SeaDawg

Not for nothing, but I put our paper towel holder over the bed, instead of the cooktop. I had reservations about a big roll of paper over flames.🤔 And, I can use the back burner without concerns . In 13 camping seasons, it hasn't bothered us above the bed.

In the photo, you can see edge of one of our new panels. We have upgraded from 2 x 100 watt panels, side mount, to 2x 200 watt panels. That writeup to follow soon.

You could follow the topics, if not too many. You can see your followed topics in your profile, I think.

Our third taillight has had its issues over the 13 years, requiring resealing every 3 years or so. This year, it developed some hairline cracks, as well. We decided to remove and replace the lens. Ours was held mostly by (probably 4200) adhesive, and a few dabs of epoxy. The adhesive loosened with a heatgun on low in the attic, and a plastic scraper. The epoxy was mostly mechanical, plus heat. And not fun. We broke the lens in several places removing it. We installed the new lens from Oliver with a bed of grey butyl tape. Since that's not truly an adhesive, Paul added 6 small stainless screws. We felt pretty comfortable with the addition of the screws, since butyl is pretty much self-healin, self-sealing. After a couple days for the butyl to rest, he applied loctite marine to the exposed edge of the trimmed butyl, to protect it from uv and dirt . Today, we added a lip of eze rv gutter on the eyebrow, for good measure, extending beyond the length of the bottom of the trapezoid lens. I can't tell you for another 5 or 6 years if this is a better solution, but I'll be able to tell sooner if it fails. We'll see. We're both very happy with tried and true old school butyl as window and hatch bedding.

The new 2022 Tundra may be released as early as mid-year, 2021, according to this article. https://www-motortrend-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.motortrend.com/news/2022-toyota-tundra-pickup-truck-everything-we-know/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16083150847211&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.motortrend.com%2Fnews%2F2022-toyota-tundra-pickup-truck-everything-we-know%2F Careful what you wish for, though. Looks like the big v8 may be going away. Then again, the whole article is speculation based on leaks, so who knows?

Awesome. Enjoy your night.

We're excited for you! And, we'll look forward to your photos. Sherry

Ride fly, how many of those marine group 27 batteries do you have?

I will also say, none of this is rocket science. Hundreds of thousands of people rent or buy rvs and towables every year, and they figure it out . I do remember my mother-in-law telling me about the adventure of picking up their Dolphin camper in Southern California in the 70s. No initiation. No walk thru. Handed them the keys, and off they went to western NY. No camping experience, beyond cabin camping in Canada. (No cell phones or Google, then, either.) They learned a lot from fellow campers ar rv parks. They made it. And loved that crazy little camper for over a decade. Even when the gulls stole a steak from their grill at ft. Desoto.... Theirs looked a lot like this one. Btw, I really miss my in-laws. They were super people.. but,, this memory makes me smile.

Another thought is, we keep the big dinette made up as a bed, all the time. Not everyone does, but, it's something to consider

What's the flooring choice with grey jay?

Personally, my choice would be wild west. It's a bit lighter, a tiny bit more brown. From what I see online, never having seen either in person. I'm glad you asked for swatches. Even if they're small, it helps.

I think it's quite smart to rent and try out camping. See if you really like it. Renting the airstream set up in a nice park is a start. Gets your toe in the water without spending all your time learning a bunch of new skill sets. Work your way up, though, and rent a towable camper, later too, if you have or can borrow a suitable tow vehicle. Even better if you can camp with friends or relatives who are experienced campers.

Both of our bluesky controllers are lithium capable. And, they can be wired madter/slave to accomodate additional panels, which I would seriously want if I were investing in lithium. I don't know which one you have, Mike, but a quick call to Ryan in Bluesky tech support will get you the info you need.

Everything really is bigger in Texas, right?

There are so many beautiful places that we have enjoyed that it's hard to pick one. So, I'll go with Deer Island Point campground in New Brunswick. We took the (free) ferry from letete, nb, and planned to stay one night, then ferry to Campobello, and on to Maine. The campground was "officially" closed for the season, but the tourist office said we could dry camp. No services, but no fees. Don't leave a mess. Our site, right at the point, (may have been a tent site, not sure) was just amazing. Marine life, walk down to see the maelstrom, (old sow), and watch the ferries. Absolutely incredible. We kept rearranging our schedule, and stayed four days, leaving our special quiet place, with a heavy heart. The little island is lovely, and quiet, off season. It was cool/cold, but so very beautiful. Probably more crowded in season. Campobello was a fascinating day, when we finally left.

