JWalmsley

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Oliver looking good on the cover of the current Trailer Life Magazine! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Oliver Legacy Elite Travel Trailer Makes Cover of Trailer Life Magazine appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The first time that we considered a macerator, our Oliver had sat in the RV port with the holding tanks about half full. We had stayed at the lake until late in the day and just didn’t have time to dump the tanks because we had to be at work the next day. Well, naturally, one thing led to another, and the following weekend we had out of state visitors. Yep, you know it, they also wanted to stay in the Oliver during their visit, to check it out. Not being tank volume conscious boondockers, out visitors waved their way down the driveway with us looking at approximately a forty mile round trip to dump those full tanks. You know that is when I thought how easy it would be to run a water hose over to the sewer line clean out cap and pump the tanks out with a macerator pump. That way we wouldn’t even have to hitch up to the Oliver ! Later, I bought a macerator pump and a couple of hoses that would readily stow in the back bumper storage. The hoses were 5/8 of a inch for maximum flow and stored in their own roll up case. Here is a look at a different one that we have now, but, it is the same portable style that will stow easily. Just pop the cap off and twist this where the regular hose goes. The macerator pump comes in 12 volt and household electricity versions. We chose the 12 volt one. This unit also comes in a fitted hard plastic case complete with spare "O" ring. Here is a look at the water hose. There is a hose hookup and shut off valve for tank manifold wash down, that comes in handy after the dump. Most RV stores keep these items in stock and Ebay is where we bought ours. One great feature of the macerator was that I could pump up hill as high as ten feet if needed. This set up gave us years of good service, weighed little, took very little space to store and it was simple to clean and sanitize. As we traveled dumping was usually done with the regular stinky slinky hose, but when the occasion demanded we had the macerator and we did use it quite often even out on the road. Our overall macerator experience was so positive that we have had one with us ever since as we travel about America. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Could a Macerator be in Your Future? appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The Oliver factory has released a great new video titled "Winterizing Your Oliver Travel Trailer"! We have two video available for guiding you to winterize your Oliver. The first is for the Legacy Elite I found below: The second video is for the Legacy Elite II found below: As the cold season closes in on most of us, it is time once again to discuss proper winterization to protect all the plumbing and water systems inside the camper. First let’s discuss what components are susceptible to freeze damage which would result in water leaks and potential costly service repairs. 1. Brass Check Valves – These valves are in-line valves that keep water from spilling back out of the water fill ports. These valves will be located on the Fresh Water Line, City Connection Line and the Black Tank Flush Line. 2. Plastic Check Valve – The Dometic Standard toilet has a plastic check valve located at the rear of the toilet. 3. Water Valves – These valves are used to control the flow of water. You may have 2 or 4 valves located next to the water pump, 1 located on the lower shell floor to drain the fresh tank, and 1 located on the black tank flush port line. 4. P-Traps – These are used in the sink and shower drain plumbing lines. It retains water and traps debris that has drained from the sink and prevents it from forming a clog deep within the plumbing system, and stops sewer gases from passing into the camper. 5. Water Pump & Filter – The water pump filter is used to trap debris and keep it from entering the pump and water line system that is delivered to the faucets. 6. PEX Push Fittings – These fittings are used to connect different runs of pex pipe through out the camper. Pex itself is freeze tolerant but these plastic and/or brass fittings are not. 7. Faucets – The kitchen, bathroom and external shower faucets all maintain water at the faucet when in use and thus present a potential freeze issue if not properly winterized. 8. Water Heaters – All water heaters should be fully drained of all water and the bypass valve must be set to winterization/bypass mode. This allows for RV antifreeze to be utilized in the plumbing system without filling the water heater itself. *Even when using the camper in cold weather it may be necessary to fully drain the water heater when traveling between campsites, especially the on-demand water heaters as they only hold a small amount of water that can freeze in a short period of time. *Proper winterization method to ensure that all components are protected. You can visit the following link for a walkthrough with John Oliver on how to winterize your Oliver Travel Trailer: Oliver Winterization Step by Step Methods provided below 1. Drain all water from the system (All tanks, water heaters) 2. Set bypass valve at water heater for winterization mode. 3. Change valve configuration at water pump for winterization mode. 4. Use water pump to draw RV Antifreeze (potable Safe) into the camper. 5. Turn on the kitchen faucet (Cold Line) and run until antifreeze comes out. 6. Change to the Hot line and run until antifreeze comes out. 7. Perform steps 5-6 for the bath faucet. 8. Ensure plenty of antifreeze drains into the P-Traps for the kitchen, bath and shower drains. 9. Flush the toilet until antifreeze starts to fill the bowl. Leave antifreeze in bowl to lubricate seal. 10. Turn off water pump. 11. Connect hand pump with antifreeze to the fresh tank fill connection. Pump at least 3- 4 times. Antifreeze is potable safe and will not hurt if it goes into the fresh tank. 12. Connect hand pump with antifreeze to city connection line, turn external shower cold line on and pump until antifreeze comes through shower faucet. *TIP: It will be hard to pump in the city line if the faucets are closed. 13. Turn cold line off and hot line on, pump until antifreeze comes through shower faucet. 14. Connect hand pump and antifreeze to black tank flush port. (You may have to go inside and turn the in-line valve open to allow the antifreeze to freely pump into the tank. One pump should be sufficient as we are only protecting the check valve.) For proper battery storage please visit: Trojan Battery Storage TIPS • The camper can be used in cold weather applications as long as the furnace is utilized to keep the components warm and above freezing temperatures. • If traveling between campsites during cold weather season it may be necessary to winterize depending on outside temperatures. • If water is left in the water heater during freezing temperatures even for short periods of time, it can cause damage. • RV Antifreeze is designed to replace water and should NEVER be mixed with water as diluting it will defeat its purpose. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Winterizing Your Oliver Travel Trailer appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Wintering up down on the Gulf of Mexico and wondering about the possible effects of salt air on your aluminum framed Oliver? Not a problem! Back in the winter months of 2009/2010, Betty and I spent eleven weeks down on the Padre Island National seashore. Our senior pass, read that as “geezer pass”, got us into the park for free and the associated half off senior discount let us stay right on the beach in the paved but primitive campground for $4. per day! The stay limit was fourteen days, so we left for two days, giving us a chance to do laundry, restock groceries and so forth. Then move right back to the beach. The campground we stayed in was just up the beach and was ran by the County, located right by the Bob Hall fishing pier, and again, was right on the beach. The Jeep that we towed our Oliver, hull #3, was driven on the beach for many miles almost daily and our Ollie was exposed to the salt air environment constantly. Our salt abatement strategy was to drive the Jeep and the Oliver through one of the local salt free car baths upon arrival and when departing the area. These are easy to locate and are operated by coin or credit card. At first when you enter the car wash you can feel the powerful surge of the high volume of the rinse. And that high volume rinse is a good thing, for it removes little pockets of very fine salt laden sand that will be in every niche. Because our winter stay was longer than our plan, we actually rinsed at a car wash three times. I am not convinced that three times was necessary. Most of the salt away car washes are plainly marked and simple to use. We probably did over worry the issue, since we rinsed in clear water then followed up with a separate rinse that included the salt away solution in the rinse. Here is a look at one such car wash, as you can see the undercarriage gets a high volume of water. