Leaderboard

I picked up this hard case from HF awhile back and decided it was now going to be storage for the Mini while we are wheels up in the bed of the beast. If nothing else it keeps it all organized.

Krunch and I stayed at Cottonwood CG and also had bison strolling through our campsite and horses were also in the campground. But the highlight for us was the hot air balloons that woke us up early one morning. Although we didn’t stay at Juniper CG, we did drive up to visit and we thought that it is the nicer of the 2 campgrounds and had more vacancies. There was a little less to do in the north unit and it seemed smaller that the south unit. Do both if you have the opportunity!

Yes! I have hiked many days in the wonderful parks you have targeted, most of which include lots of vertical gain and loss. You knees will thank you, especially on the downhill slopes. You will gain/lose more vertical feet in a 1/2 day hike in Bryce or the Grand Canyon than when driving all the way from one end of Florida to the other.

We moved from Austin to S FL, packed Nov 2014, all household belongings in a large cargo trailer. Stored the trailer and Chris’ car in Sherman TX where Adam went to college. Then drove our truck to our Prescott home for Thanksgiving ’til after New Years. Headed back to Sherman to drop Adam at school. Hooked up and I towed while Chris tagged behind all the way to WPB. It made everything easier! Find a secure gated storage and next thing you know you’ll be back there. We’re thinking after I get all my Oliver mods done and enough SW travel, we may head up to Idaho and find a good NW home base for new travels. Love the camp and seeing new things, not fond of long highway travel!

Another suggestion for your trip... Some like Las Vegas, not me nor Chris. I work there 1-3 times a year teaching my class and spend 4 nights at the conference hotel, not interested the casino and tourist chaos. When heading to Utah from Arizona, after the south entrance of the Grand Canyon, you'll likely go that route. Unless you go east towards Page AZ and Monument Valley (only two routes around the GC). A great way to detour the busy interstates of Vegas is to exit and visit Hoover Dam, then stay on the backroads through Boulder City NV, enter Lake Meade Rec Area (free with your Senior Pass) and exit out Northshore Rd towards St. George. Bypass 100 miles of Interstates on scenic 45-65 MPH roads all the way without city traffic! It's a great route and Valley of Fire SP Nevada is a worthwhile visit and campsite, on your left as soon as you exit Lake Meade. 😂

We are working on that. Most of it is still unreservable and I have the dates they open flagged on my calendar!

The Epoch 460 marine battery I have has a 500amp built in T-fuse plus my OEM build had a 300amp T-fuse directly outside the battery bay so I called it good. I did buy some 180 amp MRBF fuses for the terminal but ended up returning them. If you need any kind of fuses, I recommend Blueseas. Excerpt from Panbo.com “ Let’s get one exciting thing out early. These batteries contain a 500 amp fuse under the cover of the battery, just before the positive post of the battery. The fuse Epoch uses is from the EV market and carries an amp interrupt capability (AIC) of 50,000 amps. That rating means that with up to 50,000 amps flowing through the fuse, it will still successfully trip to an open and safe condition. ABYC’s electrical safety standards require a fuse with a 20,000 amp AIC. Before disassembling this battery, I’d never seen a class T rated above 20ka AIC. Thus far the only gripes I have about the fuse are that it appears difficult to source a replacement — which I’m hoping Epoch can help with by selling replacements — and I think Epoch should label the outside of the battery to warn there’s a fuse inside. That way, a boat owner won’t find themselves stumped if they accidentally trip the fuse. But, make no mistake this fuse is a really big deal and a really good thing. By placing a high AIC fuse inside the battery, installers are now relieved of the obligation to place a physically large class T fuse as close to the batteries as possible. The combination of fuse holder size and thick cables can make this a challenge. Knowing the fuse is inside the battery, an MRBF post-top fuse holder can now be safely used. Thus, the entire system is protected via the internal fuse, and the wire off the battery is protected by an appropriately sized MRBF on the positive terminal.” Cheers, Mike

I may have missed it but do you have firm reservations for any of this voyage? If not, plan way ahead as many of the areas you are heading into will be inundated with other campers. Spring, heading into summer, can be a very tough time to find camp sites in popular areas. In broad terms your plan seems doable but again, plan way ahead and keep your options open. Winging it can become an exercise in frustration as tourist season descends. Fortunately, as you make you way West into areas with large blocks of public land, boondocking becomes a viable option and your Oliver is just the machine to help you make that happen.

