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We had a great visit to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. We stayed at Mazama campground, which is pretty large (6 loops), mostly no hook ups except for a dozen or so electric sites in loop F. It’s about 6,000 feet elevation, temps this week were low 40s at night and mid 70s during the day. Not bad for August. It’s been 100 degrees back home in Texas this week! There’s a nice camp store and lodge close by with a nice gift shop and restaurant (we didn’t utilize). The lake itself is pretty awesome. It’s the deepest lake in the US, almost 2,000 feet. No inlet or outlet, fed only by rain and snow melt (44’/year). The movie at the visitor center was interesting and explained in detail how the crater was formed. We did a hike part way around the crater, which is at 7,000’. Our campsite is a short pull through on a one way road that put us on the wrong side for this type of site. Our door opens to the street and we have everything else on the other side. All of the pull throughs on this side of the street have the same issue. Not a big deal, just a bit tight maneuvering in to the site.

We do sanitize our fresh tank seasonally but never drink from it. We use it for everything else, also big NO to CG water…nope, notta, never. @DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI give a great example of why we carry our own drinking water. Edit- Campground and SP water sources can be questionable at times and we just to err on the side of caution. Yep, I guess you can say we are great tasting clean water snobs here. 😂

Absolutely Beautiful! Y'all are always giving us ideas for new places to camp!!!!!!!!

I came up with an equally inexpensive yet much simpler approach that also avoids the use of batteries. I thought about buying the tanks with integrated gauge from Costco that @routlaw mentioned but I didn't like the thought of getting rid of two perfectly good LP tanks. Then I saw these gauges at my local Wal-Mart for about $15. They simply screw right onto the tank. Just open the porthole access and peek inside to see if your tank is empty.

To my surprise, our answer has become NO. We use it for cooking and washing dishes, but not for filling our water bottles. Water bottles always get filled from one of 2 places: 1) Buy bottled water from the store 2) Some places (like certain visitor centers in national parks) give away GREAT water. In the truck, we have about 20 gallons worth of collapsible water "bags" to take advantage of this when it happens. I would love to stop doing #1. But my adorable wife is very picky about the taste of her drinking water. 😃

I like cold water too to drink so I freeze ice cubes in the freezer and pop out a few in my glass then add the room temperature water from our jugs. I will pop out the rest of the ice cubes and put them in a quart freezer bag. I then make more ice for later. It's worked for me. Jihn

No drinking or cooking from on board water tank. Wont even use it for filling pet water dishes.

We don't drink from it at all, but we do cook if the water will boil. We have a 5-gallon water container in the truck bed. The challenge we face is that we prefer cold water. While the refrigerator can hold more food than we anticipated, we don't have an effective solution for keeping cold water on hand. We often forget to fill small plastic bottles and put them in the refrigerator and like our bigger Stanely-style water containers.

No, not drinking from RV water tanks! And as @routlaw wrote, we do not use it for cooking either. We too had been doing your #1 until more recently we started with your #2 idea. I didn't want 5-gal containers, too heavy, and we have ample room with a long-bed truck so don't need collapsible. I purchased some 2.5-gal and 1-gal food-safe PBA-free plastic containers from Hudson Exchange: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9MT3MB?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVZ3X49 I fill two or more 2.5-gal containers, stored in the truck bed with an insulated cover (to keep out of sun since we have an open bed). And fill four 1-gal bottles kept on the closet floor, with one handy on the floor under the dinette. On average, we use at least 1-gal a day for coffee, cooking and Charley's drinking water. 🐶 Last time out was a 6-day trip and we had all the filtered drinking water we needed filled from home. When three 1-gal bottles empty, I refill 3 about 85% full using one 2.5-gal jug. We also bring the Clearsource 2-filter system so water from a campground is filtered. And we purchased these to keep cold drinking water ready in our new Dometic CFX5 45L cooler! Drinking from good quality cups or Thermos bottles instead of endless plastic water bottles of which I could easily consume 6 water bottles a day! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VFK4WS6?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1 We really like how this is working and should have done it sooner. A lot less trips to grocery stores or Walmart merely to buy water!