Depending on where you go, and power needs, you can run with 2 of the 4 agms. Take two offline.. Probably still more battery power than we have, in our Elite.

Hi, Brandi. Nice job getting the trim ring off without breaking it. Did you use a hair dryer or a heat gun with that plastic knife? Our microwave had a metal household type trim kit, screwed to the fiberglass. Could be that our microwave was also installed differently from yours. Not sure. When we removed the dead microwave, we also removed the dead fridge. The brackets holding our microwave in place were secured by a few pieces of threaded rod, tightened from beneath in the fridge cavity. I don't think I have a photo, but I'll look. Paul was able to loosen it enough from the bottom to pull the microwave out. As we turned the microwave cavity into a cabinet, we removed all the threaded rod and brackets before we put the new fridge in place. I don't know if ours is the same as yours, but it's likely. You might also lift the vinyl covering the floor of the cabinet above the microwave and see if they extended the threaded rod up there. Ours isn't, but who knows. We don't have the same big oval vent as you do, either. Just a little round one on the side. As bhncb said, if you remove that stainless vent, you may at least be able to see the fasteners with a flashlight and an inspection mirror. Our fridge outlet is down low, by the fridge. It is on a separate circuit from the microwave. Have you checked the breaker or fuse for the microwave circuit? If yours is installed the same way as ours, you'll probably have to pull the fridge into the aisle to access the threaded rod.

We used the quick connect a lot the first few years. Then, probably not at all for about 9 years. Quit carrying the grill. Last summer, we had rain so often, we dug out the old grill and used it ar lunch or dinner almost every day. Cooking over a smokey campfire in the rain isn't much fun.

Pearl looks great. Safe travels home. Sherry PS, love the name.

Honestly, Blue sky is a bit "old school," compared to Victron. They "probably " will have Bluetooth capability sometime soon. That said, the reliability and customer service from Blue Sky is second to none, imo. We did use victron on the boat, because of a better water resistance rating , and their dominant position in the marine market, for future proofing in integration. That decision was actually a really tough one, because of our excellent experience with Blue Sky .

When we were looking for the perfect "for us" travel trailer, our dinner conversations rambled on about the 30+ brands and models we'd looked at and read about. Toward the end of those days, our poor little dog (who happened to be named Oliver ) spent the dinner hour whipping his head back and forth as his "name" came up over and over again. I was afraid he'd get whiplash, frankly.😄 Evolution. Last week, we discussed wiring with Ryan at Blue Sky during dinner on speakerphone. Tonight, we two solar nerds chatted with each other again about wiring and dual controller setup (master/slave, fixed/portable) and watched a couple videos from the Blue Sky learning center. After dinner, more research. I guess it's a good thing that we feel we still have a great trailer to upgrade, and enjoy, 13 seasons later. And, that it's worth the time and effort (and $) to do the upgrades. And, that we enjoy it.

The bulldog collar that Mike pictured is a great preventive mischief device. We've had that from pretty much day one. Some kind of device that fills the hitch ball space, like mike's, or even a 2" bearing that John Davies has used, or the proven lock, etc. All are fine. We have something similar, but inferior to Mike's. We have a good insurance policy, as well, and call it done .

I remember phone conversations with Pete about that, but I don't remember seeing an Anderson hitch on his rig last fall, when we camped together for a few weeks. Maybe I'm just blanking, but I'd think I'd remember, since we spent a lot of time working on his front jack switch and wiring. Possibly my poor memory. We've never used an Anderson, towing with my Silverado, nor Paul's 2008 Ram 4 x 4. Neither our tongue weight nor our trailer weight warrant it, for insurance purposes, and never seriously felt the need. Each to his own, however. I know the new trucks love to tout huge numbers for tow capacity, plus asterisk, requiring wdh. With the smaller weight of the Elite, I think it would be sad for a half ton manufacturer to require a wdh. My opinion, only, after 13 seasons. Sherry