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On the way to Tennessee, I’m spending the night at R Shaefer Heard COE campground, in NW Georgia. It’s very nice here. Some sites have steep drives to access, and WiFi is spotty, but the lake front sites are great. My view from here.

Yes, it does. They can sit in brackets on the side of the trailer or you can drop them straight down to the ground. You can also stake them to the ground which I have done. With our sunshade attached the awning can withstand some pretty windy conditions. It’s not as easy to deploy as the electrics, but is not really a hassle either. Mike

While on our way west for three months we’re volunteering at Stratford Ecological farm outside of Columbus Ohio. This is our campsite for the next week.

For the amount that I use any of the four potable water hoses I presently have I'm too "cheap" to simply throw any of them out. I did buy one of those Zero G hoses a couple of years ago to be used when needed for length and/or as a backup in the event something happened to the other one I carry. However, when it comes time I'll certainly look at this Gorilla.

To all of you gracious responders: thank you!! I should not have posted until we are back home with said bike rack and receiver. We are near Grand Junction, CO, where Alcan Spring installed our new 5-leaf springs and 5200# axles yesterday. ☺️ I will take photos and re-measure the receiver when we return. I have a feeling, however, that we sloppily measured the receiver, assuming it is a 2" one.🙄 We certainly want to keep the 1UP rack.... Anyway, I'll humbly update you all in several days. Barb

@Ollie-Haus: Many thanks for showing this hose to me, @Geronimo John, and @Patriot at the rally! Definitely a no-brainer "must have" item - especially for space saving feature. I'm tired of wrestling with that stiff white Camco hose when rolling it up. Headed to Home Dumbo today for 2 of these.... We'll do an OPS-check this weekend down south. 2 is 1 and 1 is none!

Except for the marvelously non aerodynamic gull wing solar panels.

The early Elite II's were all delivered with the Fiamma awnings and they do have legs, they are adjustable in length and can be staked down to the ground or slanted back to brackets mounted on the side of the trailer. At over 11 years in, like Mike and Carol, we have never had a single issue with ours.

Use some acetone, it won't hurt the gelcoat and I'll wager the stain will come right off. I use it all the time. Will also remove mildew stains from caulk.

Storage is a premium in an Oliver. I like this idea and will be upgrading in the near future.

A big thanks to @Ollie-Haus for passing along this RV water hose upgrade while at the rally. It’s hard to imagine not having to wrestle with our fresh water white Camco hoses any more when storing them in the milk crate in our Oliver basement. So based on Chris’s recommendation, I scooped up (3) of these Gorilla collapsible 25’ hoses while at Home Depot this morning. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-1-2-in-x-25-ft-Marine-and-RV-Hose-GMAR0025/325990305 “Two is one and one is none”.🇺🇸🫡😊

I attached a nylon mesh bag on the back to keep the hose from catching on anything. Before that it was always push-pull until I was able to get the whole line out.

Be safe!

Headed to Old Mexico Thursday, we'll be walking the border crossing at Columbus over to La Paloma. Pancho Villa State Park is still having issues with their septic system so there's been no dumping allowed for almost a year now -- no biggie, as we'll only stay for 3 nights. Pix of the knuckleheads to follow, FYI...

That just looks awesome and assaults my OCD at the same time. Especially the finger swirls on the back windows.

If you don't have acetone you can try a bit of WD-40 or other penetrant. You shouldn't need much. Spray a dime size on a rag and rub where the marks are. Then wash and put a bit of wax on. Most penetrants use some type of solvent to help it flow into cracks and such and it's the solvent that will clean just about anything.

eTrailer has always been good with customer service. I try to buy from them whenever they are competitive in price. Self-adjusters on drum brakes have gotten a bad rap on this forum starting years ago with @John E Davies. I argued with him two years ago that I'd rather have self adjusters. If you go without self adjusting, you better jack your wheels off the ground and remove wheels or get under your trailer to the adjusting port on the backside of the braking plate and adjust each one manually before every long road trip. Not me. I've owned at least 10 old cars, worked full restorations of brakes systems and everything else and self-adjusting drum brakes are standard equipment on every post-war car into the 80s, and btw my 2001 Dodge Ram has rear drum brakes. I adjust them regularly by driving in reverse and applying the brakes 5-6 times and they get tight again. I learned on this forum from others that trailer brakes self adjust goin forward instead. The shoes eTrailer replaces will be no different. You will just need to replace the item pictured without the self-adjusting gear. Likely a simple replacement part, check John E's old posts. I imagine something else went wrong with Craig's brakes, but would not know unless I disassembled everything myself and was lucky to find the causal issue.

We had Oliver install bug screens on the fridge and furnace at original pick-up.