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Salt Free Oliver appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 When building your Oliver, as you work on your build sheet, you may decide to add a propane QUICK CONNECT to facilitate use of various propane appliances such as a BarBeQue grill or Little Red campfire in a can. In the photo above the female fitting on the left is where your appliance will be plugged into. This port is often times mounted to the trailer tongue on the curb side of the trailer. A lever valve is just behind the female port as a emergency shut off. The part on the right, in the photo above, will go on your appliance hose to attach it to the quick connect. So, you are ready to hook that grille up to propane for the first time, here is something to look for during your project. If your appliance has a hose with this connector on it then it is designed to hook up directly to a tank like the those under the cover on your trailer's tongue. This is a high pressure connector and your appliance has a regulator to drop it down down to a useable value. Now if you replace this hose with one that has the male quick connect half on it and leave the appliance's regulator in place, your appliance will not work like it should because there will be one regulator behind another, dropping the pressure well below a useable value. Should you need to use the appliance before you replace it's hose, regulator and add the male fitting, you can hook your high pressure connector direct to your other propane tank that is on the tongue. I think that the easy solution to resolve all of the "what if's", might be to have your appliance with you when you pick up your new Oliver and ask the factory technicians if it is ready to plug in to the quick connect and use. Those factory guys are always ever so helpful and ready to help! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Propane Quick Connect, are you ready to plug in? appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Route 66 is a slice of American history In 1925 Congress passed legislation that created the East/West artery that linked Chicago to Los Angles. During its early formative years, Route 66 had several different passages. It was not until Eisenhower saw the German Autobahn that Route 66 became the major highway linking America through support of government funding. In the 1939 novel, Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck named Route 66 as the “Mother Road”. As an American epic odyssey Steinbeck told of the Joad family as they traveled from Oklahoma to California during the post Depression “Dust Bowl” days. This Pulitzer novel served as my compass in my recent journey down Route 66. My father was a native Texan, and traveled west as a child with his family to settle in California during the height of the Dustbowl, much like the Joad family. After WWII my family would often travel Route 66 from California to visit my Mother’s family. We lived near LA and our driveway was on Route 66. Along the way, my father would often point out places where his family “camped out” on Route 66. Before WWII, he was in the CCC and had helped build some of the facilities in National Parks near Route 66. Route 66 is a slice of American history, told by Will Rogers in his museum on Route 66, by President Eisenhower as he passed legislation to strengthen American commerce by creating a national transportation highway system and by many stories. Today Route 66 is being preserved as a national monument and oversight by the National Parks Service is keeping a true American shared heritage road that draws many from all over the world. As a traveler on Route 66, you will hear many languages spoken as you enter the diners, hotels and attractions along America’s highway, the Mother Road. When I was a child we drove on Route 66 from Victorville, CA to Guntersville many times, where my mother's family lived. I always bugged my father to stop at the "Spaceship" gas station below. Now that Route 66 has been designated as a national monument and federal matching funds are available, many road icons are being refurbished. The Spaceship gas station now houses the local chamber of commerce. For years, restaurants, hotels and gas stations met the needs of travelers across the U.S. from East to West. The purveyors of curios, collectibles and snake oil were quite prolific along the highway selling to gullible tourists. To attract the eye of motorists, the buildings were adorned with bright colors. The really sharp salesmen would put a large object such as a horse or buffalo out front. The really good ones would make the entire building in the shape of a whale, Teepee or a Dinosaur. This would ensure the children would drive the parents crazy to stop, much like I did as a child. Fast food did not exist. You stopped, ordered and then the food was cooked and served. Picnics at a wayside park or on the hood of a car were the preferred restaurant if you were to make your destination on time. When Eisenhower became president soon after WWII, he passed a bill that created the national interstate system. This spelled doom for Route 66. Today, travelers can go for thousands of miles on an interstate and see nothing but the McDonalds and gas stations just off the road. Towns along Route 66 fought the building of the interstate. I can remember traveling on interstate 40, having to get off and drive through town on Route 66, only to get back on the interstate just on the other side of town. Below is some of the artwork along Route 66. Because Route 66 has been deemed a national monument, many icons along the way are preserved as a national treasure and qualify for federal dollars to pay for restoration. Route 66 is well promoted in Europe and other countries. A large number of tourists on Route 66 are not from the U.S. As I was taking some photos this morning, a large tour bus stopped full of people from Germany. Soon another group from the UK stopped. Many of the businesses on Route 66 flourished because they met the needs of the travelers. Such providers as Cline’s Corners were an icons that sold food, groceries, ice cream and trinkets for kids such as MiniTonka moccasins. They still flourish today and bigger than ever. It is now a large truck stop, restaurant and still has the trinket store. On the other end of the spectrum is Route 66 Casino. Built on the edge of the Hopi Indian Reservation and adjoining Route 66 highway, offers very little to travelers. Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico The Acoma Pueblo Indians (pronounced ak-o-ma) have occupied this pueblo on top of a 380 foot Mesa west of Albuquerque, NM since 1080 AD. They have survived attacks from their Indian enemies, Spanish and Americans. As the Spanish Conquistadores approached the high Mesa, the sun shined on the Adobe village and they appeared to be made of gold. The village was attacked several times over a 250-year period. The last attack was successful. The Acomas were able to sustain life on the Mesa because they had water pools, gardens and animals in abundance. To this day, 13 ancestral families live on the Mesa with no electricity, or running water. The white ladders signify a Kiva. This is the heart of the Acoma religion place of worship. The religious leaders are all male and only males can enter the Kiva during the worship service. However, the Acoma culture is very matriarchal. As an example, only the women can own property. If a divorce occurs (very rare), the male must leave the village. They have a church built by the Spanish. Their services are a mixture of Catholicism, Acoma, and ancestral heritage. I was able to take pictures of the outside of the church but not the inside or the graveyard. The graveyard is very interesting. It is layered with graves buried on top of each other since early Acoma civilization, accounting for shallow graves stacked on top of each other, more than 40 feet deep. Only leaders/church leaders can be buried and this is the last layer. The Acoma Pueblo Nation are a proud people, very quiet, help each other, have a sense of the greater community and family rather than self. Monument Valley Arizona/Utah Route 66 does not go to Grand Canyon, it parallels the canyon and in some places, especially Peach Springs AZ, you can look north and see the overhang into the canyon. I have seen the canyon several times and so on this trip, I wanted