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Pancho Villa SP... Saturday 10FEB24: Headed to Old Mexico later this morning....

That was our experience with them. They sent a huge flatbed for our 4x4 dually and a heavy duty wrecker for the fifth wheel and towed them both to the nearest Ford dealer - after arranging for the dealer to leave the gate unlocked because they were closing before we got there. Excellent service.

Quail for breakfast?😁

With most of us having a substantial amount of money wrapped up in our TVs, I thought this gentleman’s testimony in his short YouTube vid might be of interest. If anyone is using a faraday pouch for your fob or iPhones please post up with what you’re using. Due to the larger size of my TV fob I opted for this pouch. I will post up my review when I receive it. I am interested in our groups thoughts, suggestions and ideas. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1C21O2?SubscriptionId=AKIAIBX4MGJBG42TO3NQ&tag=productsbestrv144763-20&asc_source=google&asc_campaign=077&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbestreviews.com%2Fbest-key-fob-faraday-bag&#customerReviews

We're going to the Springfield, MA RV show next weekend, which we do every year, but this year there will be an Ollie there! That's great! This is the largest RV show in New England. Really happy to see OTT doing this.

Sunday 11FEB24, sunrise snap at Pancho Villa SP near Las Palomas, Old Mexico... ...walking the Knuckleheads at sunrise: Colder than anticipated last night - the Solo Stove came in handy: Cheers! A & D

Was hoping to see some of you, but only found non-Oliver fiberglass. The way it turned out, we just did a drive-by.

Tasty little devils

Unfortunately, "par for the course" for most insurance companies. I am a retired litigation attorney. 35 years representing insurance companies taught me to buy insurance for major risks (like home and auto), because such a loss could be devastating. But I avoid insuring minor risks, the consequences of which won't kill the budget (like roadside assistance, car repairs, extended warranties, etc.) Insurance claims managers are repeatedly schooled to "Just Say No" to claims if at all possible. When it comes to small claims (like a roadside assistance tow, for example), their mantra is "JUST SAY NO." They get downgraded or fired for allowing claims. They get promoted for saving $$$ at the expense of wasting your time (like calling a cheaper tow company far away from where you broke down, and letting you wait for hours). If I ever need help while on the road, I find the closest shop or tow service and pay "the freight." In the long run, it is cheaper, and less exasperating, than roadside assistance insurance. Even major loss insurance is highly profitable for the carriers. How do you think insurance companies can afford those expensive TV ads (think Allstate and State Farm)?

We entered a campground post but thought we should be in Where's Ollie too! Burro Creek and other Central AZ places to visit! - Campgrounds & Parks - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com) One the way home from Burro Creek, our Ollie made a stop in Kirkland, AZ. Had lunch, decent burger and great homemade salad with blue cheese dressing, at the Kirkland Cafe. I Had been there before, about 4 years ago on a motorcycle cruise with our son and Chris really wanted to stop this time for the experience. The place is huge inside, hunting trophies on the walls, a stage and dance floor. First opened in 1923, you can only imagine the grandiose of Arizona when there where copper mines busy everywhere, and much greater population in these backroads areas. Herb and Barbara are the owners, they bought the property in 1991 (the year Chris and I met). It will be our 30th anniversary this year and they will have their 67th this year! Think about this, they married in 1956 when I was 1 year old -OMG! This couple is amazing. Barb served us and cooked our meal. Herb was not in, but I met him last time, and he has the stories. We hung out with and talked to some bikers from the valley and as far as Montana, many beautiful HDs on the lot (should have taken the pic when we got there). They advertise an RV Park too, usually empty, but they'll hook you up, just ask!

We installed the Micro-Air EZtouch RV Thermostat which works marvelously. It sends me a text when the inside temp reaches the temperature I have deemed unacceptable. I am currently researching cellular/hotspot plans so have only used it via local wifi.

You might try hooking up a hose to the city water and test for leaks that way. Maybe be prepared to turn off the water quickly. If you don't see leaks, then run the water from a faucet and see if it gets rid of any air pockets? Sorry I am not coming up with any other ideas at the moment.

