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OK took Ms Bertie in for the dexter axle recall at a local shop. Good news all the bolts were torqued to 65 lbs each. Nikki at Dexter was easy to work with. Shop was amazed. Dexter paid before I could even get back to get my trailer. When I pulled in there was a big sun blocker trailer in front of me. The couple at the counter owned the sun blocker and it was just less than a year old. They had a laundry list of issues, 7 or 8 things. Trying to get it fixed while still under warranty. Trim was failing, coming loose and falling off. Paint was peeling. Places where the caulk was poorly install and fell out. At least two major leaks. One dripping down a wall and causing the wall covering to begin to wrap. Service manager sent a tech out with blue painters tape to mark all the places where the trim, caulk and paint needed repair. Just a very good reminder of why we bought an Oliver.

As I have said before, with the limited space in our SUV, I really like to carry items that serve multiple needs while camping. Pictures of my filter stand and storage container. Mossey

We’re currently at Lake Pleasant Regional Park. It’s one of the parks in the Maricopa County system. It’s quite lovely although a bit pricey at $32/night. Has water and power and nice shower/bathroom facilities. It’s near Phoenix and has allowed us to visit numerous friends in the area. As a bonus it has free roaming burros! Heading towards Tucson then eastward into New Mexico and Texas.

Catalina State Park just outside of Tucson last month. We’ve made reservations for next January already.

I spent about $100 and you just pick your filter cartridges to fit your needs. I don’t think any water filtration company has any better quality filters than you or I can purchase online or locally. I don’t drink tap water or cook with it as I have a preference for distilled water and usually start our trips with 8 gallons of water distilled at home and resupply as needed while on the road. Mossey

We use the Clearsource for our Oliver. My reason for spending a bit more is that I wanted the actual stand which is powder coated non rusting. It fits in the front part of the storage area perfectly laying flat, leaving room on top for another bin, electrical cords etc. I put quick connects on the Filter, and use a short 2' hose to connect it to the trailer, and it can actually be tucked up under the trailer while camping. Pix Below: In the basement area I have the Clearsource, a (6 Gal) and (4 Gal) milk carton for storage and 1 gal bucket and flush hose. (I removed the filters from the stand in this picture below so you could see through to the back of the storage area.) As Mossemi says above, It's entirely possible to make the same filter out of components you buy from Home Depot or Lowes as mentioned above. To make that filter, you should have the flow go first through a sediment filter then into a finer carbon block filter which removes order and tastes (like a Brita.) In any case...this is what we have and hope it helps you see how it might be useful in your travels.

