DonnaDuane

Yes it is. I grew up here, so know the area pretty intimately. My high school is less than a mile from here.

Thanks John! I’ll definitely check those bolts. The jack seemed to work fine after with no abnormal sounds. We’re at Clackamette Park in Oregon City. It’s where the Willamette and Clackamas rivers merge. New lesson learned- the tank panel is in percentages, not gallons. So, not as bad as I thought running water to get Truma to work ?

PS: we’re finding one of the most enjoyable things about owning an Oliver is having admirers everywhere we go. Without fail, every time we’ve stopped for fuel, or car wash, or got home, and now at our first campground, people come over and ask about it and want to see inside.

Donna and I are on our maiden voyage camping weekend. Our intention is learning how to operate everything on our Ollie. Lesson 1 - chock trailer wheels after leveling before unhitching from car. The darn thing rolls and causes front jack to fall off support and drop to ground. Thankfully no harm done. Lesson 2 - make sure propane valve is completely open. Even though furnace and stove burners worked, we couldn’t get our Truma water heater to come on. When we figured out what the error codes meant, I discovered it was a lack of gas pressure. It took 25 gallons of grey water trying though. Lesson 3 - switches for side levelers are outside in the front. Silly me?.

Good news! I think one of the best ways to get intimately related to anything is to clean and shine every inch of it by hand. In doing so, I discovered the Inverter on/off switch newly and that I simply wasn’t holding the button down long enough to activate it. I learned that Maguire’s Ultimate Paste Wax (what I use on my car) brings new whiteness to the Ollie - beautiful. I can see now how important it is to at least annually inspect all shell penetrations for water tightness. Given mine is a demo, the sealants have some signs of being out in the weather. Anyone have any experience with resealing any part of yours?

Thank you Mike and Carol, After studying the manual last night, I think the inverter is in a compartment under the bed. Will find today so can make my morning coffee while on the road next time. Today is going to be “Getting intimately related to Ollie day.” My goal is to study every component with manual in hand. I also fancy waxing the entire outside of her. We’ll see how much of that I accomplish ?. Any recommendations on a product to remove road dirt stains while waxing?

Thank you Pete. Will definitely post more pics of our new baby in our various locales. BTW how do you get 110ac when boondocking? I thought the inverter provided that automatically. Is there a switch? Are the outside running lights supposed to stay on dimly all night? First beginner mistake: sprayed water at frig vent while at the car wash. Mop up job wasn’t too difficult thankfully. First big accomplishment: backed it into storage area and parking spot all by my lonesome. It was great practice backing into a camping slot. Love the backup camera.

Hello Ollie’s. I hope you’ll all be relieved to hear I arrived safely back in Portland last night around 9pm. Picking up the Ollie has definitely been an exciting adventure. Despite the challenges of being terrified by Missouri drivers, a Google Maps goose chase through Kansas City (interstate under construction), 10 miles of snow packed road and blowing snow between Cheyenne and Rawlins, WY, and fog so thick crossing the Wallowa’s of Oregon I had to slow to 10mph for 20 miles, I made it home safely. I was very fortunate to stay just ahead of kind of Winter storms that shut down the freeway for days. Signs in Wyoming warned of 60mph winds and heavy snowfall coming Friday morning. Because of that, I drove into the night to get to a warmer gentler place. I intended to sleep in Rock Springs but realized that would not get me out of its way, so continued to Evanstan, Wy. Thinking I was safe there, I pulled into a Walmart, called my wife. When I walked out, it was snowing5 hours before it was supposed to LOL. So, back in the car, I drove on to a rest stop down the hill to a rest stop just outside Ogden UT. I must say, I love sleeping in the Ollie. Despite being along side a freeway, it’s pretty quiet and very cozy and comfy. Hit the sack at midnight, slept like a log for 8 hours (right through a dozen semis leaving before I awoke), then made my way to Ogden for a yummy breakfast at Criddle’s Cafe. The drive from Ogden to Oregon border was easy. But, this is where driving took a lot more focus. Although the roads were always free of snow, it was either snowing or raining hard, with occasional high winds, from here to Portland. The worst part was the last 20 miles coming out of the mountains down to Pendleton,OR. The fog as so thick on the ground I had to slow to 10mph to see the lane line. The other lane wasn’t visible and there were no other vehicles to follow. Finally getting below the fog was a relief and made the final stretch into Portland seem easy. All in all, the Ollie and Audi performed amazingly well. Without an Anderson system, there was never any sway. Even when trucks passed or winds blew, there was barely any movement noticed. Having the Tecumseh RF Brake Controller definitely left me quite confident in the vehicle/trailer braking abilities on any road surface. Now it’s time to find a car wash to spruce my babies up.

I hope you all are enjoying Thanksgiving. I’m in Grand Island Nebraska for lunch and fuel. I’ll be with my family via FaceTime a little later today. Here’s the latest on this adventure: While driving through Missouri coming and going, I saw more accidents and crazy driving than I’ve seen in the last few years in Oregon. Turns out Missouri drivers are the third worst in the country behind Florida and Arizona. Despite the Highway Patrol posting funny and not so funny signs along the freeways (ie. “Gobble gobble, easy on the throttle. Mashed potatoes, not your head. Don’t be a turkey, take it easy. 837 traffic deaths so far this year.). Audi and Oliver seem to be getting along well. 22mpg till I got to Nebraska. With the headwind here now getting 19.5.