You guys and your big trucks............................

This subject has come up numerous times on the forum. We never ever drink or even cook from the fresh water holding tank and never will. We do carry BPA free 5 gallon container along which we drink and cook from. Even if you filter the water from the holding tank it has a "plastic" taste which should tell you something. I totally agree with your "adorable" wife too. We also bring along a Brita water pitcher and filter the house water on a trip and try to avoid buying bottled water jugs if at all possible.

Mike, Gorgeous weather and really beautiful photos! A little threading the needle on your Oliver campsite. 😊 You and Carol look great and pretty relaxed. Nothing like high altitude camping! Thanks for the info on Crater Lake NP. I have added to our list. Safe Travels!

Hey jd1923.... You are looking down at Denver, Colorado by a short downtown Prescott, two story building.. Denverites had to go up a few steps at the Capital Building to be called... The Mile High City. They cheated... about 5,278 or so feet padding the numbers due to erosion? Denver... 5280 feet. Cheyenne 6200 feet (6138... they cheated as well). Laramie, WY 7200 feet. We tow the Oliver into the 7,500 to 11,000 feet elevation. Trailers do not care. Tire PSI does not give a hoot, as well. Tent Campers get frost on their pumpkins in a tent, while we have the windows in the Oliver cracked open to taste... thin air. Should can it and sell it to citizens in Prescott... thin air smells sweet. Feed Lots in north central Colorado are around 5500 feet... and it is not Spring in the Air... if you know what I mean. Don't get me started with PSI in Michelin Tires. I am focused on Blue Wire in the next day or so. Many Oliver Elite Owners prefer 70psi to 80psi as it makes the trailer taller. We are happy to get 70psi... PURE THIN AIR when in Leadville, Colorado PSI at 10,158 feet. Weighs half as much as your Hot Air in Prescott. Put that in you whistle and blow a Yankee Doodle tune... Rather squeaky compared to THIN AIR. Wires... oh yes. When the Oliver manual says BLUE WIRE... no wonder the previous owner was confused looking for Blue. Now all of you Ollie's are confused with Ollie's: Fresh & Healthy, Human Grade Dog Food. Or the Good Stuff Cheap Discount Store. So be careful when bragging about an Ollie. Use the proper name... Oliver the British Musical... it will not give you a stomach ache.... 🙂 Oliver the Musical. Oliver Twist. Geez... Google Ollie... and you will prefer Oliver after this message. Geologists have a lot of time when pounding a rock hammer against gold nuggets on the side of a Mountain. Too heavy to take home, of course. Dog Food or Travel Trailer. Our Blue Heelers love the Oliver. As long as there is a cold Beer in the Fridge...." Frankly, my Dear... don't give a damn" and walked off looking to find his Ollie... the Travel Trailer. Don't know Frank... but who cares? Had a long couple days wiring the Oliver. O. L. I. V. E. R. OK? Knock knock, what's in between those ears? 80psi?

Glad you finally got your brakes working, but you can't know for sure that this was an issue from the factory. You bypassed all the original wiring without doing any actual testing/troubleshooting in a logical manner. The problem was most likely a bad connection or cut wire somewhere, which is MUCH more likely than Oliver sending your trailer out the door with inoperative brakes.

Yes. Never had an issue. Sanitized several times a season and especially if sitting for over 2 months. I never leave water in the tank. We use the On The Go Water Softener, which helps prevent any calcium build-up. We also use a high quality water filter, as post previously by Steve Morris (not the cheap blue Camping World Special).