This video was also part of my research that convinced be to also use faraday pouches for our key fobs. Interestingly, rolling a fob up in a piece of aluminum foil is very effective as well in a pinch. Our spare fobs are stored in a metal safe that is very effective in that application. Until I discovered this topic, I had no idea a person with a scanner could walk past you in a parking lot, steal your fob's radio codes and than drive off with your vehicle as soon as you are out of sight. Amazing! Edit - The pouches I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071KVWTYZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Fantastic! I have plenty of cat pix, just no trailer yet! But I'm sure at least some of our felines would love an Ollie outfitted with scratching-post table leg. Thanks for the great idea... I'll be sure to get that on the list of early mods. And we'll have a cat pose on delivery day ;). Steve

Insurance - of most any kind - can serve purposes other than the most obvious budget buster protection. Making sure that you have enough financial resources on hand in order to cover the expense of whatever it is you're trying to insure. In the specific instance of a roadside assistance issue, there just may be a situation in which cash works a bunch better than credit cards, checks or even that "dreaded" insurance company. Or, you simply do not wish to carry as much "cash" as you might need to cover whatever expense that comes your way. So, you chose to "off-load" that cash carrying risk onto an insurance company. Peace of mind is another area that can be helped by having insurance. Simply having someone to talk to can help calm many people during what they might deem an emergency. And/or it is possible that the insurance company on the other end of the line could also assist in getting law enforcement/medical to the location if needed. Indeed, in the example I mentioned in my post above - even though AAA could/would not help with towing, they did ask if I needed police and/or medical assistance. Not knowing who to call or who might be the best for your particular situation is yet another area that can be helped via the insurance route. This is certainly true when you are out in an area of the country that is totally unfamiliar to you. It can also be true for those of us that feel they do not have enough knowledge about the Ollie or their tow vehicle such that they can tell a tow company and/or other service tech what they might need to get out of the situation they find themselves in. Different strokes for different folks. Bill

I used the NovaKool R5810 AC/DC a couple of us have used these.

Those two have got to get some training in how to relax!

Thank you both! Dud, I ordered the "last one" off the ebay link you sent...didnt pay the $400 they wanted but darn close! If I can get another year or more from the new board I'll be a Happy Camper (pun intended). If I was replaced my Dometic today what would you replace it with and why? I do like the 3 way (110v ac, 12v dc, and propane) capability.

Actually "restored" to BETTER than new! 👍👍👍 Bill

...a couple real Knuckleheads:

When I purchased my Ollie I immediately bought and installed a tracking device, along with deterrence locks. (I did this because I had a utility trailer stolen from me. Now, everything's got a hidden tracking device.)

Hi Toby. We had the exact same issue, as have, unfortunately, many people who have had that model of Dometic refrigerator. We were never able to source the upper control panel and ended up having to replace the entire unit with a Norcold. Dometic was not helpful at all with trying to find the part; Oliver Service was very helpful but couldn’t turn up the part. There’s an extensive thread on the forum that talks about this issue. One suggestion was to repair the control panel yourself; that sounded doable but we don’t have the skill set for electronic repair. We had an RV shop replace ours and it was not plug and play. And, we invested in a very nice cooler, Polar brand, similar to a Yeti that allowed us to use the trailer before the refrigerator was finally replaced. David

We also use a hitch lock as seen in MAX Burners photo above. Proven Industries sells them without the locking Puc so that you can use the Paclock brand Puc. Paclock gets top reviews by You Tube's LockPickingLawyer who makes his living demonstrating how quickly and easily most locks can be picked. Paclock makes all sorts of locks, and you can get them all keyed alike. We carry only one key that fits the hitch lock, bike locks, and other locks around the property. Cheers, Geoff

in deed...

Please check with your region's representative and let us know what you find. What is disturbing if true, is that I could be travelling through a region where two tow trucks would not be sent, and I'd be up a creek!

Wow! Very interesting since we have had AAA for 50+ years. When I switched to Plus RV I was assured AAA would have 2 tow trucks dispatched. Need to reavaluate.

For what it's worth, the RV Miles camping news YouTube channel is reporting that Camping World, the owner of Good Sam, might be in the process of selling off the Good Sam brand. That may or may not be a good thing if true. I'm a 54 year member of AAA, getting my original coverage from my grandparents for my 16th birthday. Over time, I added Deb to the account when we got married, bumped up to the second tier when we got the MG (and used it twice...), added, then removed, driving age kids, and a few year ago added the RV/Motorcycle coverage. The latter for my herd of motor scooters more than for my tiny 5X8 Hiker trailer. Somewhere I have a photo of a 90cc Vespa (not mine) on a big rollback tow truck. 😂 Over the years, I've read/heard good and bad reports about AAA's RV coverage. Most frequently, they involved leaving a trailer behind when getting a truck towed, or vise versa. In December I called AAA Central (which includes Ohio) to find the answer, and was told that different regions have different rules and coverage. Some will send two trucks and tow both vehicles, some only the disabled vehicle. At that point, I called CoachNet, which now covers towed RVs as well as motor coaches, and posed the same question. They told me that they would send two trucks if the tow vehicle was disabled, never leaving a trailer behind. Several questions later, and I signed up for CoachNet before leaving for Florida in January. I'll remove RV/motorcycle coverage from AAA at the next renewal, and seriously consider cancelling completely, since CoachNet covers all vehicles driven or owned by the policy holder and/or spouse. They just won't cover my MG or scooters. But it's hard to break a 54 year habit.

