mountainborn

We see them daily at our campground, but had a chance to see some in a breeding area. Click the blog link below in the signature line to go to the videos. Or, they are on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/my_videos

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Above 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain's Rio Grande National Forest. I have your free campsite waiting for you !

Here's the link: http://www.mountainborn.blogspot.com/

It hasn't quite been a year yet, but Cherie and I are back where it all started last July -- camped inside (yes - inside!) the Oliver factory in Hohenwald, TN. Even though a year has passed, we are still in love with our Oliver and we don't regret our decision to get one in the slightest. I couldn't imagine going back to a Tab like we had the year before, and I am SO glad that we didn't settle on a Casita. Our little 17' Oliver is the perfect trailer for us - anything less (or more) would have felt like a compromise. Even though we have had our share of issues (some even serious), the overall quality of the Oliver design, and especially of the Oliver people, has continued to blow us away. The folks at the factory have always come through for us, even when we are on the opposite side of the country. Today we are back revisiting the factory to get our uneven tire wear resolved and a few other minor things handled. They have been great in handling all of our issues, and they even threw in brand new tires to go along with the replacement for the defective axle! The folks here really do make us feel like family. After a year living in our Oliver, we do have a few design suggestions on ways that future models can be improved. This is a long list, but most of the issues are extremely minor: Cabinet Doors: The sliding cabinet doors are the one area of the trailer that doesn't feel up to the quality standards of the rest. Ours do occasionally jam or fall off the tracks. The new cabinet design in the 22' Oliver model is a VAST improvement, and it would be great to make these sort of cabinet doors standard on the 17'. Our doors have never fell out or came open while traveling. But to look into one cabinet requires sliding one door half open, look inside, slide the half back shut so you can look in the other hald, then repeat the process for the other side. Water Pump: There are too many water-related switches! There should be only one pump switch inside, and (maybe) one outside. The switch under the sink isn't really necessary when the master switch is just a few feet away. Our Ollie doesn't have the bathroom water switch and we often wish it did Hot Water Switch Location: The hot water switch should be located adjacent to the water pump switch, not hidden away under the bed. Ours occasionally gets knocked on in the current location, and it can too easily go unnoticed when it does. Same here. We store stuff under the bed and when we go into rough areas the switch position has changed from being jossled by plastic totes. SeeLevel with Switches: The otherwise identical SeeLevel 709-PH tank monitor incorporates both a water pump and a hot water switch. Combining these functions into the tank monitor would make for a much cleaner and clearer setup than the current separate switches. Sounds good, would like to know more about it Propane Gauge: It would be nice if the Oliver offered propane tanks that can display their status on the SeeLevel display. I have found a 30lb tank that should be compatible. (I just posted in the propane thread with details...) Will this eliminate the ability to exchange tanks on a weekend or some other emergency ? Grey Water: There should be a way to leave the grey water drain open while leaving the battery bay closed. This would be nice for when semi-permanently hooked up to a sewer system. We would likely not use such a feature because we dump the black tank first then the gray to provide a rinse and slight lubrication to the knife blade valves seals. Battery Chamber Size: We rarely use the outside shower, but we would often appreciate having space for four batteries. Offering an option to forgo the shower for an extended battery compartment would be nice. Battery Chamber Lock: It would be nice if there was a way to lock the battery chamber, and perhaps even the tongue propane storage area. (This may potentially not be allowed by law??) Yes ! Bumper Storage Chamber Height: The back bumper storage area does not have enough clearance to store a typical sewer adaptor, meaning that it can not be stored along with the hose. One inch more clearance would make a huge difference here. If this change could incorporate the ability to carry a full size 8 ply spare we would be intrested. Excessive Thermostats: Three thermostats on the wall next to the sink is overkill. It looks as if it is possible to wire the furnace and AC to a single thermostat - that would make for a cleaner design. (The third thermostat is for the remote control for the FanTastic Roof Fan.) We only have one, but it sounds good to me. Interior / Exterior Master Switches: It would be nice to have separate cut-off switches near the door for interior and exterior lights. Often when leaving the trailer you will want to leave the outside lights on, but shut off all the inside lights. Yes ! Dusk-till-Dawn Lighting: I would love to be able to set the outside ground lights to be dusk-till-dawn... (And I have an idea of how to do this using some features in the solar charge controller!) Yes ! Clear Door Slider: Using clear plastic for the screen door slider lets in a lot more light when using the screen door... We bought a clear plastic slider at Camping World - it is a great simple upgrade that should be standard... Yes ! Door Window Curtain: There really needs to be a standard way to block the door window for privacy, particularly since all the other windows offer such great privacy with the blackout blinds. We have used some of our extra seat fabric to make a velcro attached curtain... Perhaps this should be standard for all Oliver's? Spring-Loaded Tow Hooks: When we picked up our Oliver, it came with locking D-rings to attach the tow chains. We immediately replaced these with heavy-duty spring-loaded hooks, which making hitching up MUCH easier. These sort of hooks should be standard. Not for us. They can come unlatched in deep snow as we were yesterday, or even in dessert chapparal A Better Manual: Like every other RV I have ever seen, the Oliver documentation leaves a lot to be desired. I would love there to be a clear and simple owner's manual with maintenance guidelines very clearly stated. Advanced documentation like plumbing diagrams and electrical system schematics should also be available. I am not sure that we would ever need it I wonder what other long-term owners think of this list. Do you have any other suggestions or ideas - major or minor, to add? Overall though, there is very little that we would change. Having looked at a LOT of RV designs out on the road, I remain convinced that the Oliver is the best thought out general purpose travel trailer design to be found. I am very much looking forward to our next year on the road in ours! - Chris

