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Early this morning I set the spotting scope up on the back porch and was delighted to find 9 mountain goats browsing high in the Elkhorn Mountains. There were 5 adults, 2 smaller that appeared to be yearlings, and two very small kids. That was followed by 2 nice mule deer bucks in the sagebrush south of the house. Both will be at least 4 points, and I suspect one may be the big guy from last year. Here’s a shot of several that hung around last year.

Bob came to visit a few weeks ago along with his buddy - Brian the bruin.

Bison in Custer State Park, SD last May (photos taken safely from our TV on the side of the road with a 120-600mm zoom lens) They were so much fun to watch it was difficult to move on...

Our cat was always an optimist...

Walking back to our trailer one evening in Grand Canyon we stumbled across some cow elk and their calves. I turned a blind corner around a rock formation in Arches one evening and came face to face with a mule deer heading the opposite direction on the trail. Maybe 4 feet away. She looked as surprised as I felt. No chance to grab my phone before she turned and ran.

We are huge dog lovers having previously owned a Flatcoated Retriever for 16 yrs. We don’t have a dog presently as we find traveling with one is just way too restrictive since we like to fish, hike and bike, and enjoy other out door activities. Leaving a dog inside our Ollie all day is just not something we are comfortable with. And don’t think it’s fair to the dog. Just us. Something that we have seen all to often in CG’s is dog owners failing to control their dogs constant nuisance barking. Most would agree that while you’re kicking back and relaxing at your campsite, a dog barking at every person that walks by is just down right annoying. Fortunately most CG’s and SP parks will give a fair warning upon the first nuisance barking offense. The second offense you’re likely going to be asked to leave. Many CG’s and parks we have stayed at have pretty strict dog control rules which benefit everyone. If you wanna travel with your dog which I think is great if you can make it work, please be considerate of other campers and use a bark collar if your dog is a nuisance barker. It sure makes for nicer neighbors! 😊 Patriot🇺🇸

A mule deer and faun grazing outside the TT. Pic taken near Taos, NM.

These are pics from our back yard at the home we sold a year ago. For being just a short distance east of Indianapolis, we got a variety of large and small visitors. We now live about 20 miles further from Indy and in a more secluded setting. Time will tell what we discover to be our wildlife neighbors in this area. This buck must of felt safe wandering the back yards along our road. He let me get a few fuzzy pics through the back door but when I slid the door open he promptly bounded to the yard next door. Mr. Pileated woodpecker loved the suet blocks I kept in the feeder off our patio. He was a daily regular This little green tree frog was enjoying the shade of our patio umbrella while we ate lunch at the same table.

Thanks for starting the thread. On our acreage in WNC, we see a lot of birds, especially turkey, and occasionally deer, very occasionally black bear. I more often see bear sign (scat, scratches on tree trunks, prints etc.,) than bear, as all neighbors are careful to not feed them. Neighbors down mountain installed an electric fence to keep from inadvertently feeding them from their big organic garden. Usually when I see one, I either don't have my phone, or I'm too startled to use it to get a shot. Got this photo a few years back. I kind of think the black bear was more startled than I was.

@Hokieman, you two are wonderful dog trainers. My dog is often intimidated by big dogs, but she took to Koda right away. What a sweet and well behaved dog he was. I'll look forward to meeting the new family member one of these days... Our little dog travels with us pretty much everywhere she's allowed, even flies with us. She stays with our daughter when we go to most foreign countries, but she's spent a lot of time in Canada. Many people buy campers so their dogs (and cats) can travel with them. Well-trained pets with responsible owners are welcome in at least some part of most campgrounds. If Liv isn't welcome, well, we don't feel welcome, either.

Magnus (3 most) and Willa (old) chill'n back in 2020... He really loved his big sista (well, we did too!) WOOF!

