Foy_Mirna

Your to kind Jason!

John, Let's just start off with WOW! The ability of Oliver Owners to think through problems, come up with solutions and share them with others is amazing. I for one consider this the NUMBER ONE benefit of owning an Oliver. With great admiration and appreciation,

Thanks for all the interest in my woodworking! I have enough requests to keep me busy for the next month. I may open this back up but for now, I am taking NO more orders. It was wonderful to get to know some many Oliver Owner's at the Rally and many of you have asked about our cutting board & shower mat. Lots of you have asked about getting one or both for your trailers. So, this week, I will begin milling the wood to make more. While I have a few confirmed requests, I will open this up to any and all. If you would like one please, let me know as this will be my last run as all good things come to an end. Contact me at 516 635-5656 or 48ocean@gmail.com. Cutting boards are made to your specific sink size. They are American Cherry and Rock Maple done in a ship decking pattern (pictures below.) They are designed to stay in place when traveling and can be used on both sides. Cost $50 plus UPS charges to ship to your address. Shower mats are designed to fit both Elite I and II showers. They are made of American Cherry and Honduras Mahogany in a criss-cross pattern. The construction uses shiplap joinery and brass screws with no glue for long life. Silicone feet keep them off the shower floor and allow water to drain. Cost $150 plus UPS charges to ship to your address. Please note: These are wood and as such will need a little care from time to time. Cutting boards should be cleaned and dried after each use and a coat of plain mineral oil applied once a month to keep up their glow. Shower mats should be stood up after use to dry and a coat of plain mineral oil once a month or sooner if you shower in your trailer often. Happy trails, Foy

Our pleasure Matt! Could not help but notice the many hats you wear - Web Developer, Graphic Designer, Video, SEM, SEO, +More. At Amazon people with your skills are call "Web Diviners." Foy

Hey Canoe, The finish from the factory has be rough sanded and as so you need to take it down using 500 and 600 grit sandpaper. Hard work but once that is done the polish will bring it up to more of a mirror finish. Having a 12 amp polisher and the right cutting/polishing wheels, I cheated on this part.)

Heheheee. No keeping up with the Jones here! I just remembered how shiny it was new and went way overboard. :)

Thanks Bill, And I know you're right but I am going to stay after it. That second post was strange, as I did edited my first post to add a pic I forgot.

Now that the weather in Florida has gotten a bit cooler, I turned to cleaning our trailer after being on the road the last two weeks. The oxidized bumper and diamond plate were really bugging me and needed a good cleaning. I took the bumper off and brought it into the shop where I could secure it to a bench. Two hours later it's almost a mirror finish. I used Zephyr yellow, blue and white fast cutting/polishing wheels with brown, green and white rouge bars. It's a really dirty job but a great pay-off. The diamond plate took almost as long as my Dewalt polisher is just too big and I did not want to hit the gelcoat. So hand polishing was the way to go. I used Zephyr Pro-40 metal polish and while it took 4 passes I got most of the oxidization off the diamond plate. A product I would highly recommend is Star Brite Hull Cleaner the Gel Formula. This product sprays on and just wipes off most everything! We park our Oliver under trees to shade it from the Florida sun and the pine needles mixed with daily rains make a nice brown tea that is really tough to get off unpolished fiberglass. I will not let this happen again. Today I am going to use 303 Aerospace Protectant on the hull. I will report back on how this hold up vs a traditional fiberglass polish.