to go to Monument Valley. Below is my “Home away from home”. I felt I could see Geronimo riding across the night sky or the Great White Buffalo. The Navajo Indian Nation owns Monument Valley and it is a centerpiece of the reservation. I found the Navajo lands to be very safe, friendly. The Navajo lady below spins raw wool from their sheep into yarn that is used to make blankets and other necessities. Many “Western” movies were made in Monument Valley. With little imagination, one can imagine John Wayne in the movies. Notice below, the helicopter in the photo from the filming of “stagecoach”. I was in Monument Valley the night of the “Blood Moon”. Above is a picture of the moon rising between two of the monuments. You can compare the size of these monuments with the cars, but it is still some distance to the nearest one. I am high on a cliff, very very uncomfortable with height, but the view is priceless. Winslow Arizone Winslow AZ is known for the song by the Eagles Take it Easy starting out with the lyrics “Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona”. Before this song, Winslow was known as the home of the La Posada Hotel and Gardens. Before Route 66 the railroad was a primary means of long distance transportation from East to West. Several railroad towns had upscale accommodations, both restaurants and hotels. Known as Harvey Houses, Fred Harvey introduced fine linen, silverware, china, crystal and impeccable service to railroad travel. MGM made a movie “The Harvey Girls” starring Judy Garland. Today, La Posada hotel remains and the restaurant Turquoise Room serves some of the finest cuisine on Route 66 or any rail town restaurant. Food The food along Route 66 is boundless. Chicago dogs, Chicken Fried Steak in Oklahoma and Mexican/New Mexican throughout the west can best be described as Road food extraordinaire! My favorite is Mexican but I often strayed into other culinary delights. Here is one of my favorites, a Black Angus burger, topped with a whole Hatch green chilie accompanied by real French fries. Wigwam Motels Buildings along Route 66 in the early years were designed to catch he eye of the driver, the children and others that might be snagged in to buy their wares. Such are the two wigwam motels on Route 66. Pictured here is the one in Holbrook AZ. The other is located in Ontario, California. The old cars are relics that family members parked rather than trade-in. The individual Tee Pees are traditional motels with all of creature comforts that most travelers expect, with a bit of yesteryear nostalgia! Here is a picture of Hackberry General Store, Hackberry AZ I remember stopping here when I was a child because it was the only place to buy gas in more than 60 miles, either direction on Route 66. Today, it is more of a tourist attraction but does serve a small community as a general store. Calico Ghost Town California In 1884 silver was discovered on a hill near present day Yermo California, 30 miles from Barstow CA. Within 6 months there was 18 registered mines and 100 + miners. The town of Calico was born and survived, even today. At its most robust times, there were over 100 families, 260 miners, 18 saloons and 10 brothels. More than $22 million annually was removed as silver and the towns of Daggett and Yermo sprang to life as silver ore processing was needed. In 1922 a large mining corporation bought the mining interests south of Calico and continued to mine for borax, silver and copper. After several years of strip mining, the natural resources were gone. The town of Calico was sold to Knox Berry Farms and it was repurposed as a Ghost Town Park. In the late 20s and early 30s my father and his brothers played here as boys. When it opened as an amusement/historical park we visited Calico. My father told me that the road to/through town was added and improved, the buildings had new roofs, but otherwise, everything was the same. Look especially at the "Otherside" building. It I'd made of whisky bottles and rammed earth. In the late 1890s Calico burned, but this building and the school/church survived. Calico was quickly rebuilt because silver in large amounts was being mined. I hope you have enjoyed my revisit to Route 66. I appreciate you taking the journey with me. I drove 4,600 miles roundtrip, spent 4+ weeks on the road, gained a pound or two and despite the thunderstorms I drove through, I had NO ISSUES with my Oliver Travel Trailer. It performed exceptionally well. Route 66 is not about the destination, but rather the journey itself Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Route 66 The “Mother Road” of America appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 A SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT REFURBISHING AND USING CAST IRON In this final part of the Dutch oven series, the meat of our topic has been revealed right along through the series, a little at a time, out of necessity, in order to fully cover each area. So, let’s pull those little fragments together. INSIDE cast iron care, maintenance and storage. Simply put, oil it, and keep it oiled. Cooking oil of the type that you plan to cook with will work nicely. Some folks will fold up a few layers of paper towel, soaking them slightly in the oil and leave them inside the cast iron so that it is handy to rub it with. If this is your choice care must be exercised not to over saturate the towels as they will attract dust and so forth. OUTSIDE cast iron care is often done in one of two ways, lightly oiled or well smutted as it comes from the cook fire. Either way provides a quality rust resistant coating and it works well. However both ways will rub off onto anything that they touch. A carrying case , box or bag is in order. Heavy fabric shopping bags seem to work well for us. Some cast iron cookware can be quite collectable and fairly valuable, so keeping it in that "ready to use" condition is a natural concern. Learning how to determine the value and collectability of your cast iron is not difficult at all since there are so many online resources out there on the internet. Here is a link to one such page that talks about the numbers on the cookware and how to read them. http://www.castironcollector.com/numbers.php Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 8 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Dad was in the US Navy at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. And, he was an E-7 First Class Aviation Metalsmith, teaching the Aviation Metalsmith trade to sailors, before they were deployed to the fleet. We were living in enlisted housing near by the Naval Air Station Alameda close to Oakland California. I was too young to remember much at that time, but curiosity caused me to inquire of Mom & Dad in later years. It took awhile after the attack at Pearl Harbor, for us to go, but Dad was sent to Pearl Harbor right away and was stationed at Naval Air Station Ford Island. Probably because there were well over three hundred aircraft that were damaged or destroyed during the attack. It was only after it was decided by the war department that it was safe, that we were allowed to travel as dependents, to Honolulu on the Hospital ship USS Benevolence. My first early childhood memories was living in Enlisted Navy Housing and playing in and on the partially buried bomb shelters. Naturally this was a strictly forbidden activity, but ever so much fun. Even though down Inside the shelters was dark, dank and mostly skeery! Made out of very thick concrete, the bomb shelters were shaped like a Quonset hut with rounded sides that we could scramble up quite readily. The Navy housing was always manicured and neat, but the nearby bomb shelters were always grown over, mostly I guess to hide them. The shelter nearest to our home was covered with wood rose vines that made a good hand hold when scrambling up to the top of the shelter. Once up on top of the large, long shelter, there was a long wood rose tunnel running full length down it. Now, unless you have been there, it would be hard to understand just what a wonderful play house this was. With sunlight filtering through the vines that had flowers that closed up at night, then opened up in daylight and seed pods that were shaped kind of like a wooden rose, it was colorful and nearly always had a gentle cool breeze flowing through it. This majestic hidden playhouse did have it’s downside though. Because it was a place that we weren’t supposed to be, we would at the first sign of adult activity, go quiet and still. All in all though, it was a pretty peaceful place to be. The concrete was cool to the touch and felt quite pleasant to lay down on, during the heat of the day. Lots of times I would go there by myself just to lay quietly on my back watching the wildlife that also thought it was a cool place to hang out. One day I awoke to Mom calling me, she was standing at the bottom of the shelter looking up when I peeked out. Yeah, I hadn’t fooled her by hiding then falling asleep, she knew just right where to find me, it was time to pull the “Santa brought it”, red wagon that I had wanted so badly, down to the Navy Exchange Commissary, one of my least favorite things to do. Now you would think that I would like to pull that wagon to the commissary since I probably pulled it a hundred miles all around the housing area while playing with the other kids! Years later. While in the Navy myself, I always felt that it was a Honor to man the rail and salute as my current ship that I was stationed on passed Battleship row. It was quite a sight in the early years, even though there was no memorial, just rusting metal sticking up out of the harbor, with tiny droplets of oil coming to the surface, much like the remains of the Arizona was sobbing quietly in grief. