Alison

Steve, What temperature gauge system are you using for your 8 gauges all reading to the same display? Alison

Well, we winterized today and I hope we did everything right because low temps on Sunday are going to be 8 degrees! Like Rumline, I only had one valve available on the Truma as well. Closed it. Hope that’s all I needed to do to protect the Truma (other than draining and pulling the filter, which I did last week). I emailed Oliver a few days ago for specific directions on bypassing the Truma since it doesn’t look anything like the diagram in the Truma manual, but I never heard back. Rumline, glad you were able to drain the antifreeze out of the Truma and get everything taken care of, despite this weather we’ve been having. Sad to be done camping for the season. We had planned to go to the Sand Dunes this weekend to celebrate my birthday, but Sunday’s weather is just too cold and snowy to be driving home.

Hey John, Yes, the CalMark Cover is a custom fit. We debated a lot about covering or not, but read of other Oliver and Casita owners having good luck with the CalMark Cover. We hope to have a metal garage for the Oliver by next winter. We plan to wash and wax thoroughly before storage and use pool noodles on the edges of the solar panel, as others have suggested. We’ll see how this first winter goes - they are predicting above average snowfalls this year, so we’ll see how this works out. Hopefully it is just a one winter need, and we’ll have a custom garage for the Oliver by this time next year.

This will be our first winter with our Oliver, so we don’t have any personal experience on this, but we ordered a CalMark Cover and the company told me that the solar panels will trickle charge through the cover. I’m a little surprised at that (the cover is made of Sunbrella) and I’m not counting on it (we are going to plug in for the winter), but I do intend to experiment with it a bit when we don’t have snow cover and see if he is right. I know it’s of no help now, but I’ll report back later this winter about whether it trickle charges through the cover and how we like the cover overall. Alison

Overland, Thanks for the input, it is really helpful. We are planning to try to fit in one more trip next weekend, but we are getting snow and freezing weather in the next few days. The Oliver doesn’t have water in it right now, so I couldn’t leave the Truma in Eco mode to ensure the water didn’t freeze. I was trying to make sure that draining and pulling the filter was sufficient to keep anything in there from freezing. Of course, we left the thermostat inside set to the high 40s to make sure the rest of the plumbing stays above freezing. I was 95 percent sure just draining and pulling the filter was sufficient, but wanted peace of mind that I was doing all that I needed to do. If we are lucky enough to be able to make one last trip next weekend (it’s snowing in the mountains now and through the week, so we’ll see), we’ll winterize in two weeks and your info about the valves will be very helpful then as well! John, Thanks for the suggestion on de-scaling. I’m not sure we’ll need to do it this year, as we’ve only filled the water tank a total of four times since we drove the Oliver home in June, but we’ll definitely need to do it next year, and yes, prior to the cold dry winter will be better! I’m really happy with the Truma. It heats fast and I love the fact I can turn it on and start doing dishes a couple minutes later. I also love that we can use it in freezing temps without any worries. Alison

Hi, newbie question here. I have a question for those with the Truma. We are trying to figure out winterizing it. I recall from our walk-through at pickup that we just use the easy drain lever and pull out the filter, but in the manual, there are like three different sets of winterizing instructions and some include a process for adding antifreeze. Can someone tell me if we need to use RV antifreeze, or just drain it?

Rumline, I will have to confess that I have no idea if we have CCD suspension or not! We got the 2018 Limited Max, if that helps. Neither Ross or I have noticed any sag at all, but we got the Andersen hitch in part to help redistribute some of the weight off the softer suspension system of the Expedition. We don’t have a single complaint about the Expedition’s tow performance, it’s been great! And you’ll love all the room and payload. You can take grandma even wet! Alison

We bought a 2018 Ford Expedition Max with the tow package specifically to tow our new Oliver. We could not be happier. We live in the foothills of Colorado and usually camp above 9,000 feet. It has handled so well and is just a great tow vehicle so far. We have no problems keeping speed on mountain passes and the tow features on the Expedition make it a comfortable and easy ride.

I have recent firsthand experience at this, as we just fixed a leak at the black tank valve today! We keep the waste hose hooked in, as suggested above, and are now so glad we did, as it made dealing with the leak so much easier. Our experience is like Reed’s - there was clearly liquid in the hose, but we were able to hold it upright, open the end, and put the 90 degree attachment in place, and place it in the sewer opening without any problem with liquid coming out before we were ready. We’ve done it three times now with no problem. Hopefully won’t have to be doing it again -fingers crossed that the leak is fixed, as it really stinks up the bumper area!

We also opted for the storage space instead of the microwave and we love it! It is so big and the wood does break up all the modern white/glass of the trailer. It is a great spot for large items like pots/pans, but I’ll admit we seem to use ours as the bar - it fits liquor and wine bottles great!

Does anyone else feel like they should be down on knees bowing up and down while mumbling, “We’re not worthy, We’re not worthy...”? John, thanks so much for sharing all your labors of love regarding your Oliver! Alison

We’ve only had a few adventures so far, but here’s a couple pictures. One is boondocking near Salida, CO. The other is my daughter reading during a rainy afternoon at Arapaho Bay CG- you can see that she has really made her little corner her own!

It won’t be a drunken problem exactly, though it has been my experience that rafters are pretty loud campers! Gates of Lodore is the launch site for a multi-day raft trip. They will be up early getting their boats rigged and getting checked out by USFS so they can launch. It will just be hectic and busy, but probably in an entertaining way! Certainly not peaceful, though.