OLIVER FORUM GUIDELINES Welcome to the Oliver Forum, a great place for Oliver Travel Trailer owners and future owners to interact, share knowledge, solve problems, and most importantly, to develop friendships. Respectful and considerate responses help build this community. You’ll find a wealth of experiences here, and many owners willing to share their experiences. Have fun, but please keep others’ viewpoints in mind. Respectfully state your point, share your information, or ask your question. Keep it casual and friendly. Reread your post before you hit submit. Is it helpful? Thoughtful? Please try to stay on the original topic of the thread. Confusing the issue may cause the member’s original question to go unanswered. Start a new topic if you have a new question. It’s important for all members to have the environment and opportunity to contribute in a considerate manner, and to learn. Inflammatory and trolling comments shall be removed by a volunteer moderator. We encourage members to use the “REPORT” function (bottom right corner of each post) to help us, as we’re not reading every post, 24/7. If your post is removed, you’ll receive a PM about it. If there is a continuing problem, further action may be taken, up to and including your removal from the forum. Some inflammatory topics to avoid include religion and politics. We’re all about camping, and Oliver campers. Over the years, we’ve seen a few simple topics turn into heated debates. It’s natural to want to jump in, but honestly, it’s often better to let it go, and hit the report button, instead. We moderators are avid campers. Even as we write this, we are all out camping, some with limited bandwidth. We respond as quickly as we can, and the sooner we know, the better. Some have asked why our forum is linked to the Oliver website. Valid question. Since the beginning of our forum in 2008, Oliver Travel Trailers (OTT) has paid for our Oliver “sandbox”, including our web space and an administrator who knows way more than we do about maintaining the software, for which we are very grateful. OTT DOES NOT CENSOR OR INTERFERE with the moderators’ management of the forum content. Moderators are not employees of OTT. We are Ollie owners, and receive no remuneration. OTT does have a employee designated to read the forum for the purpose of improving the “Ollie Experience” for all, but that’s a few minutes a day in a busy job description. If you should ever have an issue or a warranty claim, call tech support. Your post might not be seen on the forum by an Oliver employee. With that in mind, we moderators ask you to communicate directly with the company and afford them an opportunity to satisfy any serious needs before flaming OTT on the forum. We are not asking that anything to be swept under the rug. Just, please, let Oliver Travel Trailers have the first shot to meet and exceed your expectations. Sometimes, communications here may be misinterpreted, because the written word just doesn’t carry the visual clues of face to face conversations. Should you believe a post is a little ill-mannered, consider the poster might be trying to be helpful, but isn’t able to put his or her words together the way you might. Forums work best when our skin tends to be a bit on the thicker side. Remember as well, whatever you post will likely be permanent, and picked up by automated internet software programs. Though this is our forum, it’s still on the world wide web. Our words may very well outlive us. Please, be especially patient with newbies. Our search feature is still being tweaked, and they may not have found an answer by simply using “Search”. You may remember your own newbie questions . . . of many years ago. If you have already answered the same newbie question as many times as you care to, relax and allow someone else to step up and reply. Help foster a community of teachers. We recommend all phone numbers and email addresses be sent in private messages and NOT posted. If you must post personal data, we suggest you post in a manner so trolling automated internet programs will not grab your personal information and use it nefariously. For instance, a phone number might be “8ThreeZero, 5one5, 9 2 eight seven”, or for an email address, something like “Bill DOT Fisher at flyboy DOT com”. Please reread this, and help us continue to make our forum a great place for everyone. We hope you enjoy our forum. Thank you, bugeyedriver, SeaDawg, ScubaRx, Mike and Carol, topgun2 , Mossemi Oliver Owner Moderator Team

Snipped from page 8 of the Owners Guide for 2020 Models. Also be aware all this info is available in the "Oliver University" section of the Oliver Web Page...as in the screen shot below...under the tab Travel Trailers you'll see a pull down, at the bottom is the Oliver University area...highlighted in the screen shot in yellow...

Before ordering essentials like a power cord I’d check with the sales office and get a list of what’s included. They provide a power cord, sewer hose, etc.

Also, nighttime humidity can be more of a problem for some people. I used to occasionally wake up in the morning with the sheets that were against the hull being wet since I had slept with my back leaning against the wall. That stopped when we switched from a mattress to cushions, since I just leave the back cushions in place when I sleep. My wife never had the same problem. We sleep with a window cracked, so we never see any build up of humidity in the cabin at night.

Thanks to the double hull, condensation isn't so much the issue as it can be with other fiberglass trailers. And of course, there's no carpet covered walls to hold that moisture and create a potential for mildew. Still, you'll often see some condensation on the walls after taking a shower or around the cooktop when cooking. Like Bill said though, there's not a lot of volume in the trailer so a cracked window and maybe turning the max fan on low will clear it up quickly. We'll do that as routine when cooking. If you install a shower curtain in the bath, it will act as a privacy curtain so that you can also open that window when showering, or just after. The vent fan in the bath is pretty powerful, so it will clear out much if not all of the humidity while you're toweling off, so that it doesn't go into the main cabin when you open the door.

This is at Aguirre Spring Campground outside of White Sands National Park. BLM, nice sites and vault toilets. No hookups. Steep winding drive up to the campground. $7/night, $3.50 with senior pass.