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Childhood memories because of a day that lived on in infamy appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 It's a Wonderful Town We invite everyone to visit our wonderful little town and check out the many activities taking place during the holiday season. The city of Hohenwald invites and encourages everyone to participate in this years Christmas Celebration. "It's a Wonderful Town." During the first three weekends in December, patrons, guests, and visitors of Hohenwald will have the opportunity to enjoy Christmas carols at the Gazebo, carriage rides, Christmas lights in Memorial Park, arts and crafts in the breezeway, a taste of yummy food from our favorite vendors, and a visit or two from Old St. Nick himself and many more activities. So if you are planning a trip to visit us here at Oliver in December, make it a great time. You can visit us at the Hohenwald sales office, take a plant tour see the showroom and see our little town. Christmas parade will kick off the activates on 12/03 at 7PM. Miss Christmas of Hohenwald Beauty Pageant on 12/05 at 2PM. Lighting of the Christmas Tree at the Gazebo on 12/05 at 6PM, the pageant winner gets this honor. Christmas in the Park will begin 12/03 through 12/31, a drive through the park to see the decorations. Carriage rides are December 4th and 5th, 11th and 12th, 18th and 19th from 6PM-8:30PM beginning at the Gazebo. Christmas Carolers will begin singing from 6Pm-9PM at the gazebo, food vendors will be set up in the city parking lot at Rio Colorado Restaurant, and arts and crafts will be displayed in the breezeway of the Elephant Sanctuary Welcome Center. A Christmas Parade of Homes will add to the activities beginning Saturday December 5th rom 10AM-2PM. Lewis County School Bands featuring grades 5th through 12th will perform a free Christmas concert Monday December 7th in the Lewis County Middle School Auditorium. Visit the downtown area, courthouse lawn as our community gleams with it's many decorations and activities. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Christmas in a Small Town appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Thanksgiving is a fun national holiday. People throughout the country get together with their friends and family to eat a delicious homemade Thanksgiving dinner, with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, gravy and all of the other trimmings. If you decide to take advantage of the extended weekend to enjoy some camping, here area few ideas for a modified campfire Thanksgiving dinner. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Thanksgiving Ideas for Camping and RVing appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Do I use a tripod, a campfire grille or on the ground? Most of the time your fuel source will dictate which method will work best for you. For example if you are cooking with live coals on the ground and your fuel source is foraged but uncut limb wood, the tripod will give you some good options. Because live coals vary in intensity rapidly, a tripod can give you the ability to adjust the proximity of the Dutch oven to the heat source quickly without removing it from the fire. You can raise and lower the oven by moving the “s” hook up or down the support chain. If the fire wood is limb length foraged fire wood, then it can be end fed into the existing bed of coals, then as it is pushed to the center of the circle, it will crowd the coals up into a more focused pile under the oven, at the same time that fuel is added. The tripod will give many options for suspending different types of cookware over the heat source. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 6 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 I lost my cast irons seasoning trying something new, what now? It is a quick fix that you can do readily after cleaning your cast iron cookware. It is just a simple matter of preheating the cookware, adding cooking oil and rubbing it down with a paper towel. The easiest thing to do before putting up your cast iron up is to deep fry something in it then wipe it down with a clean dry paper towel. Here is a look at the finished cookware ready to use. Your cookware will look like that in the video and be nearly ready for your next use. During our extended fishing trips Betty has a couple of tricks that make things easier and reduce the cost of multiple fish fries. Your cooking oil will have cornmeal and French fry bits in it and look a bit tired. One of the last things that we cook in the oil after the fish, while the oil is still at a good cooking temperature is sweet potato fries , French fries and onion rings, all together. You will be amazed at how the oil clears up ! Then it is time to strain the oil and store it until the next use. To strain the oil, Betty uses a cotton jelly strainer because it can withstand fairly hot oil, yet, strains well. Here is a look at it as it comes new in the box, we got ours at a farm and home supply store. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 7 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Charcoal briquettes or campfire coals, your choice. When the wagon trains were moving west as America was being settled, there weren’t any charcoal briquettes down at the corner convenience store, so everyone used hard wood or buffalo chips for cooking fuel. While cooking with coals from the campfire, using a grid works well for the bottom heat in a Dutch oven, but what about the top ? Most users put live coals up onto the Dutch oven top with a metal scoop or tongs. Live coals from the campfire are not tightly compacted like the charcoal briquettes are and must be replenished more often. While on the topic about wagon trains and live coals, I have been asked why the Dutch oven could be seen hanging from underneath the wagon at the back. It was a safe way to transport fire from one night camp to another. They would put a scoop of ashes in the oven, then a scoop of live coals topped with a scoop of ash and the lid put on. Because live coals tend to burn with a higher intensity they burn out quicker and need to be replenished more often, making temperature regulation somewhat more difficult. A long handle shovel makes handling live coals more comfortable because of the more intense heat. Betty and I like live coals for Dutch oven biscuits in the morning so we will add extra fuel to the campfire and shovel dirt over it to bank it up overnight. That newly added fuel will become charcoal overnight and you just pull the cover of dirt off to the side, shoveling the live coals as needed. As the dirt is removed the charcoal gets the air that is needed for combustion and begin to glow brightly immediately. Again, a long handle shovel is a handy thing. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 5 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Cooking with cast iron, applying heat evenly to top and bottom Needing to apply heat to the top and the bottom at the same time is almost exclusively a Dutch oven thing. For example when choking corn dodgers, it is usually a cast iron frying pan that is used and the dodger is turned as needed with a fork or spatula. Here is a look at cooking corn dodgers over a campfire. Dutch oven cooking however seems to need a bit more heat on the bottom and a bit less on the top. Our rough rule of thumb for most recipes is about one fourth less coals on the top. Only time and experience will get it perfected to suit your old traditional family recipes. In this short video Betty is putting the corn bread batter in the pre heated Dutch oven. After adding the batter, the lid is put in place and the charcoal is put on the oven lid. The charcoal on the Dutch oven bottom is on a sheet of aluminum foil because we didn’t have a good dry layer of ash in our fire pit. We were having daily springtime showers and the foil directed the heat up to the Dutch oven instead of being wicked away by the damp ground. Though not quite done yet, here is our first peek at our cornbread. As you can see in these short videos it is a fairly simple process and the even distribution of heat makes for well browned and delicious campfire cornbread! