Dennis and Melissa

I just watched Victron's video for the BMV-712. It says the batteries need to be fully charged twice a month to allow the monitor to sync. So, I guess I just charge the things and hope it clears up 🤪

FWIW, the LI3 Battery app reports each of the batteries at 24% now.

I have 2 lithionics 320Ah batteries with solar. They were allowed to sit in the shade for about 2 months. When I returned today, the batteries were so low the fan for the composting toilet was not running. That's what I expected. But I'm surprised to see my VictronConnect app report the batteries at 100%. I tried resetting the BMV controller (press setup and select at same time for 3 seconds), but that doesn't seem to do anything. I'm currently recharging the batteries slowly (solar + household current). Any thoughts?

@Sully We are planning to visit Newfoundland in about a year (sometime late aug to early oct) @rich.dev was nice enough to refer me to this thread, which I read immediately. Great pictures! And I especially appreciate the campground descriptions in the last post.

We are just starting to brainstorm our trip up north for about a year from now. So, no hurry. 😂 But would anyone care to share experience/advice? We are looking at taking the Trans-Canada Hwy ferry to Channel-Port aux Basques. Dates are still very flexible (late August through mid October). But we're thinking of spending about 2-3 weeks on the island....and taking every day-hike we can find (Gros Morne looks amazing!). Of course, we also have to drive the round trip from Tampa. 🤪 So if you have ideas for that part of the trip, that would be great, too. Anything north/east of Maine will be completely new for us. 😲

We live in Tampa. Minor wind damage at the homestead. Power back on in our neighborhood, but many others still out. Our kids, who live nearby, are bunking with us for the AC. 😎 Ollie lives in a covered, outdoor storage facility in nearby Plant City. We visited him yesterday. All appears to be well,even though many nearby neighborhoods got hit VERY hard. Some are still underwater. We are very grateful to all the emergency crews from around the country who have come to visit. (I met a crew from Nova Scotia at WalMart yesterday!) It does my heart good to see their solidarity, expertise and preparedness.

That looks wonderful TYVM!

My current itinerary has a question mark on that day. 😀 We will probably just drive till we are tired, then find a place to boondock.

We have been talking about this! It's really encouraging to hear you say you've done it. (Gives me some assurance that I'm not completely insane )

We are working on that. Most of it is still unreservable and I have the dates they open flagged on my calendar!

Thanks for the tip. I hope you love your Ollie as much as we do. And my wife LOVES her massages. 😀 P.S. We are hoping to make it to Montana in the fall of 25. I'll create another thread for that and you can tell me everything I don't know 😛

Does anyone have insight into the "tent caterpillar" season in these parks? When is it? How "bad" is it?

TYVM. We will check it out.

The fixed part of the itinerary is GC followed by Zion. We had a couple of extra days, and I thought Sand Hollow would be a nice pit stop in between. We intend to use it as a base camp and find nearby day hiking. We also probably want full hookups for those 2 days (at least electric and water), because we want to be fully prepared for the next campground, which is inside Zion NP (with just electric, no water). Any specific suggestions that more or less fit that bill? TYVM!

https://tenor.com/view/playing-dead-viralhog-freeze-playful-faint-fake-faint-gif-25303325 LOL. (Couldn't resist 🤣 ) TY. I will be sure to pack them,

I have a set but rarely use them. Do you think they will be particularly useful with this itinerary?

Other than this just being a huge undertaking, any other comments? Here is our plan so far... 2 days to travel from FL To San Antonio 3 days in San Antonio Travel day 10 days in Sedona (Dead Horse Ranch SP) 4 days @ Grand Canyon South Rim 2 days in St. George (Sand Hollow SP) 7 days in Zion 6 days in Kodachrome SP (Bryce Canyon NP) 4 days in Escalante Petrified Forest 4 days in Torrey (Capitol Reef NP et al) 7 days in Moab (Dead Horse Point SP, Arches NP , Canyonlands NP, et al) 7 days in Mexican Hat (Goosenecks SP, Monument Valley, et al) a week to head home....

TYVM! Do you have any opinions about camping in Kodachrome SP (for Bryce area) or Dead Horse Point SP (for Moab area)?

LOL. I'm sure we will not "see all that". I know we are risking some snow closures by going early. But it maximizes our time with the grandkids back in FL. Anyway, I'm willing to trade that risk for avoiding the summer crush. I'd be very happy spending a week or so in 4 or five different spots, hiking what we can and just ogling the rest. The parking lot in Zion is enough to make my heart sing. 😍 Our idea at the moment is something like this: Take about a week to get from FL to Sedona Sedona (Dead Horse Ranch SP) ~1week Grand Canyon South Rim ~3days (we've been there once before) Zion ~1 week - maybe half in the park and half with full hook ups in Springdale Some part of Bryce/Grand Escalante ~1week (no idea where) Moab (Dead Horse Point SP??) ~1week Canyonland and Arches Start home via Monument Valley and Gila.... Another week to get back east

Thank you. The pictures are really inviting!

LOL. Neither do I. That's why I started this thread. Actually, Sedona is just going to be our first big stop on a 2-month trip centering around Utah's big 5. We will probably only go into the actual city of Sedona for a change of pace or bad weather. Most of our time will be spent hiking through the beautiful surrounding landscapes. And the suggestions you made will now be added to that list. TYVM

We have a week in April 2025. I'm thinking of staying at Dead Horse Ranch State Park the whole time, but worried we might end up driving a lot every day. Any suggestions?

I am 6'2". Sleeping is great on twin bed. Very cozy. But the bathroom is not built for me. I'm OK with that. Cuz my wife loves it. And I'm camping. In 72 camping nights so far, I have always found someplace else to shower. My wife chose the Ollie 71 times. As others have said, there is no substitute for getting inside one and decide for yourself. Best of luck!

We are planning our next extended trip. Some time Jan-Feb, probably in/near Arkansas. We can go almost anywhere, but all I have so far is some internet searches for various state parks and cool hikes. We love hiking and various other encounters with the wondrous and beautiful. Anyone have suggestions on how to build an itinerary? My unsorted list of ideas so far: Ouachita Bull Shoals - White river Table Rock Devils Den Lake fort smith Buffalo National River Hikes: North Rim Trail, Mount Magazine State Park Yellow Rock Trail, Devil’s Den State Park Big Bluff/Goat Trail, Buffalo Wilderness Area Lost Valley Trail, Buffalo National River Indian Rock House Nature Trail, Buffalo National River Whitaker Point Trail, Upper Buffalo Wilderness Seven Hollows Trail, Petit Jean State Park P.S. If this isn't the correct board for this sort of question, plz let me know 🤪

Starting temp was mid 80s, dropped to 70-ish. Set on 68 "night mode" for all 12 hours with 4 bodies inside. Fan ran continuously (as designed), compressor intermittent of course. After a full day of sunshine (maybe interrupted a bit by Ollie's bath and one nearby tree) with almost everything electric turned off, batteries are back up to 35%,