I have some Star Bright black streak remover scheduled to arrive from Bezos on Wednesday. That stuff works miracles on stubborn stains on fiberglass. I'm sure it will work on that.

@John and Debbie Here you go and it’s even on sale! 👍🏻 https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Valterra/A10-1314VP.html?feed=npn&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1672411894&gclid=CjwKCAjwuIbBBhBvEiwAsNypvQ1XKW9UZOvykONtRfVuZZ7Oa3mCtQb5eZYfkAeF53AIxmbXV19a9hoC2MYQAvD_BwE This looks exactly like the screen I installed. Patriot🇺🇸

Yes, John, Oliver used to sell those upper screens...don't know if they still do. We used small zip ties to hold them in place. Been there for 3+years...no problems. Good Luck, John Amended...forget the zip ties, not needed. I was reverting back to my old Casita days :) Patriotus gave you the correct info! And the mother ship may still have some in stock. John

I'm not sure how you can enjoy a roomy spot with nice grass and a view. Hope you can make it through the week 😉

Bill, yes there are. The farm manager said that there’s so many that you hardly need bait!

That's a bummer that you don't have a bigger covered picnic area! 🤣 Looks nice - any fish in that pond? Bill

Boy - I can just taste that beer you owe me. Cracking it open on that deck overlooking the lake would be awesome! Bill

Yesterday I left home, driving North out of Southwest Florida (aka The Swamp) and to my great surprise, only 90 minutes out, I spied an Oliver heading South on Rte 17 into Nocatee! Thanks for the smiles! A decent day’s drive, in spite of the weather and traffic. Only one pit stop. Northwest Georgia today, and the OTT Mothership tomorrow. I love my Oliver.

In the winter when heating with a portable heater we use 99% of the time, we find condensation between the hull in the rear section (in our experience), if a de-humidifier is not used. We use a small de-humidifier in the rear upper storage "Oliver Sign" area and another one on the kitchen stove top area to resolve this. Checked other areas between the hulls and did not find condensation present.

Just a quick note about headroom from another tall guy. It sounds like you haven't yet been inside an Elite II so you may not be aware that the bathroom celing height is lower than the main cabin. The main cabin is 6'6in but I'd say the bathroom is 2 or 3 inches less. If someone here knows maybe you can correct me. Just wanted you to be aware. I don't know how tall you are but I'm 6'5" and I do have to crouch to take a shower. I shower quickly as we are usually boondocking without water hookups and I just deal with it. For that matter, the 75" bed is not quite long enough for my 77" body. I've removed the nightstand and have a few mods I've done to allow me to better stretch out when needed. Now, My main point is that I'm fine with it -- because of all the other points you mentioned! It's a fantastic trailer and I don't think there is anything else out there that can measure up. The feeling of it from inside is unlike any other RV I'v seen - so clean, bright, modern and you can just sense the solid quality from front to back and top to bottom. Congrats on your upcoming retirement!

That is just up the road from my house. I may give that place a try.

The hose is soft and pliable even in cold temps. It rebounds to its original flat shape, self draining in the process. I roll mine up in a flat coil for storage. It’s specifically for potable water. When pressurized, if it gets a kink, just give the hose a flip and the kink pops out. We’re a year into this hose and won’t be going back to a “ regular” hose ever again. It comes with a very good warranty on top of all that. Home Depot is the source.

They are like fire hoses, they don’t shrink up just flatten out. Very easy to handle and use. We’ve been using these type hoses for years. I don’t have much patience for traditional hoses, especially in cold weather.

Agree John, this has to be better than trying to put that a hard white plastic mind of its own magical “Camco Geine hose” back in the bottle. 😂

Sorry, I must have missed your mentioning the scuppers in your post. They do act like drain holes in the event of a leak. However they also act like vent holes particularly when you are moving down the road - much like scupper holes in a boat. Using the Venturi effect a difference in air pressure is caused between the outside air and the air between the hulls. This, in turn, draws air through the area between the hulls and out the scuppers thus drying the area between the hulls. The faster you drive, the more air that is drawn out. Physics. Bill

We just worked on completing the last 3 of our lower 48 states with a trip to the South East Central US. Stopped at some cool Harvest Hosts along the way and got a nice riverfront site at Maumelle Park in Little Rock. (Only one lower 48 left, our neighbor, RI.)

We’re heading east to Kentucky and stopped for our first night at Fort Parker State Park in Mexia, Texas. Like most Texas state parks it’s well maintained but the sites are old and not very level. It took some effort and we made it work. Bulldog is almost on the ground! Very quiet with a good view of the lake.

