technomadia

Afraid it hasn't happened to us, and we've frequently stayed at high altitudes without problem. Are there any settings on the flow rate of propane that might need to be tweaked? Maybe at higher altitudes you're just not getting quite enough propane flow to keep it light? (I'm totally guessing here). Our problem with the stove is that the ignitor has never worked, but we just use a lighter to get around that. Oh, and that it doesn't have an auto cleaner . - Cherie

We consider GPS in a mobile device to be essential for navigating. As far as memory, all depends on what you plan to carry around with you. - Cherie

We're in St. Louis, and then heading back to Florida next week for a family emergency. - Cherie

That's awesome, Sherry! We love our solar too.. although, we don't do the early to bed thing We recently did a FAQ on our solar system, for anyone interested: http://www.technomadia.com/2010/04/tech ... solar-faq/ - Cherie

'Where are you guys currently?" We are in Austin, TX. Next week we start heading towards St. Louis, MO. Thanks for the tips. Is there any way I can tell for sure whether or not there is a backing plate? I'm a rivet novice... - Chris

After a year of being held on by just one rivet, the hook that holds open our front door finally sheared the rest of the way off. What is the best way to re-attach it? I know this mount gets a lot of stress from wind and bumps when the door is being held open, so I want to make sure to do it right. Any advice on re-riveting it? Help and wisdom appreciated, - Chris

Steve -- It does indeed sound like an easy fix, if only I can find the part. I've tried Lowe's, Home Depot, and Camping World. No one seems to have any idea where to get the right fixture. Camping World suggested ripping out the whole thing and installing one of their crappy plastic water inlets. I am going to try calling the factory to see if I can find where to get the right part, but any tips you (or anyone else) might have are appreciated. Also - do you happen to remember what size hex key you needed? Thanks for the help!! - Chris

Doug.. We both just got iPads (a 3G and wifi only) and are LOVING them. Yes, Google Maps works great on them, and I believe Google Earth is either coming soon, or just released. AT&T service is decent.. we can generally get service, just not always at 3G speeds. The no contract data plans on the iPad are very sweet. New apps for the iPad are coming out all the time. For the iPhone universe, we've been enjoying these apps in our travels: Camp & RV - Great campground locater. One of the more comprehensive on showing commercial, public and free overnight spots. Hear Planet - audio tour guide to the world (note: we worked on the launch campaign of this app, consider that bias) Yelp - great for locating local places to eat, get your vehicle serviced, etc. Reviews by other people Am I Safe - crowdsourced safety ratings of areas iParked - lets you record where you parked Not exactly travel specific, but so far our favorite iPad app is Star Walk - interactive star charts. It's.. amazing! - Cherie

We'll be manually reviewing all of the data in the app and updating it throughout the year. - Cherie

For the past few months, Chris and I have been in focused development mode working on our latest project - our first iPhone application! We're pleased to announce that it hit the Apple iTunes store this morning. The app is called State Lines, and is a traveler's guide to state laws and regulations that vary as you cross state lines. Things like alcohol sales laws, smoking bans, seatbelt laws, helmet laws, radar detectors, gun carry laws, cell phones & texting, and even RV specific laws (towing, rest area overnight rules, etc). If you have an iPhone.. check it out! http://www.technomadia.com/2010/05/stat ... or-iphone/ If you don't have an iPhone, we'll soon be releasing the information as an eBook that you can view on any computer. - Cherie

Kiki got a little over-excited yesterday trying to pounce on Cherie, and her leash wrapped around our water filter and managed to exert enough leverage to snap the end of our water hose right off our trailer, causing quite the spectacular fountain. I never would have thought such a maneuver was possible, but she is a pretty talented cat. Looking closer - the fitting on the end of the city water hookup inlet that spins to lock on a hose has been broken off. How hard is this to fix? Will I need to pop the rivets to dismantle the entire fixture to be able to slide on a new end piece? Any other ideas? Picture attached, and advice appreciated... - Chris PS: Speaking of rivets, one of the rivets that secures our door hold-open hook has fallen out. How can I best fix this?