Be sure to pack a doggy first aid kit. https://wearwagrepeat.com/diy-dog-first-aid-kit/

We picked up our Elite II 2 1/2 weeks ago and have about 2500 miles towing it so far with our Q7. We have air shocks so we aren’t using any load levelers (which Audi says not to use). I’m very pleased with towing our Oliver behind the Q7. We have averaged 14 miles per gallon and it has completely adequate power and braking capabilities. We have been on a wide variety of roads from TN to Newfoundland with some gusty wind conditions. I have never felt like I needed more car at anytime. I do plan on getting some mud flaps for the rear wheels on the Q7, hopefully that will keep the trailer a little cleaner. Hopefully this will help a little if considering using a Q7 to pull your trailer.

Thanks for all the great wildlife photos! Sometimes we get lucky, and other times we'll go an entire trip without either seeing anything, or not being prepared to take a photo in a hurry... Mountain Goats seen from the Needles Highway in SD

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ewe and Lamb), Badlands NP, SD

Here are a couple of pics of the glasses organizer. I would have liked the tall ones in the back but with the slope they wouldn't fit. It will still work great and stay put during travel. Matt thinks it takes up too much space but with the closet reno, now we have plenty! 😀

I came back to this thread today, 'cause we've been smoking a 10 lb pork butt all day, and, I'm thinking about how we miss it (sometimes) while camping. No way we could carry our huge kamodo Joe. Dubious about a little akorn. Is Traeger or similar the best bet for portability? Btw, @Patriot, the jerky Looks amazing.

I got my copy in the mail the day we left for the rally. Pete and Bosker came by our campsite to see our radio setup and chat about radios. Bosker told Pete when it was time to go, he had heard enough about radios and wanted to finish his walk. Brian

This is "Willa", she's Magnus' big sister, mentor, and why he's turned out to be such a good Husky. This pic was taken at an Oktoberfest in Red River, NM a few years back - she's waiting patently for her cold Heineken. We'll see her someday on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge!

Concur, 100%! Magnus is part of the family and has learned that he can go where ever we go (we haven't informed him yet that we plan everything around his hairy butt!) Ha!

Front to back is 26.5” - so I am 2.5” over. That said to date we have 8000 miles on the 1 Up and zero issues with how it is mounted on our Oliver. A brief discussion with Oliver Service prior to ordering the 1Up Super Duty rack we learned there have been no reported or known issues with this present configuration. You are welcome! Pedal On! 🚴 Patriot🇺🇸

We camp with our female Labrador retriever. She is not a typical pet in that she is an ADA certified guide dog in training, legal to take in public places, airlines, public transportation, restaurants, etc. She is well behaved and does not bark. We never leave her unattended inside the trailer, she goes everywhere with us. We take her on extended hikes on dog friendly trails (she can go a lot farther than most humans), she carries her own water in a dog pack. She swims when and where we allow her, and chills out when needed. One limitation is that my wife and I cannot go on bike rides together. One of us stays behind with the dog and reads or putters around, not a bad compromise. Outdoors, we have a long nylon tether to the steps, and a large mat to keep her out of the dirt and away from pine cones, acorns, sticks, and fire pits. Caution should be used when tethering to keep camp chairs and tables out of their zone. If they get their tether wrapped around a chair or table and see a squirrel or another distraction, a lot of damage and injuries can occur, especially with outdoor stoves or grills. We keep her out from under the trailer for same reason, and they can get grease on them from the suspension. We have an outdoor water bowl within reach. Indoors we keep the indoor water bowl in the bare shower pan because she is a sloppy drinker. We mop up after with quick drying microfiber “dog” towels. We feed her the same way, in the shower. When we take a shower, we just set the bowl near the closet door temporarily. First we clean her bowl to get the water hot to the spray nozzle. Our dog is not allowed on beds or dinette seats. We have a thick fuzzy microfiber dog bed that stays in between the twin beds. At bedtime, I can reach down easily and pet and talk to her. The rug goes to the coin laundry with us about once/week when we wash our clothes. When we get out of our bunks, we have to be very cautious we don’t step on her. She has come to trust us and does not move. We don’t wear shoes inside our trailer, so it’s easier to not step on the dogs paws and tail. We sweep the floor several times/day, and if we have shore power, we have a small Shark vac. When walking her, I always carry a can of potent pepper spray to protect her from negligent dog owners that don’t keep their dogs on leashes, or if they do, cannot control them. I have had some close encounters with aggressive breeds. It would be a lot less hassle to not have a dog with us camping, but she’s part of the family, so leaving her home is not an option for us.