My family used to go to Rifle Gap Reservoir every summer for camping, fishing, boating. I loved it then, but I haven’t been back there in years. It is popular so it may be crowded. I think all the CGs in the park take reservations, so it might be hard getting a site. I have on my “to visit” list Blacktail Creek CG, east of Yampa - it has good Mtn biking. It is a small CG (10 sites I think) and doesn’t take reservations, so you may have luck if you arrive Sun-Thur. I also want to visit Rifle Falls State Park - the hiking is supposed to be great. If you are interested in boondocking, there are a lot of dispersed camping sites along the drive between Yampa and Meeker. I keep track of dispersed camping info in Evernote and here are a couple links I have for the area. http://www.twohappycampers.com/a-mid-week-getaway-to-the-flat-tops-wilderness/ More generally: https://www.uncovercolorado.com/scenic-drives/flat-tops-trail-byway/ Also, look up Browns Park National WL Refuge for amazing scenery and solitude - it’s far enough away that you won’t find the weekend crowds. I love the Gates of Lodore area, but I frankly don’t know much about camping there except from a raft! We have floated it several times and it is so beautiful. The Gates of Lodore CG will be full of rafters, though. That might be entertaining, but it won’t be quiet or peaceful! All this talk makes me want to pack up and go! We are going up to Lake Granby next week, but it won’t be wild, remote and stunning like the areas you are going to visit. But we will be camping with friends with kids and will spend our days fishing, paddleboarding, windsurfing and having general family fun! I don’t know if any of this is helpful, I think you know Colorado better than I do (and I’m a native!). Have a great trip!

John, So many beautiful places to camp up in the Flat Tops. That area is maybe my favorite area of Colorado, though I really love the Crested Butte area too, hard to pick favorites here! Have a great time. -Alison

Foy, The first night we tried to sleep with the unit on, I felt like I was sleeping on a runway! Ours is also terribly loud and I can’t watch tv when it is on or sleep with it on. I did find that manually lowering the fan to low rather than leaving it on auto made a big difference for me - the low setting was much more tolerable. I feel lucky to live in Colorado where I’ll probably never use the air conditioner again! Alison

Welcome home Rumline! I’m going to have to crawl into the garage space to see if we have the same issue. I also bought crates as Overland suggested, and could only fit two vertically plus a small toolbox. Definitely can’t fit three width-wise, but maybe we have the same issue. Will do some investigative work tomorrow.

Mike and Carol, Hope you enjoyed your time here! It’s not particularly cool here either today. I live at 8500 feet, and we’re supposed to get to the high 80s today! Denver will see high 90s. May have to go out to the trailer, as it’s the only “room” with air conditioning! :) Safe Travels. Alison

Ross and I took the Oliver out for the first time since our trip home from Hohenwald. On that trip, I made reservations the whole way, and we had electrical and water hookups in each CG, so this weekend we took it out boondocking to try out all those features on the trailer. The trip was a great success- we had a great time and the Oliver was perfect! We camped out in the San Isabel National Forest, between Buena Vista and Poncha Springs. We were walking distance to a trailhead that lead to a great waterfall (relatively speaking, we’re in the great but dry State of Colorado!), and we did some mountain biking. We had nice views of the Collegiate Peaks from our camp. This is a great area for dispersed camping if you are looking for an area near Salida/Poncha Springs/Buena Vista. I was so impressed with the Oliver. We don’t use anything fancy that sucks a lot of energy, but we did listen to music through the speakers, watched two movies, ran the Maxx fan, used the lights freely, etc. Yet, each night at bedtime, our batteries were at full capacity. The solar panels basically kept the batteries near or at full charge the entire time. I was also amazed at how cool it stayed in the Oliver, despite sitting in direct sunlight. In short, it was a great trip in our new trailer and we couldn’t be happier. I’ll post a few pics and hopefully they don’t come out upside down. Alison

Mine arrives Monday and I can’t wait to see it. Thanks Foy!

Didn’t even know this existed, thanks for sharing! Very helpful for those of us living and camping in the arid west/southwest.

Ross is going to attempt an inside “bike rack” that will hold the bikes upright in the aisle of the Oliver, similar to what you sometimes see in the back of trucks. I will report back on our success/failure at this effort.

Cannon Beach is one of our favorite places to visit, but we haven’t camped there yet. Hands down one of the prettiest stretches of beach I’ve ever seen - I always tell Ross I want to get a second home there, but he prefers Hawaii. We stay at a small cottage on the beach called the Sea Sprite at Haystack Rock, which is wonderful. Thanks for the review, we’ll add this to the long Oliver bucket list. A fun day drive is to head south down the coast and visit the Tilamook cheese factory. At least we enjoyed it, but we really like cheese..and ice cream! Alison

Hello Oliver Friends, I know some of you have camping plans in Colorado in the near future. We have had a dry winter and spring, and wildfire season is off to an early start. There is a large fire burning near Durango and portions of the San Juan National Forest have been closed. A new fire began today on Buffalo Mountain in Summit County, which is an area suffering from severe beetle kill, so that fire could grow quickly. There is smoke haze west of the fires to at least were I live in the Denver foothills. I recommend you check on the area you are headed to before traveling to make sure there is not an active fire in the area or air quality issues. Here’s hoping for some rain! Alison

The pup is a VERY high energy half vizsla half golden, and we were worried how she would handle the small quarters, but she was great! She claimed her spot on her dog bed at the edge of the dinette/king bed and was happy. I’ve not been to Gold Park - will definitely check it out! Our favorite CG is Lost Lake, above Crested Butte. Everything in the Oliver works great so far, and we’ll give the off-grid features a go in two weeks. The only problem we have had so far is some pretty bad bubbling on the vinyl floor, but that can be easily fixed/replaced and is cosmetic, so no complaints here if that is our biggest new camper problem!