be mitigated through more robust sidewalls than found on stock tires (20" rims on my truck). Probably beef up the next pair of tires and shocks when replacement of the originals becomes necessary. Still, I find the F150 to be a very, very comfortable ride and is a fine match for the Legacy 2. I don't think there is a wrong choice between the 5.0 and the 3.5 ... both are fine, proven power plants.

I hope Tom will be feeling better soon! I don’t know of any Oliver owners who haven’t had wet socks or bath rug because they either forgot to close the gate or closed it and then ran water. After 7 years I just did it after we returned from Arizona a couple of weeks ago. DUH! Mike

@John E Davies That is a great article and the authors have some really good credentials. I did not like the absorption fridge in our Airstream. It was “ok” at keeping things cold once it did get cold but it needed to be defrosted often. I didn’t like running on propane while traveling but also didn’t want things to get too warm. For that reason, I always ran with GAS STOP devices and will have them on my LE II. I was happy to see Oliver went with the Isotherm AC/DC fridge. I am not sure as to “why” but I heard it was because many trailers in the industry are moving to all-electric compressor style fridges. This could account for a low supply of the absorption fridges in this size. I also like that if you are not level when parked we don’t have to worry about damaging the fridge. I think you made a good choice. My brother-in-law has had Isotherm on his boats for as long as I can remember and they always perform. Another great share, thank you! Brian

Make sure you order a little extra. Then you can add a little piece if they shorten up. I have added pieces to the top of the windows to fill the small gaps. I never figured out if I cut them short or if they shrunk on their own, but I do usually blame myself. After all, I touched it last. Mossey

Excuse me, I'm in trailer #3 and need to leave now. TILT....

On my OE2 if I have closed the drain valve for travel, I and use the kitchen sink, it will fill the shower drain P-trap and overflow water into the shower drain pan. That resulted in my FIRST wet socks experience.

I put a REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT keychain on the bathroom faucet handle when I close the valve before travel. Too many wet socks... 1x Remove Before Flight Red Key Chain by Apex Imports(1 Pack) https://a.co/d/2OxwnZE

If financial compensation is the primary objective, yes. Otherwise, a competent DIYer can retain their sanity by just fixing it and moving on.

Vinyl flooring, well LA-DEE-DA. You are just too cool. That really looks good. as far as light bezels through the Reflectix goes, I don't think its necessary. I would, however, make sure the bezels are well caulked with clear caulk on the outside, especially at the bottom of each bezel. They did not do that on the 2007-2010 models nor the early builds starting in 2013 and customers complained of leaks in those areas. If they leaked behind Reflectix, you would not immediately know it. Just something to be aware of, hope that it's helpful.

Finished off the basement floor with some leftover vinyl flooring and installed a couple of light bars... On to the next project!

Thanks, it came out better than I thought it would and I'm now very happy to have eliminated any chance of future moisture damage.. And yes, I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive for most of it and Velcro strips for around the lights to allow for easy access.

New PVC floor in and basement insulated with Reflectex. Still have to copy what @ScubaRx has done and build a new shower box but that will have to wait until after our thanksgiving trip down in the Keys. Will be installing a rubber mat over the floor too to keep things from sliding around.

Out with the old, in with new… I am about to glue the outside flanges on, and the outside shower box should be completed. I purposely made it a bit larger on the inside and the back is square as opposed to rounded on the original.

The key word here is “structural”. Although, no longer used, the front wall that separates the bath and closet and them from the rest of the cabin plus the basement floor were originally made in-house from a very high grade plywood coated on both sides with fiberglass and gel coat. These areas are now constructed using a commercially available 1/2” thick polymer plastic sheeting cut to fit. My basement flooring right inside the exterior hatch was delaminating like yours from it having gotten wet so many times through the years. We store our hoses there and apparently I’ve occasionally stowed them away without making sure they were completely drained AND the seal on that hatch has been known to leak while driving in the pouring rain. In addition, there have been times the outside faucets were left slightly open and that water found its way onto the basement floor. All of this is user error, but I decided to tear the entire inside of the basement out and redo all. This is involving construction of a new outdoor faucet and tank valve box as all the early trailers had a vacuum formed box made of really thin plastic. Mine was broken all to pieces and looked horrible. Also, I plan to reroute the plumbing away from that cold susceptible area right next to the outer hull to a more inboard position where it will be subjected to more between the hulls heating. My plan is also place electric valves in those lines so they can be isolated from the rest of the plumbing and drained if necessary. There will be some effort made to relocate some of the electrical wires in that area.