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Currently, Congress is in the process of approving the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). Below is an excerpt from the website article on Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. As a camper, this legislation will have a direct impact on our camping experiences across the US. It directly impacts every state in the US, all states has property that will receive federal dollars for improvements. You may want to consider contacting your US Congressional Representative regarding support for this legislation. To read the entire article, go to: https://www.rvia.org/news-insights/senate-passes-landmark-great-american-outdoors-act Today the U.S. Senate took significant action to address campground modernization and deferred maintenance on public lands with the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) by a vote of 73-25. The bill, which now heads to the House of Representatives for approval, will provide the largest investment in our iconic public lands in over a century. GAOA will invest up to $9.5 billion of nontaxpayer funds to address the infrastructure within the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies. The bill will also fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide $900 million per year in investment in the public lands, parks, and trails that are the backbone of the outdoor recreation economy. “As national parks and forests across the country look to safely reopen, it’s encouraging to see the overwhelming support of Senators recognizing the need to direct significant funds toward critical deferred maintenance and campground modernization needs on our public lands and waters,” said Craig Kirby, RV Industry Association President. “We are grateful to the 73 Senators who voted today to pass the Great American Outdoors Act and address these issues through this landmark legislation that supports outdoor recreation and conservation in our most treasured lands for generations to come.” HAPPY CAMPING !!! Coy

To further assist in understanding the funding of this legislation, below is a excerpt from CONGRESS.GOV With this, you may have a better understanding of the funding of the spending on this legislation. Please note, I have posted this as information, neither advocating nor dissenting support. My goal is to make members aware that the legislation is being voted upon and as citizens you can decide whether or not to support. If you need further information, you can access many articles on the legislation. S.3422 - Great American Outdoors Act116th Congress (2019-2020) | Get alerts Bill Hide Overview Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] (Introduced 03/09/2020) Latest Action: Senate - 03/10/2020 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 438. (All Actions) Go to: Summary: S.3422 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)All Information (Except Text) Listen to this page There is one summary for S.3422. Bill summaries are authored by CRS. Shown Here: Introduced in Senate (03/09/2020) Great American Outdoors Act This bill establishes the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on federal lands. For FY2021-FY2025, there shall be deposited into the fund an amount equal to 50% of all federal revenues from the development of oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable energy on federal lands and waters. Deposited amounts must not exceed $1.9 billion for any fiscal year. The fund must be used for priority deferred maintenance projects in specified systems that are administered by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Government Accountability Office must report on the effect of the fund in reducing the backlog of priority deferred maintenance projects for the specified agencies. Additionally, the bill makes funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) permanent. The President shall annually report to Congress specified details regarding the allocation of funds to the LWCF. Congress may provide for alternate allocations using specified procedures.

I agree with Sherry, this is an interesting topic for most of us but could get political real fast. Since one of our goals is to visit as many national parks as we can I’ve been keeping up on NP funding. National Parks generate income through entrance fees, camping fees and other fees. They also get a part of concessions that operate on the park. Foundations provide dollars for projects. Donations are also part of park funds. I think this latest funding initiative, through the Great American Outdoors Act, will be getting funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF is funded mainly through taxes on off shore drilling. From what I’ve read, Congressmen Gardener (CO) and Daines (MT) visited the president in February to lobby for better funding for our national parks. The president then asked congress (actually through a tweet in early March) for a bill to do that and in a bi-partisan (92-8) effort they delivered the GAOA which the president then signed. So, while the additional funding doesn’t look like money from individual taxpayers it is from taxes and fees on offshore drilling. At least that is my understanding. Either way, more funding for our parks is a good thing and will help preserve what we enjoy today for our kids and grandkids. Mike

Sherry, I would agree with your thinking. In my case, 1 of my 6v Flooded Lead Acid batteries failed due to what I believe was poor maintenance. My bad! Rather than adding 1 new battery to 3 OK batteries, I decided to install 2 Battle Born LiFePo4 batteries. So in order to qualify for the 2020 tax credit I need to add at least 1 solar panel. I can’t use the portable panel I bought last year. Again my bad! So I am also going to upgrade to a MPPT controller and take advantage of the 26% tax credit discount. So now you know why I can’t afford a piece of Starboard.🙈🙈🙈 Mossey