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 4 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Once the cast iron is ready how do I keep it that way? As a child here in these Ouachita mountains I discovered that there were some pretty cool secrets to be gleaned from a visit to Grandma’s kitchen. However this neat trick came from helping Grandpa’ as we processed a couple of fattening hogs for the freezer. Grandpa deftly removed a couple of hog’s tails and handed them to me, saying that I should take them to Grandma’ who was preparing some of the hog’s finer cuts in the kitchen. When I asked if she was going to cook up the hog tails, she laughed out loud, put a small slice of fresh buttermilk pie on the table and said to me, “wash up and snack on this while I tell you a story.” Now, Grandma’s story was a trip back in time to life in the mountains between the two world wars when times was hard and life was a bit “catch as catch can”. The short of the story is that most mountaineer’s cabins had a pigtail on a string hanging from a nail up on the wall behind the old wood cook stove. After cleaning the cast iron, it was warmed on the stove and the pig tail which was almost all fat, would be rubbed all over it to keep it oiled up and rust free. He, he, now, there are ever so many reasons that we aren’t doing it that way now a’ day’s ! But the main principle of the story is the way to have your cast iron ready for it’s next outing. It just needs a light sheen of oil wiped on it while warm, using a paper towel. Then it is ready for storage. Yep, it is just that simple, pigtail not required! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma’s Cast Iron: Part 3 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Refurbishing, seasoning and maintenance Because of it’s very nature, our much beloved cast iron cookware can get a light haze of red rust on it before you know it. Especially here in the humid deep south. A light haze is readily removed with a scouting pad and cooking oil while the cast iron is warm. Wiping with a white paper towel and light cooking oil will let you know when you have removed it all. Here is a quick 17 second video of the finished and ready to use cookware. A slightly heavier coating of rust may be removed with a more abrasive scouring pad followed by the paper towel wipe down process. Deep pit’s in your cookware can sometimes be addressed with a rotary brush or a grinder. However, it must be remembered that one of cast iron cookware’s most endearing trait’s is that it heats evenly across its entire surface. Any thin spots that are made during the restoration process can cause it to burn, discolor and/or stick. Excessive grinding can ruin cast iron leaving you with only a cool display piece. Our favorite seasoning method, except for the seasoning of brand new cast iron, is to deep fry in it, for example, having a fish fry at the end of a camping or fishing trip. Then carefully wiping the cast iron clean while still hot. Keeping the cookware carefully oiled seems to work best and always when warm so that the pores are open to receive and retain the oil. Maintaining that great finish during storage can be tricky, but gets much simpler when it is stored in a temperature/humidity controlled environment. Because we prefer that the outside of our cookery stay campfire ready and some what smutted up, we store and transport our cast iron in heavy coarse fabric shopping bags, making it easier to handle and it keeps the smut from transferring to other things in the storage area. One of Betty’s little tricks for keeping the rust at bay is to collect the desiccant capsules, that we find in many over the counter meds such as antacids, put them in a sock and drop them in the cookware before closing the lid tightly. When the desiccant becomes less effective, she bakes them dry to re-use them. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 2 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 I found Grandma’s Dutch Oven in storage all rusted up, now what? Every time you saw it while in storage, it put a smile on your face as you remembered those delicious treats that Grandma’ surprised everyone with, when you were a kid. Then after that smile, the next thought was, “it looks rustier every time I see it, I sure need to do something with it”. But, just what, you might think. Most of us have helped with and been around Dutch oven cooking off and on for years, but looking at a rusty Dutch oven can leave us scratching our heads, about just what needs to be done next. Here is a quick video we took during our last boondocking fishing trip that addresses cleaning, seasoning and putting cast iron back in service. In this case we used a little cooking oil and fine rock salt to work out the surface rust and restore the finish. Pre-heating the cast Iron is important in that it opens the pores of the utensil. You may note at the end of the video how the Dutch oven and lid have started to get a polished oil look to it. In this video where Goga is scouring the oven with a brush, you can see that the neatly kept campfire of Opa Ohoyo and Goga uses both wood and charcoal briquette’s and is just a pretty tidy setup. Some folks prefer that the outside of their oven is not scoured but is instead, left in it’s natural campfire smoked condition and that is the case here. . This particular oven does not have the cast Iron legs on the bottom and it must be used with a campfire grille as it is in the video. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Cooking with Grandma's Cast Iron: Part 1 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The first couple of days out of Hohenwald Tennessee home of Oliver Travel Trailers, we put in some longer days behind the wheel. Our thinking was that we were close enough to the factory that most folks in the area had already been to see the amazing Oliver. We spent 24 hours in Pa at a campground so that folks that had been following our progress could drop in for a visit. We showed the Oliver to four great and very interested couples while there. The Pony Express has four diesel tanks, so we traveled many miles before needing to refuel. Several toll roads later we were showing in Falmouth Maine, overnighting at a campground again. Our postings on facebook and other pages usually have a photo of the campground layout, address, GPS coordinates and our campsite number to help folks find us easier. Here is an example of that: We are currently camped in Southern Maine and around our campground's checkout time we will continue on North bound towards Canada and the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick area up in the Maritime Providences. So. please follow along with us as we proceed and remember that our internet postings may be a few hours behind, feel free to call my cell phone number to get an up to date location on us, to coordinate your visit. 479.243.5450 Hope to see you soon! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Oliver Canadian Tour Update 2015 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Fresh water / Black water handling techniques Use of gravity to transfer fluids under boondocking conditions is not practical in many campsites. A couple of transfer pumps can make moving fresh water and black water simple. However those pumps need power and we solve that issue by using a battery jump start power pack on our twelve volt pumps. We clip the color coded power cables to the pump’s negative and positive wires and turn the pump on and off with the power pack’s front panel switch. Our FRESH WATER PUMP is a salvaged pump that had started leaking in the pressure cut off switch’s diaphragm. Instead of throwing it away we converted it into our transfer pump using twelve dollars of hardware store brass fittings, a bit of Teflon tape and our fresh water pump is ready for action. Using water hose fittings we connect our transfer pump and white hose to our trailer mounted tank to put water into our camping trailer. Our transport barrel, complete with brass hose bib to hook up to, cost $40, At a local farm and supply, making it the least expensive of the two pumps. Our BLACK WATER pump is a MACERATOR that we bought new off of EbAY. It and a “roll up flat” 5/8” hose designated for black water only, cost in the neighborhood of $200. Using the macerator pump we can pump black water up hill for short distances. Once again using the power pack and it’s switch for a power source. We chose a macerator that came in a plastic hard case for weight and storage considerations and the reel up, lay flat hose for the same reasons. Our BATTERY JUMPSTART PACK was purchased at a discount tool supply for about $60. We have hauled it many thousands of miles while constantly charging and discharging it under rigorous conditions. A quick word of advice about the power pack. It can have a small inverter and an air compressor built into it as well as a work/safety light and a 12 volt power outlet. This is a place where we felt it well advised to spend a little extra to get one with all of the features that we thought we might need. We even use this battery pack to power up our twelve volt impact wrench that we use during a flat tire change. