Dennis and Melissa

I live way too close to "The Villages" to mess with anything pineapple. But, if someone is going to do all that work, I will buy one for sure. Even though we won't be displaying the boondocking one till at least next year.....

Years ago, I had a friend with a class A. When I asked him what his ownership experience was like, he said: "Imagine picking up your entire house and shaking it for hours. That's what happens every time you drive down the highway. Eventually everything breaks." I kept that warning very much in mind when we were purchasing our trailer. But I guess even Ollie's wires aren't immune to road vibration.

Thanks for the feedback. Took me a while to get around to this, but I think it was just loose wiring. Fingers crossed. 🤞

On our recent trek from FL to the UT parks, we stayed in some places for one night, others for 10 (most for 5 or more). Sometimes the next campsite was only 50 miles down the road. One day it was 1,600. (OK, that was 36 hours over 2 days with sleep at a truck stop.) But, for me, the freedom is the point. I can adventure till exhausted and chill till bored. Perfect. 🙂

MDIV is in storage now, but I will definitely give this a try. There is very little downside for me since I never use it as is. THANK YOU P.S. This forum continues to be one of the highlights of Ollie ownership.

If I had been able to buy the Oliver without any awnings (or, more properly, "sun shades"), I would have. ☹️

Well, I sort of agree. We've already gotten caught in several snow storms while camping with Oliver. They were just very comfortable nights. No worries at all. But that snow melted in a day or so. Given the latitudes and elevations we will be visiting, and the time of year, I'll have my eye on the weather. I don't want to end up towing hundreds of miles in a Canadian blizzard. I don't even own chains for the truck. At least not yet. I'm probably going to buy some before we head north.

We already have most of our campground reservations (based on previous visits car camping). We also have a bunch of the now-required reservations for hiking and buses in CA (Lake Louise, etc.) Just wondering if anyone has recent info on conditions or suggestions for Badlands NP (dry site) 8/17-21 Bismark restock 8/22 Theodore Roosevelt NP (dry site) 8/23-27 Great Falls restock 8/28 Glacier NP Two Medicine (dry site) 8/29-9/1 East Glacier KOA (hookups) 9/2-9/15 Waterton (hookups) 9/16-22 Tunnel Mountain, Banff (hookups) 9/23-10/6 Whistler, Jasper (hookups) 10/7-13 All weather permitting, of course. If winter starts we plan to donate our reservations and head south. 🤪 We have a few family visits the set the course outbound, but no fixed return plans. Again, depending on weather, we may just make a bee line for FL or try our luck heading East on the trans canada highway. Both are VERY long, but we got nothing but time 😁

After a long trip, while hitching Ollie back up to the truck for the drive to the storage unit, the tongue jack stopped working! 🤪 After a bit of panic, I noticed that it would go down, but not up. Then I noticed that if I gave it a bit of help, it would, in fact, go up. Then it started working again (so long as I gently mashed the ENTIRE switch up). I am assuming this is the electronics IN THE SWITCH giving out. Anyone ever replace one of those things???

While hitching Ollie back up to the truck for the drive to the storage unit, the tongue jack stopped working! 🤪 After a bit of panic, I noticed that it would go down, but not up. Then I noticed that if I gave it a bit of a push, it would, in fact, go up. Then it started working again (so long as I gently mashed the entire switch up). I am assuming this is the electronics in the switch giving out. Anyone ever replace one of those things???

I don't have any leaks, but... What caulk do y'all use for these sorts of things? You see, I was washing my Ollie after a long trip. The start of that trip was in Hohenwald for our first "annual maintenance". Don't get me wrong. I'm happy we had it done. They did a number of things under warranty, and I learned a few more things, but.... Part of what they did was re-caulk everything. And, while I was cleaning the roof, I got my first look at that part of their work. Some of it is genuinely sloppy. Maybe even useless. And, of course, it's in places that are really hard to get to. 🤪

Starting clean up and repair. 1) Grey hose is shot. Multiple holes. It all happened one night in Grand Canyon Campground. Like some critters tried to chew through it (or my very rude neighbor took a knife to it?). Very odd. 2) Front door stopper came off. I still have the screw and the little rubber donut, and the metal plate is still there. But neither fiberglass nor metal will hold a screw any more. I'm thinking of filling the pre-drilled hole with epoxy or glue or something??? Then just trying the screw again. Any thoughts? 3) Bathroom fan makes a very loud noise when running. I think we damaged a blade when trying to close it while it was still running. ☹️ I'll have to climb up there and see what's up. 4) 2 months in the UT, AZ, NM and Ollie stayed pretty clean. 16 hours of driving in AL, MS, LA, FL and the front is plastered with bugs. 🤪

Home safe. 1,600 miles in 36 hours (including food and sleep) on the last leg. Damn, the US is big. But the drive was about as easy as I can imagine (basically I20 and I75). Ollie behaved wonderfully the whole way. Now it's time for a well-earned bath (Me first, then Ollie).

We spotted yet another Ollie at “Forest Gump” point outside of Monument Valley today. (A good scene from the movie, but the site of HORRIBLE pedestrian behavior 🤪🤯😳)

We spotted another Ollie in Atches NP today. Unfortunately we were going in opposite directions on the park road

We just met ANOTHER Oliver at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park!!! Well met D&D from VA.

I watched Foundation on TV when I was housebound. Liked it. I also like the movie I Robot. So I decided to read all the fiction Asimov wrote 😀 I highly recommend reading it “in order” https://more.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/1584219139/1735833849 PS Mundum Visum has free audiobooks on you tube (not bad) Spoiler alert: The books are only thematically similar to the films.

We just met another Ollie sharing the Zion RV campground with us today. Well met Michelle and Jamie!

https://blinq.me/cm18wvz87005uzk4sxejr448g Jaron Tylock Very knowledgeable, fun, all-round great guide

We were there a couple of weeks ago. Very nice. We especially enjoyed the view from the lodge

Yesterday we camped at Dark Sky outside of Kanab. Quite the upscale treat. For example the showers are full master baths with outdoor AND indoor showers, and heated tiled floors 😆 We also hiked The Wave with a guide from Dreamland Adventures. Overwhelmingly beautiful in every possible way. Then we went out for dinner to celebrate. And my wife noticed that the bolt that holds the Anderson chains to the hitch was missing 😳. Apparently the idiot who uncoupled the trailer (me) left it on the bumper. After an hour of panic, our guide from the hike gave us a replacement. How lucky are we? And finally, as we drove away from the campground this morning, we found the bolt on the street about a mile away 🤯 PS We saw our FOURTH Ollie in the wild today driving East between Zion and Kanab PPS Happy Easter to all 🐇

Woke up to several inches of snow on our last morning in GC. Then I learned that it is unwise to use my bare hands to wrestle the Anderson chains when they have been buried in snow. 🤣 Later, we spotted our third Ollie on this trip. Whoever was headed south on 89 near Camden, Howdie! 76667912346__E5263CEE-8B76-4C5E-9E91-6C46970D4CE0.heic

Our second Ollie sighting! Shout out to Catherine and Chad. Happy to share time at Grand Canyon Trailer Village It isn’t particularly beautiful but it is very near a cool hole in the ground. 😉

Dead Horse Ranch SP has been very nice. Great access to all sorts of hikes . Quiet, family friendly and clean. In addition, quite a few fiberglass trailers in the park. Including our first meeting with another Ollie in the wild. Shout out to Mark, Lorraine and River! Well met and happy trails. Special mention to Red Rock SP. Small, quiet but oh so wonderful. Next stop Grand Canyon!