Just tested our emergency brakes, and they also seem not to be working. I suspect it may be a grounding issue - I will report back when we figure it out. - Chris

It sure is a beautiful Texas Spring.. we've been enjoying watching it bloom around us... This is our current spot out in Gonzales, TX (at the absolutely incredibly fabulous Hill Shade RV Park): And it's an epic bluebonnet bloom this season: - Cherie

I believe it was just a random one they had around the factory.. not something they stock. Probably best to go to your local hardware store and find something similar that'll work.

Thanks for all the great ideas, guys.. we will definitely be looking further into this, and report back what we decide on. (And keep the ideas coming if you have them ). I believe the Casita's captain chair option forgo any under storage bins, and are directly mounted to the floor. Originally it was that design that got us intrigued by the floorplan, and for sure we thought that was the plan for us. But the loss of storage led us to preferring the Spirit Deluxe layout (and thus, led us to Oliver.). Whatever we do.. we do want to keep the option of having a twin bed - as we have occasionally housed guests, and even taken on ride-along passengers. But that may mean keeping the cushions in the back of the truck for those rare cases. Thanks all! - Cherie

This is how the monitor looks when stowed for motion. (For those curious.. yes, our speakers are mounted by suction cups.) This is the hook that the great folks at Oliver installed for us to hook a bungee cord to. And this is a view of the bungee in place. Hope that helps. We're actually currently in Austin, and moving to Gonzales later this week for the NuRVer's Gathering (a bunch of us full time working RVers). We're currently planning to be in Central Texas through May, before we head on to St. Louis. All our best, - Cherie

After almost two years of living and working in our Oliver - we're seeing a need for upgraded seating options in the 2-person dinette. The cushions are giving out from frequent use, and honestly.. they're not all the comfortable for extended sitting. Which we do a lot of when working on our computers. Has anyone done anything to upgrade their dinette seating? Any creative ideas for improvements - such as somehow attaching an office chair seat & back into one of the molded wells? - Cherie

We love Lake Meredith. There's a section right by Fritch that has designated camp spots, a beautiful view and flush toilets Best part.. all for free!

As we opted out of the microwave (for reason's similar to SeaDawg.. anticipating being off grid most the time anyway). We use Jiffy Pop on the stovetop Much more fun to have a mushroom cloud of popcorn explode all over, than butter

Fantastic!!! Great photo too.

It'll be two years this July.. yup. How time flies!

We spend a decent amount of time in California as well.. so there are more like 4.25 Olivers in CA

Which brake controller do you have in the new truck? The Prodigy. My guess is that it was the brake controller's test circuit as well - somehow yesterday it was just refusing to shut off. Tonight it seems fine, though there is so much ambient noise here at the Walmart we have picked for the night that perhaps I just can't hear it. - Chris

After a bit over two weeks paused in Orlando, we got back on the road today... Only to discover something troubling when we stopped for the night at Manatee Springs State Park. While settling into our trailer, I realized I could hear a faint ping repeating every regularly every few seconds coming from underneath the trailer. At first I thought it might be the jacks settling (we have heard that before), but sticking my head into the space under the seat, and then crawling under the trailer outside - I ruled the jacks out. As best as I can tell, the noise was coming from inside the trailer brakes. Potentially on both sides - it is really hard to tell exactly where the source direction is. This is a sound we have not heard before. We had left our truck plugged in to the trailer. The truck at this time was off an locked. But interestingly, when we unplugged the cable between the truck and trailer, the pinging stopped. Hmmmm.... Grounding issue?!? Something else? This is a total mystery to me. Likely unrelated, but potentially even more unfortunate.... While crawling under our Oliver looking for the pinging noise, I discovered that the bottom attachment bolts of the rear right trailer shock was gone, and the shock itself had come lose from the attachment location and was wedged tight not in the hole, but against the spring. *ugh* It looks like a the shock is a Monroe 555001. Can I just replace the attachment bolts, or should I get a new shock? How hard is this going to be to fix? Advice on handling this, and preventing this from happening again, are much appreciated. *ugh* Thanks for the collective wisdom, - Chris

Matador Networks - a major travel resource for independent travel, featured a photo tour of our Orion this morning: http://matadorlife.com/photo-essay-at-h ... chnomadia/ Enjoy - Cherie