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Boondocking Part 6 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Extended stays and support methods When you are in your favorite primitive campsite and the ranger comes around to say that your twenty eight day stay will be up tomorrow, and you immediately think, “so soon?”, you likely have a good system of extended support figured out. In addition to our camping trailer we pull a boat and a small support trailer to our favorite primitive campsites. That trailer has a black water tank and a fresh water tank on it and we will make a short trip to the nearest dump and fresh water fill station every couple of weeks. For many this just isn’t practical and they carry water in a roof top fresh water bladder or jugs, then tow the trailer to dump black water as needed.If your camper is a larger one that it isn’t practical to pull out to a dump station, black water tanks come in various sizes and brand names such as “sani tote” and weight can be an issue for transporting them, for example, at roughly eight pounds per gallon, a thirty five gallon “blue boy” might be more than one would want to handle. Putting the portable black water tank on a receiver hitch cargo carrier works well for dumping, but, may be too high to gravity fill directly. Macerator pumps can solve the problem of getting the black water from the camper to the portable tank and they may be powered from a Jump start battery pack or a trailer plug. We prefer the jumper pack for power because we use it to power up other things around the campground. Generator size can relate directly to your camping style and I tend to look at it this way. Need a microwave, air conditioning or maybe a hair dryer? Then you need to bring a big generator and a big gas can for it. Most folks can quite readily camp for extended stays with a small quiet and fuel efficient one thousand watt generator that they run sparingly in the morning and maybe in the evening. Ours uses about half a gallon of gasoline in eight hours or roughly four days. Betty and I just completed an extended stay at a lake and it was ever so fine sleeping with the windows open listening to the loons calling across the lake was so wonderful! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Boondocking Part 5 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 USFS / BLM / USCOE and some differences therein Boondocking in these areas is a very cool thing that allows us to enjoy Mother nature’s splendor in a up close and personal way. However, each of those agencies have a set of specific requirements that cover the whole spectrum of activities during your stay. Many of the core values for those agency’s are the same, but, and now, that is a big BUT, each of the various Ranger districts can be ran as a small kingdom all unto itself, with the ability to adjust the regulations to suit the needs of that particular area. LENGTH OF STAY has a direct impact upon the area and may be regulated individually, but the general rule of thumb is fourteen days then you must move on out. How many additional days that you may stay for the remainder of the year can and often times does vary widely. ELEVATION will often dictate your style of camping because of wide temperature changes from season to season coupled with whether the area is arid, moist or maybe even in monsoon season. Each agency is good to post the individual area’s rules and regulations, so it is a good idea to spend a few minutes to pause and read how that may affect your visit. A quick check in with other campers in your chosen area will get you up to speed on particulars about distances for dispersed camping and surface discharge of grey water and it’s various acceptable or non-acceptable, local methods. Each district office is a great source for maps, brochures and information about cool features in that area. Sometimes the USFS and BLM share offices in a given area. USCOE lakes are almost all power generating and flood control lakes that have built up campsites, some with full hookups and some with partial hookups. In the heartland the USCOE many times, has primitive campgrounds with bare bones amenities such as picnic table fire ring and lantern pole, that are in remote locations and there is no charge to stay there. They are usually not advertised and campers depend upon word of mouth to learn of them. USCOE LAKE LEVELS CAN VARY WIDELY, choose your campsite wisely, after observing the high water marks left behind by previous high lake water levels. USFS and BLM lease land for livestock grazing in many western states and livestock can come to visit on occasion. Sheep in these areas are normally accompanied by a sheep herder and his camp wagon. Cattle normally free range and are checked upon by a stockman that is in a pickup with a horse trailer. Both of these stockmen are great sources of local information and because of the solitary nature of their job, will usually chat freely, giving you a perfect source of cool local stuff to see and visit. COYOTE’S, all of the various agency’s campgrounds seem to have a chronic Coyote problem. They are seldom seen and only occasionally heard, but they are there. An unattended pet is at jeopardy and coyotes are serious predators. Though we have covered a lot of ground, we have barely scratched the surface so far as USFS, BLM & USCOE boondocking is concerned. Our time spent boondocking with them is our most fun, memorable and continuous learning adventure that we enjoy. Safe travels and happy boondocking! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Boondocking Part 4 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Living the free life and communing with Mother Nature all seem delectable until you are swarmed with mosquitoes, run out of fuel or fresh drinking water in the middle of nowhere, permeated by the pungent sewage smell, unsure of how to make it to your destination. With deliberate planning and forethought, you can customize your travel trailer to your liking and outfit it properly before hitting the road. The prospect might be disconcerting for a newbie and that’s why here’s a list of 7 renovations you can incorporate in your travel trailer to glean the most out of your excursion in comfort: Installing LED Lights in the Travel Trailer Incandescent bulbs burn out the fuel’s supply in the travel trailer and thus need to be replaced with their energy-efficient counterparts, which uses 5 times less energy. In addition to standard interior lighting replacements, there are even LED light replacements for the porch, trailer marker, storage bays and rear brake lights. This allows you to boon dock using only the travel trailer battery and reduces dependence on generators. Making the replacements is hassle-free and requires you to remove the lenses since they are snapped in place with plastic clips. Use a flat headed screw driver to get them loose. LED lights would either require a bayonet type holder or just pushed in. Make sure you scrutinize your travel trailer requirements before you purchase the lights. Oliver Travel Trailers come standard with LED lights for the exterior and interior lighting. 