Your eyes see the beauty, yet what the camera captures is only a fraction of the reality, Lake Guntersville is one of those places. I am reminded of Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi - There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home. We arrived late Tuesday afternoon, traveling the short distance from Hohenwald where we had some service work completed. The drive into the park is full of beautiful scenic vistas of the lake and covered tree lined forested roads. The campground is located about 5 miles inside the 6,000-acre park. We checked in at the Country Store just as the staff was getting ready to close up for the day. After a quick exchange of information, we were handed a map with our lot number and on our way. The campground is made up of semi-circles starting at the lake’s edge and going back up in elevation into the trees. Most if not all lots offer a view of the lake. We later learned that a tornado in 2011 fell thousands of the trees in the campground, they have replanted many and in time the canopy will return. There are before and after picture in the Lodge that shows just how many trees they lost. We camped at D18 right on the lakefront and close to the docks. Our pad was gravel and level with plenty of room to back in. There are a few concrete pads but most are gravel. Well placed 30/50 electric, water and sewer hookup made our setup effortless. We had a stone fire pit, grill and picnic table that just beckoned to have us sit by the fire and enjoy the view. The grass grounds are well cared for and clean. The park is open year round and the staff could not have been any nicer. The Country Store offers everything you could need and anything you might have forgotten - firewood, ice, propane, fishing tackle, RV repair items and lots of drinks & snacks. The Bathhouses! Clean, modern and air-conditioned, with larger private shower stalls each with a locking door. Tons of hot water and water pressure that made showering an event you looked forward to after hiking or being out on the lake. The park has so many things to do that embrace its natural beauty. With over 30 miles of hiking trails, fishing, a golf course, boat rental, nature tours, geocaching and of course killer zip-lines through the forest canopy – there is something for everyone. Just sitting outside your Oliver and taking it all in came to the top of the list. The morning mist coming off the lake at sunrise with all the waterfowl beginning their day is otherworldly! Our Oliver Owner’s May Rally should afford us cool temperatures at night and pleasant days of discovery. We had the pleasure of meeting Sandy Tesney, Director of Sales. She is working with Coy Gayle (Our Owners Chairman) and Matt Duncan (Oliver Travel Trailers) to plan our May 2018 Rally. Sandy showed us around the Beach pavilion where our daily meet-ups for breakfast and cookout will be held. The pavilion is located just to the south of the campground entrance and a short walk from the campsites. Located right on the lake, this large covered octagon seats 250 and has great facilities for serving meals and group gatherings. In addition, we got to see the meeting rooms at the lodge where we will share a dinner and have some of our meetings. The lodge can easily host many hundreds of people and Sandy told us they hosted 23 weddings in just October alone. That fact alone, speaks to the grandeur of this place. The Lodge sits high up on a cliff above the campground and at night the lights make it look almost magical. If you are considering staying at the lodge, it is a grand retreat, with massive balconies overlooking the lake and a beautiful rustic interior. Sunset at the lodge is breathtaking and should not be missed! You can hike up to the lodge about a 40-minute trek or drive one of the two the paved roads. There is a full restaurant and bar that matches the high quality of everything about the park. Early morning or evening has the many deer come out along the roadways. We saw new fawns and large bucks, all going about their business as if we where not even there. If you have not booked your reservations to attend the 2018 Oliver Owner’s Rally, we hope our brief introduction to Lake Guntersville State Park stirs you to action. Merely call the park at (256) 571-5455 and ask for the discounted rates ($22 per night + taxes,) let reservations know you are with the Oliver Owner's Rally (Group Code 7066.) While Oliver Travel Trailers and other great vendors are sponsoring parts of our Rally, there is a $35 fee per person that we as owners pay to cover food and the park facilities. 100% of these proceeds go to the park. Many hands make light work – if you want to help make this event one to remember, volunteering is simple. With lots of small rolls that can make a major difference, contact Coy Gayle (gayleman@aol.com) like we did. We look forward to meeting all of you in this enchanting setting.

Congratulation. Great looking trailer. What the World needs is more Oliver Travel Trailers!

Thank you Mat and John, Videos like this make a big difference in understanding care and maintenance for our travel trailers. While delivery-day orientation and the manual are great tools, it is seeing the steps in order that really help, especially for items that are done infrequently. A suggestion, if I might. Just as many of us have a checklist for arrival and departure, it would be helpful to have a care and maintenance matrix based on model, mileage traveled, months and conditions that references these type videos. While I am sure I can dig through the manual and ask other owners here in the forum, having a matrix for quick reference and recording care and maintenance becomes a value tool for original and future owners.

While I agree with many of the comments made here, I do see the problem very clearly. Oliver the company we all love, is growing faster than they planned or expected. Having started a small internet business that Amazon purchased in 2008, I know these problems all too well and there is no quick fix. Oliver will need to rethink its communication processes and that will require them to look up from the day to day business. It is painful but very necessary for the long term success. I learned this first-hand. I was forwarded a customer email by Jeff Bezos. His email to me had one simple letter in it "?" I later learned this was the worst email you could ever get from Jeff. Not only did he want the problem solved, he wanted plans & process in place for how this problem would not happen again as we scaled our business for 10 times the current number of customers. It took me months to address the issue to Jeff's satisfaction, it touched every part of the company and required new thinking of what customer service is and how we would single-mindedly deliver it. Clear processes, chain of command oversight, retraining of existing employees and integration into the fabric of the company where the corner-stones. It was one of the best business lessons of my career. I truly hope Oliver's management is aware and thinking about the bigger picture for it's customers.

Hey Rhett and Dory, At the time it seemed very driveable, but in hindsight I have never been so exhausted. Thanks you for the kind words and hope to meet you on the road.

Thanks Randy! Love your - One Life Live It Enjoyably.

Now that's a view! On my bucket list.