Often toggle switches terminate the ground and will NOT show 12VDC. I never tested mine, since when it was ON there was no power to the fan even when bypassing the thermal switch. I ran new wires. I used the main switch to connect ground to the new Beech Lane fan circuit. i suggest new wires everywhere. I cut off all the old blue and red 20 AWG wires and replaced with automotive grade 14 AWG wiring. Pics above and I’ll keep an eye here for any questions as you progress with your mod.

Wanted to say thanks for your Oliver review (on the Oliver website) as your insight is turning my head from the Airstream Caravel to the EII big time. I wanted to share an idea for when you are in Zion as a token of thanks. My husband and I enjoyed amazing massages at https://cablemountainspa.com/ which seems like it is inside Zion NP. Walked from our campsite it was so close by. Cheers on your amazing trip to Zion. -Tiffany & David from Montana

Yeah, I checked the switch and the wire going to the switch. Switch seems to work fine. No power from the inbound wire. I should check again to ensure I checked correctly. Sounds like someone else had the same issue. This full time job of mine has got to go away. It's cutting I to my fun time.

My Stiker protective case arrived this morning and I have to say I am impressed with the high quality, fit and finish. Striker crafts a nice product. I think this will serve us well. Decisions on were to mount and deploy the mini will likely depend on our base camp location. I really like how compact this dish is. I am considering 4 of the Seasucker marine grade mounts. But may just roll with the flag pole mount. 🇺🇸 https://www.strikerfab.com/ The case allows use of both the standard mount and the flagpole mount. You just swap out the mount below.

Grab your springs, order some new shocks, put some ice on the lobsters, throw it all in the truck and head south. We'll get them on. We don't "suggest" you to buy anything like the HH folks do. I might as well make a cardboard sign that says "Will work for food!"

Camden SP is beautiful. Drive up to the observation tower. Just North is a great restaurant with Lobster Rolls to die for. Micro brewery in town. Town is a nice place to stroll.

Yes, There are many states that have one or more parks that don't have hook-ups. It is very easy to check on their websites. We have camped at Grand Isle SP, Stowe ( SP name escapes me), and Middlebury SP.

It's clearly (by the comments already) a matter of preference. We like to always leave home (or one campsite to the next) with full fresh and empty black and gray. For one thing we like having our nice water from home in tank, but we also invariably use our bathroom along the way. Regarding drinking from it... we do, but also carry a Brita water gizmo in the fridge. So even our water is filtered once more from tank for our coffee and drinking water. There have been times when I left one campsite and planned on having water at the next site... so I didn't fill up my fresh. Then our plans changed and I found myself boon-docking without that water in my fresh tank... so now it's just my rule: full fresh, empty black and gray no matter what, I just do it.

Oh, it finally got here! I've done a lot of prep work but could not start many tasks until I could see it in person. It does have the dual DC terminals, so no extra buses for me. Each will have 12VDC in from the batteries and 12VDC out to the Oliver buses, not extra complications. The beast is heavy and VERY much top heavy. The center of weight is 8" from the top on a 22.5" chassis. I need to work my mounting platform accordingly. I also received the VE.Bus Smart Dongle which is the Bluetooth control interface. No Cerbo and no screen display for me, at least for now. I'm working this week and next, so this will take a while. Like I mentioned before, I will start a build thread after I get a bit done. It's going to be fun!

We’re in Clear Lake near Galveston, I ‘m a mosquito magnet! We carry Thermacells, one handheld and three latern style. The handheld is kept near me and the laterns are positioned around the immediate camp. I have a dropper bottle containing Pyrethrin to recharge the scent pads, very cost efficient and very effective! I really don’t like to spray down with harsh insect repellant, but find the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (Deet-Free) product pleasent for skin and clothing applications and effective. Inside the Oliver I hang a couple of bug zappers for the occasional pesty invaders. If anywhere for a length of time, the screened Clam is deployed. Although I don’t like using, sometimes there’s a need to sweep camp with Cutter Backyard Bug Control.

I was looking for a way to prevent a road bump from releasing the TV from its horizontal stowed position. I know some have put pieces of pool noodle between the TV and the underside of the "attic" cabinet, but I didn't like the way that pressed on the plastic back of the TV. I wanted something that would fit against the metal bracket instead. I came up with this: It's a section of large pool noodle, slit lengthwise twice, with that section removed to make a large "C" shape. The "C" then clips around the bracket attached to the back of the TV and wedges between that bracket and the underside of the "attic" above. This way, all the pressure is on the metal mount, not on the TV, and it still prevents the mount from bouncing up and releasing on a rough road.