I use an app called Pocket. I can save any content from any device and organize it by date or tags. So, when I see a forum topic that I I want to save, I simply add it to Pocket and add tags. It also can accumulate and sort podcasts but I don’t use it for that. DMc

You are right again!😀 Mossey

I assume that things like tariffs, fees, interest income, etc. are non-taxpayer funds. It probably doesn't make up a large percentage of government income, but then $9.5 billion is about 0.0027% of the $3.5 trillion the government takes in. I think that the NPS repair backlog is something in the neighborhood of $12 billion, so this money doesn't even get everything fixed. Years of underfunding has taken its toll. It's an interesting question why the funding is specifically non-taxpayer. I'd hope that it has something to do with the accounting rather than any political reason. I mean, if you were to ask the average person what percentage of their taxes should go toward maintaining national parks, I dare say that number would be considerably higher than 0.0027%.

The article did specify nontaxpayer funds for the 9.5 billion. I don't know what that means. Concessionaire fees that go elsewhere? I'm not sure. I suspect we'll see increased use of national parks this year, due to the public feeling that outdoors is the safer place to be with the Corona virus specter hovering. Some of them do need significant upgrades. We've all seen that, who have camped in some of them. I see a possibility for this conversation to go sideways, into the political realm. It isn't there now, but let's be measured and thoughtful in responses. I'd like to see the conversation continue. Sans politics, of course. Sherry

Our choice was easy, it's all white, black, and gray colors and it turned out better then we thought it would. Yes, we have the standard all white fiberglass counter tops and other matching items that it comes with. As I was told at delivery, Mr. Oliver said, "it looks to good not to charge for it". trainman

That's great. Thanks so much.

I was pretty worried about leaving the pole set up while unattended. It would be a matter of a few seconds for a nasty person to lift it up and carry it away. I normally keep my jerry cans secured with a Master Python cable lock, so I just drilled a pair of 1/2” holes through the tube and the lowest section of pole. Now the pole can be left in place for longer periods of time, either fully extended, part-way extended or retracted, as in the second picture. John Davies Spokane WA

Positive and negative busbars are essentially complete, except for some cable ties here and there. There are now 6 fewer cables connected to the batteries with just the (2) 4/0 cables, Zamp battery temperature sensor and Victron battery midpoint sensor remaining. Much cleaner looking. I still haven't finished connecting the Victron battery monitor (shunt is installed though). I'm waiting on parts for mounting the positive busbar's ANL fuse and master battery disconnect switch.

Susan, many of us have chosen our own designs for the front graphic. Ours is the same as our avatar. I had it made locally and applied it myself.

Hi Moots, Welcome -- any relation to the bike manufacturer? I actually rented a sprinter RV (Revel) before getting the Oliver LE2. What I liked about the Revel: drive down the road, walk to the back and take a nap without ever going outside. propane-free design - only had to make sure I topped off on Diesel parking was a breeze - I could fit in one space at a store while on the road bed/garage design was very flexible and did provide What I didn't like about the Revel I was less likely to take it somewhere once all hooked up and settled Didn't have jacks so wasn't super stable inside, if someone has restless leg and you are trying to type on the computer you get seasick Cost: I could buy an oliver, an awesome tow vehicle, and another car for the price of the Revel Sprinter Maintenance/Reliability Space - Revel is the shorter sprinter so the closet is also the shower - I needed someplace good to hang clothes Why I eventually got the Oliver Price - with the Oliver I use the TV as our main car, so the cost of the revel is $100k more easily. I needed a hanging closet for dress shirts/etc... and shuffling those around in the Revel was a pain Parking the Oliver is very easy, I have ended up with some money "tent only" or "no one else can fit" spots that back up on lakes/rivers. #VanLife was stolen by people that eat avocado toast. It was the only TT that I didn't cringe when going to the underside of a used Northeast model. Beautiful welds and no rust on the Aluminum. VS other TT: If the roof somehow leaked on an Oliver all winter, you could pretty much fix the leak on the Oliver and have an awesome spring. For many other TT's your trailer is now a total loss. While the big foot is fiberglass on the outside, it's more traditional on the inside. Narrow - it tows easier than the 8' wide trailers and uses less gas I can use it in the snow - we live in the Cascade foothills, so we get snow and venture in the mountains often. It could be better insulated, but it's better than anything else I've seen.