Thanks everyone for the weather warnings. I definitely not taking my new baby on the route through the Rockies that I took to get here. I will be prudent to avoid any nasty storms. I have five days to get home so should be easy going. Delivery was fun. Love Heather and the crew. Got my Tecumseh brake controller mounted and working great. Pulled out of the garage without any mishaps. Cruised Hohenwald like a pro till I got hungry for Mexican at Rio Colorado. How do she look?

Yes, the car actually had much more ice on it than the picture shows. Thankfully I was able to clean it at a car wash in Kansas the next day. Other than the four hours in the snow and ice, the driving has been very easy. I’m amazed by the comfort and mileage (34 mpg over 2450 miles)of this thing. Yes, I’m doing this solo sort of. My wife and I talk by phone frequently and I’m enjoying listening to my music collection. Weather reports look promising for the return trip. Thank you for the well wishes.

<p style="text-align: left;">Yes Pete, I arrived in Hohenwald today about 1. It was a mostly easy drive with the exception of the snow storm that closed I84 from Rock Springs to Rawlins WY for 6 hours. Google rerouted me South to Craig, CO on a narrow snow covered road for 40 miles that turned to dirt for another 40 miles. From Craig, I went through Steamboat Springs and over a near white out blizzard over Rabbit Ears Pass before connecting with I70 and making my way to Denver. It actually wasn’t that much further in distance, but saved me at least 4 hours. I stopped at Oliver and met Heather when I hit town. I’m now in Linden, TN at the delightful Commodadore Hotel. I highly recommend it when in the area. The owners are great. They’ve done a great job of refurbishing this old place and have yummy food and music on weekends. Can’t wait for my Orientation tomorrow. Bye for now. </p>

Thank you Scotty. I did get the Tow Ready 7 pin Adapter. I plan on taking 3 days to drive out and 5 days for the return. I plan on keeping the Forum updated, and boondocking where convenient. Thanks for the heads up on the App for finding places

Don, thank you. Mine arrives tomorrow. Then I may ship to Oliver for mounting prior to my arrival. Thanks for the reassurance that I got a solid unit.

John, I'm checking into pros and cons of wireless vs. hard wired. Thank you for your input. I'm with you on getting a bomb proof system. Given the steep mountain roads I intend to drive, I want bomb proof. The idea of doing a "Thelma and Louise" doesn't appeal to me ;-). If I can simply plug the hard wire system into an existing plug on the car, I think I'll go that route. I need to check with Audi as to whether I have it. People with Audi's say it's there.

Thank you David. I imagined the wireless would be a good option until I read someone saying they had problems with it pairing. But, if you've had no problems, that system seems the easiest and most convenient.

OMG that is good to know. Thank you again David. I have another question about wiring and controlling the brakes on the trailer. Did your Audi come with a manual over-ride brake controller? My understanding is that simply having the Audi brake pedal apply the trailer brakes is insufficient, and that some kind of manual control for emergencies must be on the vehicle. What do you know about this?

Thank you DavidS. Hearing your experience reassures me. I just ordered the Anderson Alumistinger w/10" Rise, Greaseless 2" Ball, Receiver Locking Pin, and leveling kit so I can practice towing prior to trip. I'm taking someone's suggestion to test the wiring and braking system/connection from car to trailer.

SeaDawg, thank you for the suggestion. the GVWR is 5765 so I've got a little over 1000 to work with (600 on top of trailer tongue should cover what we haul in the vehicle easy). I'm actually a very conservative driver compared to most. I drive right at the speed limit in the right hand lane, even when it pisses some people off. I do have considerably more Winter driving experience than most, so many people are terrified to ride with me in Winter until they realize how calm and capable I am at getting the vehicle to do what I want and especially stopping and cornering. The reason I bought the Audi is because nothing can touch it on snow and ice, and with Nokian's top performing Studless tires, it's nearly bomb proof under any condition. I can't remember who requested, but I'll be sending pics and updates to this forum.

Geronimo John, That is an excellent idea!!! I've been thinking that would be smart but now I'm going to find a way to do that very thing to ensure everything works. I'm going to try Uhaul and my 2 neighbors that have trailers.

Thanks David P. Those sound perfect. I've discovered why Audi says "Don't put a weight distribution system on." It's because of the aluminum unibody construction of the vehicle is not strong enough for the torque that those systems can put on it. The good news is it would provide very little noticeable benefit. Have you encountered any towing issues with your Q7 when passing semis or in high wind?

Thank you John. That does help me better grasp where weight will come from and how to reduce as much as possible. I'd heard about carrying as little water as you'll need until you can hook up. It will be interesting to see what it weighs with all the accessories added to the roof.

Back of Beyond, In case it's useful to your analysis, the Audi GVWR is 5765 lbs.

Thank you Steve n Betty! My plan for sure is to wait out any tornado like conditions. I've never met a snow storm that stopped me, but I'm smart enough to know I've got an ego that believes it's invincible, so I've practiced taking what it says with a grain of salt. I attribute that practice to my nearly 60 years of being free of any serious injuries, or car accidents, skiing.

Back of Beyond, The max tongue weight is 440 lbs.. Max trailer weight is rated at 4400 lbs (US), 5200 lbs (EU). Audi weighs 4500 lbs. How many pounds are you considering "semi loaded?" I can't imagine putting 1000 lbs in the trailer. Do people do that? Audi manual says it's better to put stuff in car rather than trailer, so I've imagined ski gear in car, and at most two people, would come up to 500 lbs in car max. Please explain your thinking. I'm very interested because I been under the view that I thought this through thoroughly.