SeaDawg

I agree. And, once you've been there, your winter will probably be spent planning your next trip.

Have any of you come south in October, on the Alcan, or the Cassair? I'm wondering about campground availability, southbound. I tend to agree with John on the go quickly as possible through BC/Alberta on the way up, if he's experienced it, and wants to spend more time in Alaska. Coming home as season is ending would be my concern, especially on the Cassair. There's not much from Boya Lake to Terrace, except of course, some beautiful scenery and campgrounds, which may close in September. We've driven the Cassair a few times, but always early season, just after opening.

Going north, ft Nelson and ft st john. On to Muncho Lake. Strawberry Flats campground was empty but for us in late May, one year. Beautiful turquoise water and views. Pit toilet, gravel. A ranger came around once a day to clean and collect fees.. There are a couple small campgrounds like it on the lake. Not to be missed, imo. Now, you're almost to the wide open spaces of the Yukon, our favorite. YT campgrounds are mostly really lovely, and rustic. Clean pit toilets. Free firewood. Some are on lakes and rivers. $12 Canadian, for all that. (In October, as in early spring, they'll be free, but not maintained, and some will be gated off.)

How many hours a day do you plan to drive to get to Tok? Are you planning to skip Lake Louise, Jasper? The icefields Parkway? Since they're relatively close to home for you? Banff would be my first "skip." It's way too crowded and touristy, for my taste. But, I really like Jasper. It's a very nice small town, good services, restaurants, etc. We had elk wandering through our campsite in the national park. Camping at the icefields parkway visitor center is a parking lot overnight, no services, just a parking lot. But you can watch the glacier crawlers across the way, and the visitors center is interesting. Hythe Alberta has a very nice, clean, and inexpensive city campground. Free showers in the converted caboose bath houses, free firewood, very flat. You won't have to unhook. Grande Prairie has lots of shopping. We needed some electronics bits, and found a Best Buy, and some great fish at a roadside stand, there. We've stopped in Dawson Creek for the obligatory photo in the town circle, for the beginning of the Alaska highway. I don't remember anything else about it.

Paul said if we were in our own vehicle, and had a spare, he would have driven the McCarthy road. Lots of people do. It's slow going anyway. Back in the day, when Alaska roads were mostly unpaved, my uncle carried a pair of spares every summer when they drove up to visit his brother. I don't know how many people do that anymore. We don't. As far as departure date from where you live, I'd consider a week earlier, depending on how you want to see Denali and Kennicot. The buses throughout the Denali park quit running , I think, mid-september, and some of the campgrounds close. Once you get to Alaska, you can "camp" anywhere in pullout that are often more scenic than campgrounds. The holiday weekends in Canada are busy in the campgrounds, for sure, but in the Yukon, that's only been a problem for us if we're close to Whitehorse. That said, we've not been up that way in the fall. We're usually out by mid June.

We went to Kennicott mine about six years ago. It's a very interesting tour. The old mine building is rickety, and lots of old staircases, and in a few places, ladders to climb or descend. The waiver we had to sign was 3 or 4 pages long. However, the main building will be closed this summer, according to the website, for much needed renovations. That's a shame. If you go, take the van ride from the little depot in McCarthy to the mine. We missed the jog to the right to catch the van, and wound up walking about five miles to the mine. We caught a van on the way back. Still, my friend's pedometer showed we walked about 10 miles that day. The McCarthy road is indeed pretty bad. It's narrow and rutted, and as part of it is an old railroad bed, our guide told us occasionally old spikes work there way to the surface. ( We took a van ride from Chitina, since we were driving someone else's brand new rv, with no spare.) There is a parking lot where you can park your vehicle, though, and walk across the bridge to town. I think you'd be wise to leave the Ollie in the rv park, in Chitina, for the day. The drive out to McCarthy from Chitina is about 2 hours, each way. We camped by the side of the road, next to one if the bridges coming into Chitina, but the rv park isn't expensive, has water and a dump station, and would be a more secure place for your trailer. It's a long day. You'll probably want to stay there the night before and after. There's a free "public" camping area closer to town, but it looked pretty dodgy. I wouldn't leave my trailer there, I don't think. We parked the rv for the day in the little city lot in Chitina, where the van picked us up.

That looks great, John. I'm glad you decided on the butyl. Now, we have three methods to compare.

I saw this recent review today. Campbell River, so probably Surrey, BC. https://www.loveyourrv.com/starlink-satellite-dish-internet-first-look-setup-test-on-the-rv/

I'd second Bill's suggestion to call service. Gel coat color match is tough. We've had Oliver repair a few spots in ours, and I can't tell you where they are, now.

Summer can be chilly, too. I remember camping up by Duluth back in the 70s, running the furnace at night in the summer. Lol.

I think that statement is true for many of us... Glad you are enjoying your Oliver!