Arrived there today, couldn't get into the camp. Road blocked by snow bound vehicle. We helped them. Full story with stuck in the snow pix at out blog. Link below in our signature line.

Hey you guys ! We leave in the morning for 10K elevation

We have watched it in Sci-Fi movies, viewed television doccumentarys about it, and, passed it on the highway out in the dessert near Socorro New Mexico quite often. But, folks, let me tell you, it is worth the time to drive up for a visit. It is open to the public most week days. The impressive Very Large Array is visible from space and can be seen here on Earth for as far as the naked eye can see. I wonder if all of these powerful radio telescope antennas were focused on a black hole deep in outer space, in another galaxy, could we hear that giant sucking sound that Ross Perot used to talk about ? Here is a video of the site:<

7600' Elevation and climbing on the Mogollon Rim click photo to start video: WooHoo ! Jeeps Rule !

We arrived on the Mogollon Rim this afternoon about 1400 hours. took a few pix and shot a little video. Line speeds are too slow to upload the video, so heere is a still photo: Mild days and cool nights, it's gona' be hard to take !

In our last blog post,( link in the signature line ), we post a photo of the outside/inside thermometer and the time of the day, where we are driveway camped at kin folks home in Arizona. Here is that photo: Now, it is days yet until Summer is here, by the callendar, at any rate. Soon, we will likely pull up stakes and drift on up to higher elevations on the Mogollon Rim country. I just love those very early morning views from the lofty vista that the 2000' escarpment provides, with distance haze slightly shadeing each successive set of mountains off into the distance ! Maybe we can capture some of that for those days when we can use a lift ! The upgrade to double pane windows has proved to be a good thing for us. The roof air is on it's lowest speed and the thermostat is half way down to achieve the inside temperature in the photo. Look out cooler, higher country ! Here we come !

You know, Geri, you have just got an eye for colors ! Great update !

WooHoo ! When Chuck noticed that I was about to be lulled to sleep by the mineral waters, he challenged me to a cannon ball contest ! Now, that woke me up ! I thought I would have the advantage because of my size, but Chuck was ahead on style, until the folks over in the next spa complained about the noise and spray coming over the lattice works. We even got the number score cards that Betty and Gehri were holding up wet. I guess that we didn't hear the management of the spa pounding on the door, Chuck likes his Hip Hop tunez a bit loud, but the Police night sticks pounding on the door got our attention really quick. After the ladies posted bond, we had a late supper at the niftyiest' ( is that a word any where besides the Ouachita mountains ? ) place. Yeh, were' a' havin way too much fun in T or C, New Mexico !

Truth or Consequences New Mexico, on the banks of the Rio Grande. Can you see the turtle laying on the mountain top ? The mineral baths and the rio side by side.