That’s exactly the way our 2017 LE2 was originally wired, except both female spade connectors on both switches were insulated. Mossey

The E2 tire size is a alternate size for Toyota FJ62 (e.g. 1989). If it were me I would order the tires from Discount online for a 1989 FJ62 and take them to the local store to have them mounted and balanced. From my experience, the tire technicians are young kids who won't inspect your rim backspacing or even care. The technicians did not even know how to pull my standard transmission Dodge into the bay, they are certainly not full of vast car knowledge,

9MM wrench works on the zerk fitting with 1/4” threads.

Works great for reducing drywall dust too!

Welcome to the forum! Glad to hear your Q7 is doing the job. We’ve owned a bunch of Audi’s since our first new one in 1976! Keep us updated on your travels. Mike

Trying to keep everything as original as I can. Luckily just found some cabin lights to replace all of the originals which also had the chrome peeling off of them. Actually, an Oliver FB group member who's a better Googler than I found these for me. Had the part number but could only find them in bronze and black..

Has anyone tried using a remote control switch for the rear curbside jack (away from the switches)?. I think it would be doable to install a remote control winch switch, so you could see the jack and dial- in the right lift without guessing from the opposite side of the trailer.

Actully - This Oliver belongs to Bosker! He only allows Pete to stay in it, pay for it, and get it from place to place!😁

I stumbled on this today! Superb cover! …and perhaps the best cover band I’ve ever heard. One more F&F…

A hobby- We have owned our Traeger pellet smoker for over 5 yrs and have smoked baby back ribs, a few 9# briskets, chicken, trout, wings, plenty of wild game. Venison, wild turkey and bacon wrapped pecan smoked wild dove pictured, my wife’s favorite. We have been extremely happy with our Traeger and would not hesitate to replace it with another Traeger. I use apple, pecan, hickory and mesquite pellets depending on what I meat or game I am going to smoke. Ours is the Little Texas model, not for travel. We may consider a smaller Traeger scout grill or the Traeger ranger for travel. We really have enjoyed our Traeger. I also pecan smoke our own 12 hr marinated jerky. I need to determine if the scout or ranger is compact enough to carry in our TV- https://www.traegergrills.com/pellet-grills/portable/scout Edit 06/11/23 - we have owned our Traeger 8 yrs now. 👨🏼‍🍳

I've used a bolt on steel 2" receiver on the back "bumper" for around 5000 miles so far. Used mostly preexisting holes from the original aluminium sleeve. Got Steel U bolts that were a bear to source and keep them from rusting by spraying a couple of times a year with a can of Fluid Film. Added a 3rd u bolt between the two existing ones as the spacing between the spare tire housing and the rear of the receiver was too close for our comfort so decided on a bit of overkill. As mentioned above, we use a layer of very thin but fairly rigid rubber matt between the receiver and bumper surface which I expect to switch out every couple of ears. We carry two beefy fat bikes (= heavy) on a tray style bike rack that speaks to a 2" receiver and is "RV rated" whatever that means. Been solid as a rock.

Rocky Point, MEX last weekend... Magnus' first ever salty experience - he loved it! He really liked running the beach down there...

Mine were all 1/4”-28 thread size (2019 Elite II with the Dexter EZ Flex suspension) and I switched them to the 45 degree angled type. But as Steve mentioned above, some Oliver trailers have metric thread fittings (an M6x1 thread size).