I'm glad you notified Oliver, as the factory should be taking a look at this issue. We're now 2 for 2 on new Elites with the same issue, and that's disappointing. Maybe mounting the outlet differently, or securing the cord, solved this issue with the Legacy II trailers. I remember reading about that issue years ago with the larger trailer.

That sounds like a beautiful new campground. I'm sure it will be very popular in that stunning area.

Butyl was our other choice, as we use that for boat hatches, trailer windows, vents, etc.. We debated the topic for days, as we had butyl tape on hand, as well. The foam seal is from leisure coach works, via Amazon. It's a nice one piece , dense foam seal, much like the one Oliver used in our original install, 13 years ago. We used the extra provided strips provided to make leveling "feet " for the rear if the unit. Paul torqued the 4 m8 bolts to 6 lbs, and we'll check it again in 30 days, as recommended. Without the foam, the unit would hug the roof, and be about 1/2 shorter. We'll see how it works out. My only concern is all the plastic vs metal in the mounting plates.

If they're minor, try buffing and polishing first.

Don't skip the Dakotas, and their unique beauty.

@BillATX, I'd encourage you to open a service ticket on the fridge and door, if you haven't already. Even though you plan to fix it yourself, Oliver should be made aware if your problems. At that time, you could also ask best practices on battery disconnect, for your system and equipment. Glad you had a fun first trip!

We liked Custer State Park. Don't remember if we had an electric site or not. It was fairly close to the wildlife loop, which was great at dusk. Teddy Roosevelt is awesome, and a very different view of the Badlands, but you'll want to stay close to Rushmore, for that, I'd think.

A few notes on our install of the smaller 9500 unit: We had another motive for changing out the ac, besides age and noise. The size of the Dometic 600 interfered with fully adjusting our two sidemounted 200 watt solar panels. We picked up several inches of gap with the new smaller ac unit. The old Dometic 600 was a well built, heavy unit, that lasted a long time. The new unit, though well built, has a lot more plastic, so we'll see if we get the same longevity. I'm also going to have to buy or sew a cover, as the outdoor unit has a huge rooftop grilled opening over the fan that will offer an open door to mud daubers, dirt, and leaves. The new unit has the convenience of a remote, but the remote is the only way to fully operate the small unit. So, I will be taking very good care of that remote. (Edit to add: limited function is available through a tiny touch screen in the bottom of the plenum. Ac will run at 24 or 22 c, fan on high.) The indoor distribution box is made of a glossy, lighter weight plastic. It's very slim and sleek, and we gained about an inch of headroom vs our old unit, but it's very light. It also just barely leaves room in the trolley part of the roof to easily remove the washable filters on each side. I'm not sure the larger unit like Katanapilot's would work in the smaller Elite. The install went very smoothly because the pieces are well thought out by the manufacturer. If you get the first indoor piece right, the rest falls into place. I wouldn't necessarily recommend our 3 person/two ladders/rope safety install without a lift, unless you have a sure-footed, strong young friend like ours, who volunteered to do the rooftop part of the job. He noted that our roof is very well waxed, and it would have been pretty easy to slip. (And, he's used to working on fiberglass boats.) You definitely want two, or better, three people, though, to make it an easier job, even with a lift. It's a very precise fit, and one on the roof, one inside, at least saves time and aggravation. We used a foam gasket, instead of silicone sealant to install the top plate. This method had served us well for the last ac. If it doesn't work out, removing it and replacing with butyl or silicon will not be that difficult.

I would have been far happier with a 12 v inverter compressor unit, but, that's not in the cards, today, in the US. It is what it is. Since our unit needed replacement soon, we took the chance. I'll let you know how it works out, long run. We don't mind being "pioneers. " Just hope it works as long as the old Dometic unit.

We used ropes and bull power. It worked. My outdoor unit is barely over 60 pounds. But, it's cool, only. No heat.

My hope is that our units become more readily available. Right now, it's very limited supply. As a retrofit, it's great. We needed to replace our 13 year old unit, soon, anyway. I've seriously been watching European and Australian units for at least six years. Finally, there's a bit of inroads. But, not readily available for manufacturers. Personally, I would have been happier with a 12 volt unit. But, I'll take this. For now.

Quite possibly. It did cool the trailer. Still did. And, in 2008, no noisier than any other. Ac vs no ac?

We installed our Houghton 2801 today, and it's just great. Love it. 1 hour and 45 minutes, dumping the old, and installing new. Really nice design, and easy install. Whisper quiet. Hardest part was getting the monster Dometic Dino unit off the roof. At least we had three people. Thanks again, katanapilot, for the heads up on availability of the Houghton, through RecPro.

Have any of you tried any other brands of AGMs? We have been quite happy with the Intimidator agm (Deka/East Penn) marine deep cycle 12v batteries we've had in our Elite for the last 4 or 5 years. I saw the Duracell agm 6v gc2 batteries on the samsclub site for $179 each. (They have 30 fewer amp hours at 20 hr. rate than the Brightways), but they're also manufactured by East Penn.