Tumblweed & Earthdancer Reported this earlier in another thread. This video report isn't meant to replace or supercede that report, but rather to supliment their great report, Thanks Chuck & Gehri, your report is what steered us to this cool place ! A tamale vendor just came through the campground and we just bought a dozen each of Red and Green chilli Tamales for $8. ! If you would like to put the RV park's coordinates into your machine , here are the coords: 33* 59.600 North 101* 20.497 West Here is a video look at the FREE Rv park accomidations:

I know TUMBLEWEED is a rodeo fan, he, he, here comes the digg Chuck, my buddy ! If he had been running the geocaching program he would have known that he passed with in feet of the burial place of Rodeo's famious Lane Frost and Freckles Brown (33. 59.9254 N 095 30.096 W), when he passed through Hugo Oklahoma on US Hwy. 70. Maybe we can remember to post a photo. Or, the travel bug motel cache as you cross I-35 0n US 70 he might have picked up this cool geo coin commemorating the unknown Soldier:

Just accessed a geocaching.com feature, "caches along a route". I loaded all of the geocaches that are within 1/4 mile of our route to Colorado, into microsoft streets & trips. As we run MS Streets & trips while going down the road, the caches appear and the GPS pointer lets us know how far away the are. A very intresting diversion that will take you slightly off of the beaten path to cool historical places. When we are as close as we can get while towing our Ollie, we step out with the hand held GPS to close in and find the geocache.

Welcome to the Oliver Forums equinity !!

Chainsaw, bar lube & saw gas mix are on the trail rack over the spare tire.

Betty's Trike and the external satelite dish ( we think the large connifers may obscure the sattelite ) are on the roof.

I needed some kind of nightlight to turn on since I like it as dark as possible when sleeping. The little LED lights on the switch panel, warning devices and frig all produce a remarable amount of light once your eyes adjust. I have shielded the lights on the smoke and gas detectors. Found a single wire to remove on the panel near the door that disable the LEDS and am now trying to find something to dim the frig indicator lights without making them unreadable.[/quote<] > DC, wouldn't it be cool if there was a push button on or near each of those indicator lights that could disable them ? That way you could have it both ways depending on current needs. When we are boondocking, it makes me nervous, to see all of that energy being consumed, even if it is such a tiny amount.

Yes, that's it buddy. The fan cover will touch the inside of the model 800 as it nears it's widest open position. Never causes a problem. Just push the manual knob to stop the motor from running. The cover ends rain shut downs of the fantastic fan. The vents at the back of the windows allow the fantastic fan to pull in fresh air in and keeps rain out.

Our white Jeep Travel Bug "LORENNA" is in Strausberg France ! Here is the link: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details ... cfe8701c46

All of our forums bloggers have updated their blogs since they holed up for the winter. There is some fine reading there, and a good way to keep up with what your fellow Oliver owners are up to. Each of the listed blogs can be suscribed to by clicking on the FOLLOW BUTTON. It's plumb easy, just scroll down to the follow button, click and you are on your way to email notification of new postings and there is a clickable link , so you don't have to hunt it up in favorites. Most of our bloggers post good photos, some post excelent pix and some post video updates of their travels and of timely topics. When our bloggers post about something, it is because it has grabbed their attention and is worthy of a second look. Pete and Oscar ( PETE & THE WONDER EGG ) http://www.peteandthewonderegg.blogspot.com/ are down in Florida, helping family for a bit, but Pete' blog has some of the greatest campground write ups around. I expect that he and Oscar will be out and about soon. Chuck and Gehri ( HAPPY TRAILS ) http://www.phunnyfarm.blogspot.com/ just arrived at their resort & Spa workamper site and will get settled in soon. Their descriptions of roadside atractions contains excelent photos and tells us about the details we need to enhance our travel experience. Larry & Betty ( THE MOUNTAINBORN CHRONICLES ) http://www.mountainborn.blogspot.com/ mixes pix & flix in with redneck commentary about their daily grind. They leave soon for their workamper job in the Rocky Mountains. Chris & Cherie ( TECHNOMADIA ) http://www.technomadia.com/blog/ blog extensively and travel/work along the way. Their desert bar video report that was filmed just off of historic old Route 66 in Arizona is a good example of their journalistic works. I'll bet that there are other bloggers that could be listed here ! Just post or PM and we will list your blog !