@Dwain Kitchens, my 2008 elite 1 weighed in around 3900 pounds, (cat scale), loaded for camping, with some water (not all tanks full, partial grey and fresh.) We've towed with three vehicles. A Volvo xc90 ( heavy, and somewhat anemic t5, 4900 tow capacity), 2005 chevy Silverado(7500 tow capacity, 5.3 v8) , and a 2008 4 x 4 dodge ram 1500 hemi, 5.7). Best tow vehicles are in reverse order of what I listed. The Ram has been stellar. I would say that unless you really plan to stay on flatland, get a vehicle with a higher tow rating than the Subaru, and make sure that whatever you buy has a true tow package (not just a hitch.) Google "Subaru ascent towing issues" and you'll likely find lots of negatives from actual users, imo. I'd be looking at a truck, or, at the least, a SUV with a higher tow capacity than the Subaru. 80 per cent is just part of the equation. Tow vehicle Weight vs trailer weight, length of wheel base, transmission, etc., all impact the joy and safety of towing.

There’s some additional info needed in order to answer your question. You didn’t mention the payload rating of your Subaru. There will be a sticker on the driver’s door jamb that looks like the photo below that will state “weight of passengers and cargo must not exceed……”. That will tell you how much weight you can safely put IN your tow vehicle. You must count the tongue weight of the Elite I in that limit. Most calculations assume a tongue weight that is about 10% of the trailer weight. So if you have a dry camper weight of 3700 lbs, plus 266 lbs of fresh water plus 200 lbs of food & clothes, that gives a trailer weight of 4166 lbs, so a tongue weight of about 416 lbs. That tongue weight plus driver plus passenger and anything else in the Subaru count towards the payload limit. Most people with smaller tow vehicles exceed their payload limit without realizing it.

Weight distribution works to distribute the tongue weight of a trailer up to the front axle of the tow vehicle so that it will sit more level and handle/brake better. That being said the weight distribution systems do not "reduce or mitigate” tongue weight or allow you to tow beyond the capacities of the vehicle.

I have a little bit of that diamond plate left, so if needed I can cut a strip 2-3" wide for the bottom of the flap. Also if it really comes down to it I could get some wider rubber flaps and make my top stiffener a few inches wider. We'll test it out and go from there.

@Ollie-Haus Awesome job Chris! They look great and will certainly reduce the road missiles and road rash from hitting the front of your Ollie. You may or may not need to add an anti sail plate like I did. Total 💯👍🏻👍🏻.

Having read endless discussions here about whether or not people travel with their fridges on propane, @MarkV and I decided to install GasStop Propane Shut-off Valves. Most of the time, we travel with the fridge off, if the trip is short enough, or with dry ice if we have access to some for a longer trip. On our Ollie, we opted for the Lithium Platinum Package, and based on preliminary results, feel relatively confident that we can occasionally travel with the fridge on DC, especially if the sun is shining and we aren’t in transit between two long-term boondocking sites. That said, we took the “better safe than sorry” approach and installed the GasStops just in case we find ourselves in need of traveling with the propane on. It gives us peace of mind. The first thing we noticed when we took the tank covers off is that even on the stock install, the propane hoses between tank and regulator have a pretty severe S curve to them. Noting that these curves aren’t great for hose longevity (another safety concern), we decided to install new street elbow fittings that essentially change the angle of entry of the hose into the regulator by 90degrees, and eliminating one of the bends in the S. We likely would have done this whether or not installing the Gas Stop valves. The install of the street elbow fitting was pretty easy, once @John E Davies cleared up some major confusion on my part. The confusion stemmed from the fact that the current fitting at the regulator has a plastic insert in it. According to John, this is a one-way check valve that allows the automatic propane switchover system to work properly. This straight fitting with the check valve is put in-line with the new elbow fitting so you don’t lose its functionality. Equipment needed: 1) 2 GasStop Propane Shut-off Valves 2) ¼” NPT BRASS Street Elbows (double-check the size of your particular fitting) 3) Pipe Thread Sealant (specifically formulated for gasses) Method Detach propane hose from the ¼” straight NPT fitting at the regulator (A) Remove the straight ¼” fitting at the low pressure regulator (B) Remove the ACME connection at the propane tank (C) Clean as much old pipe thread sealant as you can from both the regulator side and the hose side, being careful not to let any shavings enter the regulator Apply thread sealant to the male end of the new elbow fitting and install it at the low pressure regulator Apply thread sealant to the old fitting’s male end and screw it onto the street elbow. Re-attach Acme fitting to propane tank Let sealant cure for 24 hours Pressurize system and leak test! I’m sure that if I missed a step or got anything wrong, John will chime in. (Thanks, John!) Photo courtesy of John Davies:

