SeaDawg

If the preloved Ollie you're looking at is prewired for portable solar (has the port), you can add portable for just several hundred dollars. Even if it's not prewired, it's not a big expense to add the wiring and port. A lot of people find the portable solar is quite enough to meet their needs. I have a good friend who spent a week at Quartzite, with a single 100 watt panel and a single group 27 battery, and she did fine. But, she's a lifetime camper, and conservative in power management. Take a look at Renogy and Zamp suitcase solar, and you'll see it's quite affordable. Look for a suitcase with waterproof controller, imo. Still keeps you in the hundreds, not thousands of dollars in investment. As to whether you "need it" or not, that's really a factor of how you normally camp. If you tend to stay in sites with power, you don't. If you tend to camp only weekends, or travel camp a lot (driving somewhere new every day or two), you probably don't need solar, as you'll likely charge your battery from the tow vehicle as you travel. If you're like some of us, and spend weeks on end at an unpowered site, you'll probably want to add solar. That said, at many times of the year, I can get more power from my portable 100 watt than 200 watts of fixed panels, camping in the shade... Sherry

Mattnan, we've been pondering doing something like this on our North Carolina property. The proportions on yours, with the porch over the pretty garage door, look great. Would you mind sharing the dimensions? 24 x 32 or 40? How many square feet in the guest apartment? Love that idea. Sherry

Mattnan, I love your barn! And your location is beautiful! Sherry

That's really funny, Geronimo John.

The caframo fans have awesome reviews, for decades. It's all about how much work you want to do, and how much you want to spend. Caframo is not inexpensive. But a known quantity in the boating world.

Fwiw, We tend to remove all batteries at the end of the season. Helps to avoid the leakers, and corrosion. We reuse the aaa and aa in secondary flashlights, next season. I don't trust most batteries for more than a year. At my mom's, I replace all her batteries (emergency flashlights, remotes, smoke alarms) on mother's day. Pick a date. Once a year, is my motto. Sherry

Ours has been outside, 247/365, for over 12 years. But, we use an expensive 3m marine paste wax, twice a year, to uv protect the gelcoat. Same wax we use on the 40 plus year old boat, which is too big to be stored undercover. Sherry

Yes, bleach does have an expiration date. http://blog.rjschinner.com/clorox-shelf-life-date-codes/ like many items, it starts to lose effectiveness depending on date, storage temps, etc. Old bleach is probably better than nothing, but its effectiveness is really only a guestimate.

We've had really good luck with some camping world service departments around the country, both with our Oliver, and the rvs that we've delivered to Alaska. Notably, the Campingworld in Port Richey, Fl, who worked on our old Oliver Dometic fridge under warranty, and Campingworld of Kansas City, which is actually in Grain Valley, MO. (A few others, honestly, were not so great.) I called CW Grain Valley from 40 miles away, and they squeezed us in late on a Friday afternoon, and had us in and out in 30 minutes on a backup camera issue in one of the delivery units. Really nice staff, too, and very clean waiting room. For warranty work on an Oliver, you can take your trailer to any qualified dealer. I second Whatda's recommendation of camping near Oliver for several days, and using /testing every system on your trailer at pickup. Sherry

That looks great! If it were me, ( knowing that we almost never hook up to power or genset,), I'd just be that guy/gal , like me, with nothing on the tongue. Our generator rides in the truck bed. And rarely used. Everyone has a different camping style, and different needs. Sherry

We've used a tst system for many years, probably over 10 years, now. Their customer service is excellent. Turnaround time on replacing batteries/ warranty repairs has always been very quick, and they have a three year warranty. I highly recommend them. Sherry

Oh, and my #coronaquarantine daydreams have included both my reserved cybertruck and a tricked out Ram Rebel in granite/black two tone as tow vehicles. I could live with either. With the hemi in the Rebel. 😁 A girl can dream... Sherry