We found a great area up in the White Mountains of Arizona with the help of a couple retired cops. They were out turkey hunting and happened by us when we were deep in the woods and came to a crossroads. In both directions the signs read, "Not Suitable for RVs or Trailers." They said the road to the right was a bit rocky and the warnings are for when it rains or snows. We liked that the signs would keep most RVers away. Then they said, "Follow us and we'll take you to our marked campsite." Check the Campendium Map and compare our blue dot to the known campsites! Miles and hours of dirt between and dozens of campsites along the way. We'll keep our high country spot a secret for now and should be meeting some Oliver friends up there in July when the weather is perfect. However, when we left on Monday it was snowing and the daytime high was to be 42F. The campsite was at 8,920 ft and on the drive home we climbed a bit more and I snapped this compass shot at exactly 9,400 on AZ Hwy 273. It's amazing you can drive down a highway at this elevation in Arizona (common in CO of course) and see mountains above and lush meadows everywhere with streams and lakes.

I think your process is great. I usually don’t turn off the main ac breaker prior to starting the generator, but maybe it is best to do so. Eco mode is also fine if you are not running the air conditioning. Lastly, if you should lose or misplace your neutral grounding plug, you can still use the generator to power the trailer if you switch the ems to bypass mode. I usually use the grounding plug but have misplaced mine on occasion. I also change the xantrex breaker rating to 15 amps. I remember that the xantrex will trip the overload on the generator if the batteries are significantly discharged and the breaker rating is set higher. We have the larger lithium bank, not sure if the smaller bank would also trip the overload.

I kinda miss grass... But then I'd need the tactor back I sold when leaving Virginia 20 years ago. Out here we mow the desert weeds with a push string trimmer and weedwacker. We need our occasional rains, but hate that it makes stuff grow... and wet grasses means bugs, we truly appreciate being without... Oh humbug! Wow, what a beautiful spot, Ken and Mary Kay! Hope our paths cross again soon. We're heading to Minnesota and back leaving in 2 weeks. Maybe we might... Enjoy!

Screens on both for us

That jack installation is too involved to miss a shiny chrome hose wrapped around it. My guess is that the hose was install, or reinstalled after a problem, and was accidently wrapped around the jack. Of course, no one checked to see if the hose had full mobility before the sent it out the door.

There has been several other post about humidity issues when camping with Olivers. Normally when we camp in temperatures cold enough to freeze the basement plumbing when using a portable heater, it's only for a couple of days and we don't even de-winterize Ollie making use of the campground's showers. When camping in the South East in the winter, sometimes we have humid weather.

Black tank removal procedure:

Continuing our drive from south Texas to Kentucky we stopped just outside of Texarkana for the night. There are several COE campgrounds 15 minutes to the south and west of Texarkana on the Texas side. We’ve stayed at a couple but usually come back to Clear Springs COE campground. There are a bunch of FHU sites but the ones we like by the lake are just W/E. This is our site for the night, a little rainy but nice.

Thanks Chris! Nothing like tried and true field experience. Keeping it simple on the hose front!

The main reason to go with an Oliver! When you get yours, please show me how this is done... 🤣(looks like we failed to convince you in another thread) Just celebrated my 70th birthday and no retirement plans here! I enjoy working my parttime semi-retirement job (contract instructor for the last 10 years) and hope to continue in good health for many years to come (vocal chords keep working)! Though I haven't punch a clock, 40+ hours a week, most of my life. Most of our friends in town are retired and they do about the same thing everyday (boring)! If I'm not working for my job, I'm always working on something else and I love it! We've enjoyed 47 overnights in our Oliver over the last 6 months and leaving for a 5-week trip just after Memorial Day, back home by the 4th of July! 47 overnights in 6 months days comes to 25% time away in our Oliver! If it was any more time cooped up in an Oliver, that becomes the job. That's just me, and Chris & I love sharing this life together!

Note the "scupper holes" on the bottom of the outside hull. These are meant to draw any moisture that is trapped between the two hulls to the outside and as with a boat this effect gets greater the faster you travel down the road. However, unless you vent the interior (well) you will likely encounter situations where the interior of the Ollie can get humid. There are many ways to combat this since it is caused by the inability of the basic fiberglass to "breath". Bill

Glad to hear your positive review. It will be a space saver and much easier to manage. Thanks!

If it is still serviceable, I would put a new nut and rubber mount on it and roll on. Then replace it at my time of choosing. GJ

All the points you made are good, but don’t fool yourself that the experienced engineer in you will not come to surface in retirement. You will retire but your mind should still be active. For example… You can buy the OTT Platinum Package or save near $10K and install a Victron inverter/charger system with your own LiFePO4 battery choice! 🤣 I imagine you’ve followed the Mod section of our forum. Either way, you made the right choice in choosing Oliver. Welcome to the club!

I can just see those guys at CGI having their way with #113! 😇 Bill