Our security includes: The hitch lock, not the BS or the pizza oven... The wheel boot (makes it more difficult for them to drag it up on a flatbed - this one is our's on our friend's AS... Cheers, from Columbus NM - entering into Old Mexico after breakfast for some "shopping"... OBTW: A squadron of quail running by Casa Blanca as viewed by the forward dinette seat... Cheers, amigos! A & D

Yep - Notice I never said that they (Good Sam) are any good - I've not had to use them (yet). All I did was change my policy to them when AAA didn't treat me so well. I'm guessing that "horror" stories can be related to just about any of these services. These stories can be magnified due to the stress associated with the events that lead up to having the need for the service in the first place too. My personal bottom line is that I believe that in today's world I'm better off with some kind of coverage versus not having any at all. Basically all of these services (as far as I can tell) are pretty much organized upon the same basic business model. If that is actually the case then the only thing(s) to differentiate them from one another is price and the quality of the folks that answer the phone when there is a problem. Hopefully none of us ever need this insurance. Bill

When we moved from the Willamette Valley to Northeast Oregon, I stopped watching a lot of television, so to fill in a bit, I found some interesting channels on YouTube. Now I can waste time and learn new old skills in the process. One of those channels is Dave Engel’s Coach Shop, where he restores and builds old coaches and wagons. Here’s the start of a Sheep Herders Wagon restoration , and the completion of some old logging wheels.

Nice looking set up JD!

@shhQuiet, thank you for the videos of Oliver #1405 in use. I enjoyed traveling along, even though my kayaking skills are much more limited! Our Oliver has been a means to an end... traveling, adventuring, and our sometimes stationary mountain "summer home" for 16 seasons. I love seeing how others use theirs. happy travels, and please share more!

When I bicycled across the USA it was always nice to get to the western edge of a time zone as the sun went down later there. It makes a later sunrise, but a later sunset was a nice tradeoff. John

The boys and I had our 2nd "Oliver Sighting" today on DAY-11 of this trip... It was Hull #148 from FL, the TV was not present so it's unknown who the owner is. Spotted this very nice looking rig in the Dome Rock Camping Area just west of Quartzsite.

This seems pretty high risk for a thief. Probably don't realize how rare the LE1 is and that we are a well connected community. It has no scrap value, and using it regularly in public would be very risky. Maybe it will turn up and somehow you will get it back. Unfortunately if it does it will probably be way down the road.

I've also looked for electronic monitoring systems. I don't have one for all the above reasons. We been traveling with up to three dogs for over 14 years. We just use plain common sense. If the temperature is going to be above 65 and they are in the truck we would not leave them all day. We actually usually leave the windows down about half way. One of the dogs is a 100 pound Doberman and we aren't too concerned about people reaching in. In the trailer I would not worry even if the temps are in the 80's. We leave the windows open and the fan running. We've slept inside with the temps much hotter and nobody's dead yet. If it's Mississippi or south Texas in mid August and we need to leave them in the truck for an hour or so, we just leave it running with the windows up and doors locked (diesel truck). If longer than an hour, in the trailer with the generator running and the A/C on.

The basic problem with any solution is connectivity. If BOTH your phone AND the device don’t have good signals, then the system can’t function. There are vast areas in the west without a signal. But a cellular based one with temperature email/ text alerts is probably your best solution, just be very aware of its VERY serious limitations. For the eastern USA it would probably be satisfactory. For most of the remote western parks and monuments, it will most likely be kaput, Tango Uniform. Be sure to study cellular service maps for the places you plan to visit. John Davies Spokane WA

Within reason I suppose. A mixing bowl shouldn't weigh much. I certainly wouldn't stand on it.

THAT didn't take long! HERE it is. Bill

Yes - A year or so ago there was an Oliver stolen and it was recovered in a field with what appeared to be a couple of guys living in it (kind of). I remember that the Ollie had not been treated well but I don't recall any more than that. When I get a bit of time - I'll try to see if I can find the post(s) related to that situation. Bill

We've done quite a bit of boondocking in the past couple of months across the country at higher elevations. Definitely had problems with our Norcold needing resetting at the higher elevations. Just yesterday at a mere 6600 feet we had a 'F' light of doom (quite unusual.. we usually only see it at 10000+). Haven't found a work around besides paying attention.. and agree, it is quite annoying. But do love the extra space the Norcold provides over the Dometic. - Cherie