I'll also jump on the "stop at the Badlands" wagon - every time I'm there I can see the pioneers coming across this for the first time. As David's pictures show - simply stunning. Yellowstone NP is wonderful - but - a camping and traffic problem. My favorite campground in YNP is Peeble Creek in the extreme northwest corner. All sites are first come first served, there is central water and pit toilets - no electric or sewer. The Lamar Valley sits right at the campground's western door with wolves, elk, bison, deer, antelope, coyotes and bear (both black and griz). Early in the morning the traffic is lighter because most people will be coming from the WEST into the valley and/or stopping at the other attractions which are mainly on the western side of the park. Unfortunately, as with all of the campgrounds in the park (see Mike's comments above) camping sites are hard to come by - the last time I was there I arrived at 5:15am to get in line for a site and I was THIRD in line! Another way to attack YNP is to head on over to the town of West Yellowstone. The Grizzly campground in town is very nice with full hookups and the Baker's Hole Campground just north of town is also good (central water and pit toilets - no electric or sewer) (site 53 is the best). All sites here are first come first served and to insure you get a site you should be there no later than 9:30 - 10:00 am. Be aware though that getting into YNP can have very long lines - up to a 90 minute wait if you arrive at the gate after 8am. Or, you could try to get a reservation at the Madison Campground inside YNP. Again, central water and no electric but the toilets are flush and there is a central sewer dump. From here you can avoid the entrance gate lines and be closer to the sites that are on the West side of YNP. Another "benefit" of the town of West Yellowstone is that there are restaurants, laundries, grocery stores, etc. if you need these types of things to re-provision or as a break. As I think John said - with the time you have, you simply can not "do" YNP - there are too many people/traffic and there is too much to see. Bill

Thanks to months of hard work by Jason Walmsley we are now allowed to play in a brand new sandbox. Over the past weeks the Moderators have had the ability to poke around, throw some sand and generally play as we tested and tried to make things break. As we get familiar with these new surroundings, we trust that everyone will find the new Forum easier, more stable and yet more flexible while still allowing for the great discussions, stories and information that we have always had. If anyone has problems with the Forum, be sure to let any of the Moderators or Jason Walmsley know so that we can seek a solution right away. Enjoy!

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

We camped at Shenandoah Crossing Gordonsville VA earlier this week while visiting family. It was a fine camping trip. While camping we visited Montpelier, James and Dolly Madison's home: Also visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home:

Mike and Carol's placement of the handle near the latch means that it takes less force to close the door. My placement of the handle near the hinge means that I don't have to lean out very far to grab the handle.

Buzzy, thanks for the inquiry and the interest. I did these mods to the basement a long time ago. Some were actually started during construction: Here you can see where we cut holes in the inside bottom shell to receive hatches (again, these are the same as that one in the bathroom.) The one in the rear under the nightstand is to access the basement. The one on the starboard side is to access the valves at the pump that control the alternate tank fill system and the valves at the floor that drain the water lines. The one on the port side is only to satisfy my OCD Libra need for everything to be symmetrical and balanced. I added two lights to the basement area. They are controlled by a set of 3-way switches, one located right inside the basement door: and the other located to the right of the interior hatch on the inside under the nightstand:

For those who have asked about the extra storage space that I created under the nose cone and behind the propane tanks. The first thing that I did was to remove the propane tanks and the tray that they sit in. I found that the rear screws into the frame that hold the tray down were both broken off from (I assume) the inertia and weight of the tanks leaning forward during braking. The tanks really could not go anywhere because they were obviously hitting the front of the cover, but they idea of them just rattling around in there was a little disconcerting. I re-drilled the holes and replaced the screws only to find them broken again after our next trip. You can see what I did to rectify that matter in the pictures. I’ve had no trouble with them since. I recommend that everyone check these screws to see if you’ve incurred the same problem. The mesh in the floor is aluminum and it is the second one that I've installed. The first was steel and, even though I painted it, it rusted - badly and it looked terrible. Don't waste your time with the steel. I included some measurements that will show how much room was gained. The outside doors are from Oliver and are the same doors as is on the cabinet in the bathroom. I will be happy to share how these were mounted for anyone that has that interest. I am currently in the process of putting lights in this area and one that will illuminate the foot of the front jack.

I had the good fortune to meet Steve and Tali back in late August while we were both "camped" at the Oliver sale office. This "carrier" that Steve made is even more impressive in person. Also, for those that have never had the privilege of touring the Outlaw Oliver, I highly recommend it. Everywhere you look both inside and outside, Steve and Tali have done something - access doors, carriers, light switches, etc. And, it has all been done with attention to detail in the Oliver style. Bill