We picked up our Oliver in June and planned a service call for Monday, September 10th to address some small issues (always a pleasure to see Jason and Richie.) Six days before that, it was looking very questionable if we would be traveling at all. Glued to the weather channel, watching a category 5 hurricane marching right up to our front door. Growing up in Florida in the '60s we had both been through some of the worst – Hurricanes Betsy and Andrew come to mind of the same magnitude. Boarding the house up and bring in everything that was not nailed down took two days. Not having a safe place to park our Oliver (Roamy) we hooked up with a plan to drive 5 hours north and stay a night in a state park on the Florida/Georgia border. From there we would head north to Hohenwald for our service call, standing out of harm's way. God laughs when people plan. Gas was already like hens teeth in Florida on Thursday and I decided to take 3 five gallon gas cans that I was lucky to get filled, as a back up. Thursday night and into Friday morning was anything but a 5 hour drive. The Florida Turnpike rest stops turn the roads into stop and go traffic that stretch for miles, as people needing gas backed up in 10 mile lines, effectively closing a whole lane. Fourteen hours later, with an hour to go to get to the state park, they called and said the park was closing and that we would not be able to spend the night. Looking for other options proved futile and with our only option being our second plan stop, Point Mallard Decatur, AL, we drove on. Rest areas, gas station, restaurants, hotels and any small island of comfort, looked like besieged kingdoms ready to fall. We drove on. Sometime not moving for 10 minutes, other times doing the speed limit. The governor of Florida eliminated all tolls and opened the northbound emergency left lane for travel, this helped but is would soon come to a massive standstill at the Florida/Georgia board with the governor of Georgia not allowing the emergency left lane to be used. We had burned 40 gallons of gas to go 303 miles. The 15 gallons I loaded in cans made the difference from being on the side of the road and reaching Tifton, GA where we found gas with only a 30 minute wait. We drove on. 26 hours past and we felt the miles willing us to stop but as the signs for Decatur came into view, it was like a second wind blew in to help us along. We pulled into Point Mallard RV Park Friday night 11:30 pm. Like so many people we would meet in the coming days, the camp hosts came out to greet us. They make sure there was nothing we wanted or needed. We parked under a canopy of trees and rested for two days. As Monday’s sunrise came into view we pulled out like we had woken from some bad dream that only parts of it could be recalled. We headed to Hohenwald. Roamy was scheduled to get a reading light, backup camera, water tank upgrade and to fix our door which we rubbing the top jam. I cannot say enough about the team at Oliver. We left better then we arrived and more importantly, knowing this company and people care about us. Monday afternoon, with the hurricane marching up the west coast of Florida, we were getting calls from our friends and neighbors telling us we dodged a bullet and that our house was safe. They told us there was no power and no gas, it would be a week before either returned. With our service call at Oliver completed by Wednesday, we decided to spend the next two weeks enjoying our Oliver and would travel as far north as Pawhuska, OK. We stayed in some beautiful parks like Birch Cove State Park outside of Barnsdall, OK right on the lake and Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi’s Bienville National Forest. By the time we came home to Florida we have added 4,000 miles of memories. The storm left us with a week of yard cleanup and as my wife and I turn out the light last night, we both asked “When do you want to go again?”

I may have spoke too soon Canoe12, my black streaks are everywhere but under the lights. Time will tell.

Our first Rally! We have reserved a site G 24. Looking forward meeting you all.

Thanks for the input ScubaRx, It's worth a try. I have some in the shop and was I little apprehensive to use after reading the label.

Thanks Bill, Our Oliver has the new gaskets so I think the real problem is the trees we have camped under. Did some more research and found a lot of people use of all things " LA Totally Assum Cleaner" and I am going to give it a try. Update coming.

Having never owned a larger fiberglass object, let alone a trailer, I am now looking for advice on cleaning the outside of our Oliver. We purchased our Oliver in June and I have washed it twice with soap. Yet I am now noticing black streaks all over the hull and they do not come off with simple soap and water. I can only surmise that the handful of campsite we have stayed at with trees (we are suckers for trees) are to blame. Searching through the forum posts, I could not find anyone specifically dealing with black streaks other than the gaskets around the lights. In review RV products like "Thetford 96015 Premium RV Black Streak & Bug Remover" and "Camco 41008 Pro-Strength Black Streak Remover" not all user report success with these products. Look for input before I start a trial and error process of products. In addition, I have also purchased "303 Aerospace Protectant" which I intend to use once I get the black streaks removed. Would appreciate any feedback on whether this help with dealing the black streaks on an ongoing basis. A day cleaning our Oliver beats going to work... oh wait I'm retired now :)

Hello Phillip, She is still collecting decor items but you will be the first to see it. :)

Thanks for posting this John!

As some of you know, we lost an awning leg a few weeks back to a thunderstorm. This was clearly my fault for not bring the awning in when we left to go for a swim at the beach. Adding to this situation, was the tragic shooting at Fiamma Inc which, left the only North American Distributor closed indefinitely and no spare parts available. After posting this in the forum, Phillip Andrews from Oliver responded to me and forward my problem on to Jason Essary. Jason reached out to me to understand which parts I needed and went to work to find them in their "Boneyard." A day later he told me he found the parts and he was taking them over to shipping to have the parts sent out. The new leg arrived today and within 15 minutes everything was back to its original state. You can purchase a quality product from many companies but it's the people and how they treat you that makes them a great company. Oliver is a great company! With appreciation and pride, I own an Oliver,

Hey Phillip, Thanks! Good to hear from you again and yes I will send you pictures of Sarasota beach.