200 Watts Solar Power System The tech-savvy campers have installed solar panels on the roof of the travel trailer to make use of solar power and reduce dependence on the generator. The cost might seem hefty at a glance but once you take the plunge and install a few solar panels, you would justify the cost in no time. On a sunny day, you would be able to charge laptops, mobiles and myriad devices without firing up the generator. When boondocking with no “hookups”, make the most of your trip without fretting over dry batteries or fuel costs. Add batteries to supplement your power bank when off the grid. Oliver Travel Trailers offer an optional 200 Watt Solar Packages on their Legacy Elite travel trailer and a 320 Watt Solar Package on their Legacy Elite II travel trailer. Installing a Vent Fan On hot torrid days and humid nights, a vent fan helps keep your travel trailer cool and wards off excess odor, steam, smoke and moisture. Travel trailer fans could be boisterous and annoying in the quiet of the night. Look for a vent fan which is soundless and uses little amperage to stir a ton of air. This would be a perfect addition for off the grid adventures. Additionally you can purchase a model integrated with a thermostat feature as it regulates temperature on its own, even if you are asleep or if you need to leave your pet inside the travel trailer. Both travel trailer models from Oliver Travel Trailers feature a MaxxFan Deluxe Remote Control Ventilator System. Improving Roof Seals Nothing can dampen your spirit more than a roof leakage on a rainy day. In addition to the health concerns related to hidden mold, the repair costs could certainly weigh you down. As your rig ages chronologically, the inherent silicone sealants on the roof seams and gutters would start to show their age. A roof leakage could cause extensive damage to your travel trailer and be costly to repair. Use roofing tape over the roof seams to supplement sealing and avert a dripping dilemma for the next drizzling session. Clean up your sealant and remove any impurity before you tape it back up. Apply pressure on the tape to enhance bonding and this can be achieved by using your fingers or a seam-roller. Oliver Travel Trailer’s unique design helps eliminate the possibility of roof leaks and the need to improve roof seals on their travel trailers. Remote Headphone Jack The confined spaces of the travel trailer might get uncomfortable for one inmate if the other one wishes to watch TV or listen to music. Headphones are the only saving grace and can help maintain peace in the travel trailer. The long cords running from your TV to your ears could clutter the rig and get caught up in the way. Wireless headphones are one solution but they run on batteries and the last thing you want is more battery draining equipment. Instead, find a path to run wires and install a headphone jack at the back of your recliner. Both the Oliver Legacy Elite and Legacy Elite II travel trailer models come standard with a Furrion Stereo & Entertainment unit that allows you to connect with both wired and Bluetooth connected headphones. Utilize Travel Trailer Storage Every inch of storage space is prized when travelling in a travel trailer and should be prudently utilized. A travel trailer is jam-packed with cupboard spaces but the top half of each cabinet is used frequently. You can install wire baskets of assorted sizes on the top half of the cabinets to augment the otherwise wasted storage space and hold fragile items in transit. Another predicament which plagues trailer campers is that there is no place for shoes inside the rig and they end up with several pairs strewn across the floor haplessly. This could be a big nuisance. One idea is to explore under the kitchen sinks and find a void and install a few bunny holes to stow away your shoes in. Grab a handful of screws, wood and paneling, and get to work to make you own DIY shoe shelf. You can also make your travel travel’s bathroom homely by installing a towel and shower rack. Looking for a place to hang towels while showering could be annoying and thus you can grab a nice set of bamboo wood and metal units and drill a towel rack yourself. The Oliver Legacy Elite and Legacy Elite II travel trailers offer adequate storage space. Both travel trailer models feature galley drawers with dovetail joints in the kitchen, under seat storage, overhead storage, a closet and exterior dry storage. The Legacy Elite II also comes standard with a kitchen pantry for additional storage of kitchen items and food. Extra Battery Capacity Most travel trailers come with a 12V battery with 85-105Ah total capacity. This is adequate when setting up in campgrounds with adequate hookups, but if you are an adventure stricken soul who wants to run untamed in the wild, the battery capacity would soon run off! A feasible solution is to add 2 or more 6V golf batteries to power up while boondocking and keeping the original battery as a backup. If you have installed solar panels, you can add more batteries for an extensive power bank at night. With prudent forethought, you can completely wean yourself off the generator nuisance and make boon-docking fun and enviable! Oliver offer optional 6V battery upgrades on the Legacy Elite II travel trailer model to help handle solar packages and boondocking. Depending on the battery upgrade configuration, you can have up to a 400Ah total capacity. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post 7 Updates for Making Your Travel Trailer Efficient appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 After reading Larry Harmon’s preliminary announcement of this upcoming entry on solar, I only hope I can come close to delivering what he deemed it to be worth. As I stated in my introductory post, “...most of the ideas and information I will present will be taken from sources other than myself...” Let me state here and now that I don’t purport or profess to be any sort of a solar savant. I’ve read a lot about solar and I “think” I get it. If you find me in error, feel free to point that out. That said, let’s talk about SOLAR. So, do you even need a solar panel? Well, that depends. Solar panels are nothing more than battery chargers and your new Oliver will have (or has) one of the finest 3 stage chargers being manufactured today, the PD 4045 with the handy dandy charge wizard build right in. All you have to do is plug your trailer up and (depending on the type of batteries you chose) let the charger do its thing. Are you the type camper that always goes to campsites that have electrical hookups? If that be the case, then the answer to “do I need a solar battery charging system?” is probably a resounding “Non” (French), “Nein” (German), “Bu shi zhe yang” (Chinese), “Nyet” (Russian) or “Naw” (Texan or most anyplace in the South!!!) For everybody else..... First a few basics and just how does the sun go about charging a battery? Well, simply put, the solar panels up on the roof grab the sunlight coming down from above. At this point apparently some magic is preformed and the light is converted into volts of electricity which are sent down into the trailer along some humongous wires thru some breakers and switches to a contraption call a charge controller. Inside the charge controller incantations are said over the volts and they are sent on to the batteries to be stored there for you to use later. This may not be exactly how all that works but hopefully you get the picture. We don’t have to understand all there is to know about this stuff to benefit from it. OK, for whatever personal reasons if you’ve decided you’re the type of camper that can benefit from having the sun recharge your batteries, now what do you need? If you are planning the build of your new Oliver, it’s pretty simple. Just let them know you want the solar option and Oliver will equip your rig with everything you need to drive merrily into the sunset and get your batteries charged for free. The Oliver folks have made some wise decisions about the equipment provided in the optional solar battery charging system. Everything you need is there and it is all top quality stuff. Up on the roof are two 36 cell mono-crystalline panels with a total of 320 watts. The electricity they generate is linked together in a roof mounted combiner box and then sent inside along two 6 gauge wires through a 30 amp cut off switch and on to the Blue Sky Solar Boost 2512iX-HV MPPT Charge Controller. From there it is passed thru a 30 amp circuit breaker and a 50mv/500amp Shunt which is monitored by the Blue Sky IPN PRO Remote Meter inside your coach. All this is assisted by a Temperature Compensation Sensor at the batteries. Now you have to make a choice... “which battery should I choose?” Batteries are needed to store all this free electricity. So which ones and how many do I need? First off, the more, the better. More batteries mean more available energy to run all your accessories and charge up all your toys. Luckily, Oliver has the largest battery compartment of any molded fiberglass trailer being manufactured today so you can have up to four 6 volt batteries and easily access them from the massive pull out tray (your batteries may weigh up to 275 pounds per set!!!) For our purposes here, the storage of electricity in a battery is measured in amp-hours. This is a unit of measurement for battery capacity, obtained by multiplying a current flow in amps by the time in hours of discharge. (Example: A battery which can deliver 5 amps per hour for 20 hours delivers 5 amps times 20 hours, or 100 amp-hours.) The larger the amount of amp-hour storage your chosen set of batteries have, the more you will have to work with during your travels. Most experts agreed that two 6-volt batteries are better than a single 12-volt battery