After packing our truck up this morning, going through our checklist, and getting ready to rollout on a trip, I thought about how useful these tool boxes have been on previous trips. I think I may have posted this a few years ago. So I pass this forward for the benefit of any new members with a Super Duty TV and the rear collapsible cargo tray. These three Craftsman tool boxes (link) fill the rear seat cargo basket just about perfectly and allow easy access to my tools. This mod does not allow use of the rear seat. https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-DIY-20-in-Red-Plastic-Lockable-Tool-Box/1000578365

That's nice, easy to reach, too.

😄….🤷‍♂️

Good find @Boilermaker Chemist FWIW the main reason I bought a tank from Costco was due to arrive bad tank swap I received on a trip to Utah some time ago. The swap had a bad valve that leaked profusely but did not realize this until back in Montana. So now I am stuck with a full tank of propane I cannot use and no one will take the errant tank in as a trade or otherwise. Suffice it to say I will never do a tank swap again, and would suggest others to avoid as well.

Waiting for that 'hot thing in the sky' to... drop below the mountains. An uncomfortable 115F degrees. If it were Centigrade I would not be typing... if you know what I mean. Think POTATO AND FRENCH FRIES. OK? BLUE Wire showed up between the street side axles. Wire showing was white. Then Nancy opened the black wire shield, for the lack of a Travel Trailer term... found a white wire that did not belong there.... and Lordy be... BLUE WIRE and Wiring. If this is the case... this Oliver never had much braking. The previous owner had a F250 and I a 2016 F350 Diesel 4x4 with shell, three Cattle Dogs, a Human Bean and a Neanderthal driving. If you encounter a bad wiring job... this could be the #1 to find. Now... you are e.d.u.c.a.t.e.d. Once it cools down below 100F... I am pulling wire from the Seven Pin Plug that I replaced... AND being a Neanderthal Genius of Sorts... added a long wire to the Blue inside, so I can attach to the 7 Pin, Secure it up to where the cord enters the Oliver.... run it along side the Frame, some Zip Ties to secure from friction... strip the end wires... and... once everything is secured.... well... I will hold off commenting until the curtain is raised. OK? Maybe I will just lay back, watch some Television, drink a lot of H2O (Hydrous Oxide) and Finish this tomorrow Morning. I do not want all of you to 'toot your own horns' prematurely. Give Nancy most of the credit as she found the BLUE... concealed as a WHITE. These brakes obviously have not been used and are LIKE NEW, if this is the case. Help from Brett and Mike at Oliver Inc. in Tennessee and Mike Neal of Mike Neal's RV Center in Orem, Utah with a new Oliver Elite II on the lot. ALL, now agree, it HAS TO BE the BLUE WIRE. That is all that is left. Recall the old tune: Red and Yellow, Black and White? My tune is Blue Moon of Kentucky- Elvis did his version on a 78RPM Record? 🙂

David, what you wrote is usually my frame of mind. I am generally more of a care-free person vs. being the worrier. I do required maintenance, but if they say annually for me it's going to be every two years. Oliver has had a 3-year history with these bearings. And yes, I imagine it's a good 200 trailers and likely 300 by now. This is a small sample and Oliver owners tow less miles per year than commercial trailers. There are many forums citing failures like the Airstream owner I quoted above. Being safe, conservative and preventive, I would not count on your last sentence always being true. It could be said that a 7K LB Oliver will run much longer without failure on a bearing designed to support much heavier trailers. Installing these axles is over-engineering and they should work as designed for years, even longer on our relatively light and aerodynamic Olivers. At a minimum, I suggest Oliver Owners with Nev-R Lube bearings should get online with RockAuto, Summit (links above) or another auto parts store and spend <$100 for 2 replacement bearings to have onboard. The secondary parts, snap-rings and washer will be reusable except in rare cases and investment in tools is another step. Each of us will decide on the amount of protection, where we feel comfortable. A few parts and perhaps tools is a small amount of insurance so that one day, on some future cross-country trip, we are not stuck somewhere waiting days without having this critical part on-hand. What Don wrote above is seriously true, though many of us carry extra water pumps too! 🤣

Don already answered, but yep, I did what he did but without the cigarette lighter portion. I used 12G wire, because I have a 100' spool.