I hope so, too! Happy camping, Nan. Sherry

Idk. I think if we were ready to do the Aussie camper route, we'd buy a Bruder exp-6 gt. During the madness of 2 months of quarantine (so far), we actually debated the merits. We don't "need" most of the great off road stuff, but we both love what Bruder did with hitch, suspension, frame, dust control, etc. Diesel heater. Induction cooktop. And, the interior is pretty sweet for a small(er), narrow trailer. I particularly love the slideout kitchen. And a lot of things, like standard 200 ah lithium batteries ( woohoo), freshwater capacity, etc. And, a lovely interior, with room for kids or guests. Oh, and that space for a washer/dryer combo? Awesome. Though, I'd probably turn it into a freezer. What we don't love. The price. Roughly 106,000, us, base. Plus shipping. I don't mind taking a chance on a new guy. We did that in 2008.😃 I don't think we'd be able to use the value of it. But some of you younger folks might be able to. Our plans to camp around the last third of Australia this year are pretty much trashed, but there's next year, hopefully. If and when we get to go back and camp a third time in Oz, we'll try to see this one. Sherry

I hope you'll finally get to enjoy your camper, Nan. You've waited a long time. Sherry

Frankly, I'd buy a cheap harbor freight or any big box store battery chain saw for that purpose, before I bought a corded saw . For me, a corded saw is a no go. No way, no how. Everyone has different needs. And styles . Mine won't allow for a cord. Sherry

Whatda, which battery chain saw do you have? I've been eyeing the Makita, since we already have several tools with the 18v batteries, and a couple chargers. Sherry

I've read that the killer hornets can sting through a bee keepers suit. And can kill a honeybee every 14 seconds. Just what we need, with declining pollinating bee populations everywhere.

I'm really happy for you! Looking forward to your photos next week! Sherry

We've had both the dual gas/ electric 6 gallon standard (original), and currently a Girard tankless. We had hoped to have Oliver install a Truma when our original 6 gallon died, but they hadn't quite worked out the final arrangements with Truma. Hence, the gas only Girard. Pretty sure we were the first tankless ever installed by Oliver. The changeover was pretty seamless, as all the tankless models are made to fit in the same space, or usually much less space, than the originals. They're both good. Since we almost always camp without services, the 6 gallon was probably a better and cheaper choice, in retrospect. We used to just fire it up long enough to get a decent temperature in the water, and run hot only. The 6 gallon limitation helps remind you to conserve water, as it starts cooling off after you've used a few gallons. For those who camp with full hookups, the tankless provides those "endless" showers, with the grey valve open to the dump. The advantage to the 6 gallon is that you can switch to electric at full hookup campsites. It is true that the 6 gallons in the water heater can only be accessed by draining the water heater into a container. But, that reserve of six gallons is six gallons, if you really need it. It's also about 48 pounds of extra weight to drag around in the trailer. I prefer a five gallon jug in the pickup bed. Sherry

Wow. That is very strange. Thanks for the update.

As above, but I'd throw a coat of wax on that roof. We do ours twice a year.

Well, I'm going to start spring cleaning and checkup on the camper tomorrow. I'm going to be ready to go, when we can. 😃

Topgun2, that's a good thread over on fgrv. Thanks for the link. Patriot, I don't know why a search on "first aid" comes up with nothing. Didn't work for me, either, in various combinations. Here's a link to an old thread on First Aid kits that you may find useful. I, too, think it's helpful to build your own, but a small commercial kit isn't a bad place to start. We have several kits we've built, in various sizes and complexity, that we carry, depending on the trip. Red cross is currently offering a small discount on many of its online classes in first aid and cpr for anyone who wants to take a refresher course, but doesn't need a card. https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/online-safety-classes/all-online-classes And, American Heart Association sells a cpr home training kit, complete with Mini Anne dummy, online. https://cpr.heart.org/en/cpr-courses-and-kits/cpr-anytime Thought I might mention these, since some of us have some time on our hands these days... Sherry

Dennis, you might want to start a new thread with this question. Or, i could split it off for you. Last year, I test drove a Canyon Denali, though not the diesel. I was disappointed in the availability of safety/tech features. The truck rode great in my test drive. Seats, visibility, stereo, all good. Just seemed defeatured for a 2019 vehicle, from a tech and safety angle. I'm hoping gm ups the game for 2020. It has the potential to be a great daily driver, and possibly a good tow for an Ollie 1 like mine. I put a deposit on a Cybertruck.