because the combined 6-volt batteries have more amp-hour capacity as well as generally having a longer life span. Also, many prefer the AGM battery over its less expensive counterpart, the wet cell battery. AGM’s are more expensive, maintenance free (no checking and adding of water), they don't have to be vented and they resist shock better. Realistically, the main reason most folks don’t buy AGM’s is the price. Both are equally acceptable in a solar setup. I personally chose the AGM’s due ONLY to the fact that I do not want to have to worry with having to check the specific gravity of the wet cells (to determine charge state), replace the water that has boiled away and any other nit picking associated with battery maintenance. I just want them to work without any intervention from me. This is nothing more than pure laziness on my part. Since storage batteries are the single most expensive part of the solar battery charging system, if you see yourself here, I strongly recommend spending the money once on a set of AGM’s rather than twice on two sets of wet cells, one of which you ruined by not properly taking care of them. Four Trojan 6 volt T-105 batteries will provide you with a total of 450 amp-hours. Four Trojan 6 volt AGM batteries will provide you with a total of 400 amp-hours. Remember, you should never deplete your battery bank beyond 50%. Each of the above amp-hour numbers should be cut in half to determine the amount you safely can use before recharging. And so until next time (when we'll look at how to set up your system using the Blue Sky IPN PRO Remote Meter), may your road go ever on… Steve and Tali Dogs: Reacher, Maggie, Lucy and our Beloved Storm (waiting at the Rainbow Bridge) Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Solar Battery Charging Part 1 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Stretching your resources Just suppose that it is a holiday weekend, one of those cool three day holiday’s. You are used to boondocking for Friday night, Saturday and leaving back to civilization on Sunday. But now, you have an extra day to unwind and commune with nature. Most of us only have a limited amount of storage space in our camper and that means packing extra stuff can be a challenge. Boondocker’s have so many clever ways of stretching their resources that we could never cover them all in our limited space, so we will touch base with some of the more common ways and let your imagination be your creative guide. WATER is heavy, takes up a lot of space and in some places it is not readily available. Under those challenging conditions, bringing it with you is necessary. Since your fresh water tank can only hold so much, many boondocker’s look for a way to make that weight count twice. Freezing gallon jugs of store bought water gives you long lasting blocks of ice for your ice chest that can be used for drinking or cooking after it has melted. a. Bathing, shaving and other chores can be done with a small amount of water in the sink using a washcloth. Most commonly refer to this as a “spit bath”. As molded fiberglass enthusiast, Betty and I usually do a very quick wet down, soap down and rinse off that goes like this. Put plug in sink b. Adjust shower water temperature catching that water in the sink c. Put shaving lather in the sink water to warm up d. Wet down then turn the water off at the showerhead to keep the temperature unchanged e. Lather down f. Rinse off, turn water off This method can be stretched even one step further and is popular in the arid desert southwest. Catch the gallon or so of shower water in the shower floor pan with a stopper and add Epsom salts for soaking the tired hiker’s feet. GREY WATER storage can be extended in some arid areas operated by the U S Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management if your campsite is well away from streams or reservoirs and you carefully surface discharge your grey water. In these situations it is advisable to check with the local Ranger to insure whether or not it is a local custom. BLACK WATER by it’s very nature must be handled very carefully. Most camper’s have enough black water storage for a week or more, so an extended weekend will not create a issue there. If handling black water is necessary many deem the “blue boy”, “EZ TOTE” or similar container as the safest way to handle the black water. PROPANE is a bit more difficult to stretch, but the main ways that most boondockers' use is reduced hours of use, cooking over a, open fire, or using a small generator for heat or cooking power source. For most camping trailers an extended weekend is not a propane issue. GASOLINE for a small generator as well as PROPANE give some cause for safety concerns and those folks seek other methods that can sometimes be difficult and or expensive. FOOD is space consuming and it’s weight has been addressed by the back packing community quite handily. The easy and convenient solution is to go the dehydrated route which makes many meals fit into a small light weight space. CLOTHING is also handled by back packers quite readily. The secret is lightweight layered high tech fabrics. Here’s hoping that these few simple hint’s help you on your journey to a enjoyable extended boondocking experience. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Boondocking Part 3 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Boondocking in it's strictest form, without support. Many RVer’s perceive that this means staying camped in their chosen location as long as the stuff that they bring with them lasts. And often times this can come down to how much water you brought with you. Limited space for stuff seems to be the main controlling factor. Black and grey water holding tanks are usually fixed size containers that are installed by the camper manufacturer. Filling black and grey tanks to capacity usually depends upon their size and your stay time, but even one trip a day to a primitive campground’s vault toilet can really extend your stay. Some of the campgrounds that we have stayed in out West on the USFS ( United States Forest Service ) and BLM ( Bureau of Land Management ), don’t mind the careful discharge of grey water when it is at considerable distance from a stream. These less strict campgrounds are nearly always up high and way back in the more arid mountainous places. Their current position on grey water under these conditions is that it can be beneficial to tree life. Now under those conditions an outside shower with solar heated water can be a really fine thing and stretch out your stay. Also being able to put a small dish pan of dishwashing grey water under a needy tree can do likewise. Probably the most common grey water storage saving under those conditions can be attained by hooking a hose to the grey water tank and placing it a strategic and appropriate location. With the hose hooked up many molded fiberglass camping friends follow this shower sequence. - Put plug in sink - Adjust shower water temperature catching that water in the sink - Put shaving lather in the sink water to warm up - Wet down then turn the water off at the showerhead to keep the temperature unchanged - Lather down - Rinse off, turn water off - Shave, rinse, turn water off Some even plug the shower pan drain to catch that soapy shower water, add Epsom salts to it and soak their feet. Under this strict water rationing protocol many campers report using a gallon to a gallon and a half to complete the process. Your method can vary considerably but you get the idea! Ice Chest use is somewhat similar in frugality. Some will fill drinking water containers and freeze them at home before the camping trip. Put the frozen containers in an ice chest to keep perishables fresh then they can use the remaining water as needed around camp. There are way too many such clever ideas to be able to cover them in such a short writing, but your imagination will doubtless come up with many more ! DISPERSED CAMPING, a term used by USFS & BLM for when there are no facilities at all. Some of the coolest camping of all and often times in some of the most pristine wilderness. One popular camping site in the Southwest is near Quartzsite Arizona where in January and February there will be tens of thousands of RV’s scattered across the desert. BLM sells a Long Term Visitors' pass that will allow winter visitors to stay for several months. In town there are RV service sites that specialize in providing tank dump sites and fresh water fills. Many RVers there move every two weeks and go through town to dump, fill with water and move to another camping place. There are even mobile water delivery and pump out services along with mobile RV repair technicians. Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Boondocking Part 2 appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article