We've been listening to the following books on our trips: Prey series by John Sanford (gritty crime novels, up to book #6) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan Origin by Dan Brown The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

Looks nice, and a little extra safety is never a bad thing. Not a huge deal, but something to keep in mind is that the 75k btu limit on the gas stop could be triggered if you’re using a portable firepit (60k btu) and the furnace (20k) at the same time. Also I’m not certain of a generator’s consumption, but a number of people have modified theirs for LP so they’d probably want to check just to make sure they won’t trigger the valve.

I never watch too much TV and have never watched the program Orange is the new Black. I was a bit surprised that I found listening to the audio book interesting. Bill

After getting the materials to do this job more than a year ago, I finally finished it this past month. Thanks John.

We have the Mini Smart Oven we use at home all the time. It is great. Maybe doesn't bake as well as our big convection oven, but would be so much better than an RV microwave or Microwave/convection.

We use the Davy Crockett, it's small enough to carry around, runs on 12V or 120V. We used the tote to keep it in the SUV so any pellets or grease don't escape too far, will probably keep using the tote with the truck. I also have the thermal blanket for it, it helped with temperature stability and pellet usage. It is big enough inside to do a rack of Ribs or a modest brisket but small enough that finding a place to put it is easy. It can also be a little noisy so overnight smokes in a smallish campground can be harder. None of the pellet smokers will sear as good as hot grill, so we pan sear if searing is desired and then grill/smoke. The pellets you use are important, and sometimes expensive. We've had good luck with CookinPellets and Lumberjack. Generally look for ones that are 100% of what you want (ie 100% mesquite) and don't have other fillers in there. It doesn't smoke as well as my UDS smoker, but it does pretty well on its own. Great smoke ring on the brisket and flank steaks I did. Also was able to do enough pork butt for about 40 people with it (two or three batches).

John, I did not miss the "failure" points in your how to posts. The shear pin effect you are advocating for in the design may or may not be a positive aspect of the install. I gave it considerable thought, and decided it was not something I wanted to include. I believe the rigid bar and rubber mat present additional protection to the fiberglass underbelly aft of the wheels, rather than present a risk to the cross brace it is mounted on. Rather than go into the why's , lets just agree to disagree. I appreciate your concern. Thank you again for the work you put in on the posts - it saved me some time . Interesting, the rubber flaps appear to be the same - I Amazoned mine, just chose whatever was a close dimension. RB

Do you mean remove the cable stay and let the door hang completely vertical, like the hot water heater door? No, there is about 2 inches clearance with the door hanging on the stay. So with that disconnected the door would open a little further and then hit the mudflap bracket hard. I never have a need to “crawl into” the opening, so this never even occurred to me.... I use a couple of milk crates shoved way back, but I attached ropes to them so I can just pull them out. No crawling. The long items I keep in there like a folding table are easy enough to reach. I have wondered for a long time why all the outside and cabinet doors have the hinges on the bottom, that seems completely backwards to me. It does save on the cost of gas struts.... John Davies Spokane WA

John, no and no. We’re calling this trip our “overview” trip. We spent 5 weeks and visited Colorado Springs, RMNP, Black Canyon NP, Mesa Verde NP, then to Moab for Canyonlands NP and Arches NP. We made notes of sites to see on return trips. Four days in the Montrose/Gunnison area was not enough. After our Rally trip in April and May we’re meeting our son and family in Crested Butte in June and might see Dinosaur NM then. So much to see... Mike