SeaDawg

And, you've wasted a lot of propane. I've read about that happening on Forest River forums. I've been watching this since it was introduced, five or six years ago. Like Overland, I thought the exposed length of blue thetmal color changing tubing was ugly, and looked like a shoddy install. You'll find a wealth of comments on forest river forums. Some are happy, many say it doesn't work well with an instantaneous water heater. That, i don't know. As much as I think it's a plausible solution, correctly installed, I'll stick with collecting cold water in a kettle, and use it for dishes . (Heat it on the stove.)

I don't know where you are in Minnesota, but all my relatives up there have been reporting some pretty miserable cold weather the past few days. Hope the next three weeks go quickly for you.

I would add to @Steph and Dud B, it's probably hard to find a trailer for 5 (and figure 7 to 8, when friends join later) without slides. Slides leak air and bugs, in our experience. These require constant attention, as does the roof, caulking, and everything else. But, if it's in the budget, and you can devote the time to regular maintenance, it gets the kids out camping. Which, imo, is most important.

Bigfoot and Lance are really nice trailers, and expensive in the sizes to accommodate a family of 5. I think it's important to look at options to get the kids camping, now. As the oldest is 11, it's not long til he or she will likely want to stay home, or bring a friend. I'd look at all the options with a bunkhouse, and a dinette, and hopefully, a sofa, too. Plus a queen to make mom and dad comfy. Mom and dad should go to some rv shows, and narrow the options. Winnebago makes some smaller bunkhouse models, aluminum cage, with a queen, bunks, and dinette sleeping. Plus separate shower or toothbrushing sink. (Remember, 5 people here..) this leaves truck bed room for kid and family stuff... bikes, kayaks, scooters, games, etc. Lance 2185 has a triple bunk model, plus dinette, plus queen. But it's really expensive, even used. Lance, however, probably builds the best of them, and prices reflect that. What I'd look for: aluminum cage, one piece roof (preferably one piece fiberglass laminate like some minnie winnies and geos, and some others, or at the very least, tpo roof vs epdm), at least 2 bunks, and decent sized tanks. Decent sized fridge. (Many winnebago models have a 10 cf fridge, ideal for families. If a small fridge, buy a couple coolers, or a 12v portable cooler.) A lot of solar or expensive lithium batteries is pretty much irrelevant for weekend camping, imo. I think starting next year we'll see some better prices on lightly used campers, as people will be giving up that camper that they barely used. At least, I hope so. I personally probably wouldn't buy at new price from Thor or Forest River. They're not totally junk, but they will need some skills, in all likelihood, to adjust/fix cabinetry, sloppy installation, fix caulking, etc. , even new. And, certainly, if used. But, let's be realistic. They work, have 3 school aged kids, and we're probably looking at multi weekend camping, and one or two long trips a year. Maintain whatever they get, and if they can find a nice barely used model, they won't get hurt too bad in 5 years or so. A big family tent is even less, and really teaches camping skills. Another alternative, especially if you're not camping in bear country. The memories are indeed priceless. Our adult daughter still tent camps with her friends, and occasionally with us. It's affordable and fun. Even when it rains, or it's cold, the stories make for good memories. I have young friends in Georgia who go camping with their young family (8 and 4) almost every weekend. The kids are having the time of their lives, and I suspect they'll be lifelong campers. They started with a tent, then bumper pull.

I think we can all share observations, and experiences, without getting wigged out. Let's calm down, folks, and look at the real world. (And forum guidelines.) These new trucks are a really, really big investment, and everyone has the right to post observations. That doesn't make any poster a "naysayer." It makes the poster perhaps someone less infatuated with what he sees than you, in your opinion. Though we have many Toyota fans here, I am personally not very "brand loyal," so I tend to look at the broad scope, and everyone's comments. We (hopefully) won't need a new tow for a number of years. I see real world observations as a help in making future decisions. I weigh all of them, positive and negative. Sherry

@ChrisMI, we do manage to keep and enjoy both, but I will say that the boat requires far more time and maintenance than the trailer. And, $$$. And, as we get a bit older, the sailing itself is much more challenging physical work. We'll keep both as long as we can use and enjoy them both, and continue to upgrade the boat to make sailing easier. There are many Ollie owners with both, and others who have moved from boating to the Oliver, as we've/they've learned the advantages and longevity of well built fiberglass hulls. I count us very lucky, in this respect. Double lucky, we enjoy the company, camping and sailing, with another younger couple we met with an Oliver, over decade ago. We've enjoyed a lot of sailing adventures, and also Ollie land miles with them, and they're like family to us. And, another younger friend who is like family, too, who enjoys both sailing and camping, and helps us with the boat locally, and tent camps with us. All three are experienced blue water sailors, as are we . Camping and rving, imo, is far easier than sailing, from many perspectives. But, you're right. You don't always have to choose. We did 150+ days in the camper last year, probably only 45 or 50 days on the boat, but boat maintenance was probably 2 to 3 times the hours and dollars to the Oliver. And, even for us retired folks, there's only so much time available for both/each. And, we're lucky, again, that over 30 years ago, we bought a home for us, with a protected dock for the boat. It would break my heart if my backyard view didn't include our boat. Sometimes, you have to just pick. I totally get it. I'm hoping we don't have to make that choice anytime soon.