Nestled into woods, north of Vancouver, CA.

Badlands Motel and Campground is basically a reasonably clean parking lot with a convenience store. But you get full hookups 2 min from the entrance to the NP with this view 😀

We’ve been camping in Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada the last few days. Our campground (Upper Lehman) is at about 7,700 feet, small and no hookups. There are only a few sites large enough for our Oliver. We’re pretty happy with our site, #3. There are a few other campgrounds, also small. The Wheeler Peak campground is at 10,000 feet. We went up there and did a 3 mile hike to a couple of alpine lakes. The air can be a little thin up there when hiking uphill!

We scored a wonderful spot at a Corps of Engineers park today (August 11,2025). Site 25 at Left Tailrace Campground near Fort Thompson, SD. The weather has been much better than Tennessee when we left for the west. Looking forward to some great boondocking in a few days as we head to higher elevation.

There's definitely a lot of cool places to see enroute from NM to the White Mtns of AZ! We had a blast traveling with @Geronimo John and meeting @jd1923 and his lovely wife and wonderful chef, Chris, and their puppy, Charlie! Above -- a couple Olivers, and a couple knucklehead huskies at the Very Large Array west of Socorro, NM at 6,800' Above: Close-up of one of the 27 VLA radio telescopes (90-foot diameter) that look deep into the Milkyway in the radio frequency spectrum. Definitely worth the time spent to visit this place. Above: Looking for @jd1923.... Above: AH! They can run, but they can't hide from us! Typical afternoon monsoon weather in the White Mtns... Above: Beautiful campground in the Whites... Lots of elk and turkey: A couple knuckleheads trying to figure out what to do with those big 4-legged friends... Above shows a nice flock of Rio Grande Turkeys at about 8,750' enroute to our campsite... Above -- Hannigan Meadow Lodge on AZ Hwy 191 at 9k' -- absolutely fantastic! All in all -- it was a wonderful 5-day, 635-ish mile run from Placitas, NM... Thanks, @jd1923 and @Geronimo John! Plan this one for 2026! Best, A & D (...and the boys - WOOF!) (PS: A couple Olivers preparing for dinner and adult bevs -- note @Geronimo John's ice maker on the table!)

God’s country with great people and taking time to enjoy! Chris calls this camp “Our Place!” We hiked today and found 2-3 backup campsites down our small FS road, with great views along the way!

If it wasn’t for my bad directions, mountain rains, wet dirt roads and no cell reception at 8900+ ft in the Arizona White Mountains, we would have had three Ollies together! The next day, we spent the day together at our camp. Picture by Art with Diane, then John & Chris and John pictured. @MAX Burner, @jd1923 and @Geronimo John all in one place… Priceless!

Ollie #113 is on way to meet new friends tomorrow! We were here just 2 weeks ago. Was our last stop on the way home, and this time our first stop on the way out, 3 1/2 hours from home. Great place! Last time we bought two nice samples of finished Pertrifed Wood. Wonderful Mother & Daughter running the shop! Free Parking on the east side of the park road. $25 for electric on the other side. And if your comin’ here, don’t take my corner spot! 🤣 Nice pics, huh?

Camped at Davidson River NF Campground NC, We had a campsite with electricity. The campsite was shady with enough of an opening for the Starlink Mini to work fine. Blue Ridge Parkway was not too far away. There are a couple waterfalls on RT 276, not too far from the campground, Looking Glass Falls (old photo)

We carry 5-gallon refillable plastic water bottles with a pump. We have found the refilling stations are easy to find and reasonably priced. We had an incident at a state park where drinking water was treated with potassium permanganate. Rangers had added wrong amount, and we had some gastrointestinal distress after drinking.🤮