SeaDawg

The towing specs are TBD. Which is disappointing, to see on the night of the launch. Granted, I never towed anything but my little sailboats (Sunfish and Aquacat) behind my bronco ii, but I would think the new Bronco should be able to at least tow my Elite I? We towed ours on a test with an FJ, for heaven sake.

The raptor version will be very cool.

I also do dishes outdoors, when I can. Heating water in a teakettle, I can limit water use to a quart or less for dishes, most days. Like you, two pans, and an IKEA drainer, that fits in the top of the black pan, that fits in the sink. White dishpan fits inside the black.

It has been a lot of hype. And I've been following some of it, because I loved that little red Bronco. I doubt I'll be tempted to put down a deposit tonight, though. But I do have an alarm set to watch the launch on youtube.

Since we're in the retro mode today, I thought I would share the launch of the new Ford Bronco, tonight, 8 pm est, on ABC, ESPN, and National Geographic. (See below.) Probably not going to be a tow vehicle for many of us, but maybe those few of us with the Elites, at least on flat land. It's built on the new Ford Ranger, after all, not the f150. I had a Bronco II as my fun car for a number of years. Looking forward to seeing the new iterations. Sherry

Seems like GM salvaged some of the original design in the Lumina van? Lol

I agree, Landrover. I always thought it was head and shoulders nicer and more advanced than the stickies everyone else was building. GM wanted the airplane/space age look, and got it right. The engineering that went into it is probably the reason that many of them are still on the road today.

The GMC was pretty splashy and often colorful. Check out the 70s green interior of the one in this article. http://www.bdub.net/publications/1973_Magazine_Ad/1973_Ad.htm And, here's a collection of brochures and specs for the various years in its relatively short life. http://www.bdub.net/publications/

That's a bummer. I just checked mine. They're fine. But a different design, and probably a different brand. Not surprising, since my trailer is ten years older than yours.

I didn't own one, but my boss in the 80s owned one. It was quite the cool coach. I usually got to drive it back and forth to the repair shop for him, as I was one of the few willing to take it out in city traffic. It was the awesome 70s harvest gold exterior, with coordinated brown and gold interior. He used it as his mobile office and showroom when he started his business. It was honestly a pretty nice ride, in its day. This isn't his, but looks a lot like it. Don't think he had an awning. Sherry

McB, you'll have a big step up on those who have never owned an rv. I know how hard that is to say goodbye to a well loved RV or boat. The new Ollie will make up for the sadness, I'm sure. Hang in there. Hopefully, the time will pass quickly. Sherry

We carry filtered rainwater from home in several five gallon jugs for most trips. My mom's previous home town had an epa notice on their municipal water. I bought her an Alexapure (much like your Berkey in style/size, but alexapure is nsf rated for the issue her town had, and Berkey was not) and a Pur pitcher for extra filtering of drinking water . Now that she lives in our community, with good water, she just filters drinking water with the Pur. The filters ( the Maxion/lead filter) are fairly inexpensive, for what they do. For on the road, it depends on your source. Zero water is really great for heavy metals, but not bacteria, giardia, etc . Great for extra care on good municipal water, or you can boil after to kill the organisms. Pur maxion/lead does a pretty good job all around on bacteria, giardia, and heavy metals, microplastics, etc. A bit slow. But most of the good ones are . I think a pitcher system, or the pur canister, is a manageable size for a travel trailer, filtering tested municipal water. Unless you're going off grid, using stream or lake water, in which case, you'll need a lot more. And, that's another long story. Sherry Fyi, Our home is solar powered, and our water source is collected rainwater.

Actually, I usually wash dishes outside, if the weather is good. I wash with cold and soap, and rinse with boiled water from the kettle. One tea kettle of hot water is enough for most days. Inside, I use the sink to wash, counter for rinse, small dinette for drying rack, with a towel beneath. Remember, I have the smaller trailer, with the smaller countertop. Sherry

Susan, to conserve water, I carry two small dishpans. One to wash, one to rinse. Stack dishes to air dry on a rack. Sherry

We deliver class c rvs to Alaska. When we come home to our 2008 Elite, there are a few things that I miss. The oven. The bigger shower. The bigger fridge. The onboard generator. A big pantry. What I don't miss, and why we've stayed with our 17 ft 2008: The horrible gas mileage with the typical Triton v10 in the motorhomes. The difficulty of finding small, quiet campsites. With our 4x4 truck, and small trailer we can squeeze into some really delightful, overlooked or unreachable spots. The ability to leave our trailer at a campsite, and explore in the truck alone. Just finding a parking spot to visit a town on a motorhome is far more challenging than going into town with just our truck. I always miss our quiet, reliable solar. Though in a privately owned motorhome, you can have that, and probably do. We've been delivering rvs for six or seven years. We've not been tempted to "change up" our combination of Ollie and truck. I do appreciate the additional room for amenities in a bigger coach. They're just not for us. Every RV, of any size, lives huge on the outside, which is where we spend the majority of our time. Sherry

I should have recognized it. Great products. They make the inner bladder a bit larger. So the stress is on the nylon. Various shapes for odd sized spaces on board. Good choice. Should serve you well. Try to keep it out of the sun, though. I don't know about uv retardants in the nylon, since they're primarily built for below decks use. Sherry

Jarvis, welcome to the group! Sherry

That makes good use of the unused bunk. You still have access to the hatch cover. Do you carry a chair, or is that stand up desk height? My daughter prefers standing at her desk, at least part of the time. Sherry

That looks like the Snow Peak portable firepit, but if it is, what's the extra piece on top?

That looks really nice, Patriot! I think the painter's tape is a good idea for the first day. Sherry

Seymour, do you recall the brand of your water bladder? Looks like a nylon casing? Really looks a lot stronger than our 40 gallon from camping world. Sherry

Mike and Elizabeth, congratulations on the sale of your Oliver, and best wishes on filling the next "bucket" as your mode of travel changes. Of course we welcome the new owners. But remember, you're always welcome to drop by and visit your old friends here. 😊 Sherry

Honestly, none of these are going to be like your home range, where your lowest simmer burner is likely to be 5 to 7000 btu. It's an rv cooktop. I do like the flat continuous spiders, so you can slide pots around. Really nice look. And, useful for larger skillets and pans. Sherry

For those of us who store our trailers in the salt air, I'd stick with stainless. No pun intended. They may very well have two magnets, opposite polarity. But no info I can find on the springs. Nor uv resistance of the plastic housing. I'm giving it a pass.

The front/right burner is almost as powerful as my 2008 smev front burner. The back throws a lot of btu. (Over 7000) My experience is, most people use the back burner seldom, and usually for simmer. And, that's what I'd do, especially if I were worried. The front burner gives plenty of btu for cooking/boiling water. I rarely use my back burner. Mostly for warming, or simmering. I can't say how much extra heat it throws to the fiberglass back wall. But, those who a actually have the cooktop may be able to tell us. It's a good question. Sherry