Gotta love autocorrect. It's made some of my posts pretty humorous, too.

Based on many recent happy owners at pickup, I think this is under control. Oliver has pushed orders out to the future (note the very long wait time), which can try the patience as you wait, but I'd rather that. Every rampup has shown training and growing pains, but systems, imo, are way better these days. And, continue to improve with customer input. My 2008 was one of the "originals." With all the newness of that day, I'd still rather have it than any of the other brands out there. That build quality is baked in. We'll just see how it goes for the next 14 seasons ... 😀

Looking forward to camping photos! Enjoy your new Ollie, and happy motoring.

I found raclette at my local Aldi, in for the holiday season. Otherwise, Sprouts farmer's market, or the fancier/pricier artisan cheese shop. I bought some baby potatoes today, and already have the cornichons, salami, Prosciutto, and vegetables in the fridge, and shrimp in the freezer. The tuna steak sounds really interesting. I may have to try that!

I think this is probably one of the best , most helpful posts ever about preparing for pickup. You can't learn everything without being in your trailer, but you can certainly prepare to learn what you don't know. I'd add, study all the videos in Oliver University. Thanks, @Mainiac

So, tonight my neighbors brought me a most unusual Christmas gift, a Swiss two tiered raclette grill. I've never seen, nor used one, but I think it will be a fun new Christmas tradition for our families to enjoy together. (She was born in France, but her mom has lived in Switzerland for many years.) If any of you have great recipes or ideas to share, I'd love to see them.

I'll be interested in the responses. We built a metal pole barn on our camping property this summer. I've never had problems getting a Verizon signal, but inside the steel shell, almost zero signal. What I do: put my Verizon phone in a windowsill facing a tower, set it up as a hotspot, and everyone else gets good signal, linked to my phone. If I take my phone out of the window, I get a lame signal. Temporary fix, of course. I'll be looking into an antenna and booster for inside the barn. Runs my battery down, so I have to keep my phone on the charger, on the windowsill. Good news: no tinfoil hat, no standing on one leg. Lol.

Pretty cocktail, but I think I'd enjoy the cognac, more. 🙂

Happy new year, and congratulations! Love the name you chose for your Ollie! We have friends in the valley (Rockbridge county), and we've spent a number of weeks camping in Virginia and the Shenandoah. It is so very beautiful. Lucky you to have so many great places to visit, right at the doorstep.

I might still consider the electric bilge heaters an additional option. The furnace doesn't run continuously for us, even when it's in the 20s, so the bilge heaters should just kick on when you need them, at 40 degrees. Especially if you camp with electricity when it's really cold, it would be a nice alternative. The xtreme is pretty quiet, imo. As I said, we've only used ours once or twice, but they're really well built, above uscg specs, and very well regarded on boating forums. The price tag is kind of painful, but so is plumbing repair.

Oops, I was posting at the same time as Minnesota oli.

There have been a number of other owners who've made modifications to more efficiently heat the space between the hulls. Here's a link to one if Nceagle's discussions: Minnesota Oli documented his extensive mods really well in this thread.

Maybe if you get a set like Ina Garten's lockdown shaker and martini glass?

There are several owners of older Elites who installed the Xtreme heaters back in 2008/2009. (We also have one, but have only used it once or twice.) I think @bugeyedriver has two of them in his Elite.

Wow! He even got the snorkel. What a wonderful gift.

Christmas goes on for several days in our family. Christmas eve day brunch included ham, fruit, smoked salmon, eggs, and vaffler, those norwegian heart shaped waffles that we all love. Dinner used to be traditional fish, or oyster stew. This year, prime rib on the smoker, perfect medium rare. Tomorrow, brunch/early dinner at my Florida sister's. I'll bring the quiches. We'll not do lutefisk and lefse, but I'm sure that's on my Minnesota sister's menu . We feel blessed to enjoy tradition and new, and, more importantly, enjoy the company of family and friends.

This is a pretty special song for us. It was on our tree decorating cd for years. This was the "dance break" song for me, my mother in law, and my daughter. Every year, the tree had a heavy amount of ornaments at my mil's height/ reach. A few got dropped. No big deal. We had so much fun, and I really miss those days. And I miss my tiny, sweet mother in law, with her big spirit, and beautiful smile. Merry Christmas.

This was taken several years ago, in WNC.