SeaDawg

I don't think anyone really took it as negativity. Curiosity. really. I'm sorry I won't be there for the debut. Most people know our total commitment to solar--home, and camping. I'm all for anything that can make my solar powered life better. Side note. This year, and last, I've seen a tremendous increase in the number of highly technical contributors amongst our group. For whom, I'm really grateful. We don't all have the same expertise, experience, or imagination. But, we sure can appreciate new ideas. Sherry

Looking forward to photos after the rally debut! Sounds very interesting. Sherry

Some of the folks on our forum are new campers, so, to keep them out of trouble.. Before you dump grey water in a campground, make sure that it's permitted. In many campgrounds it's not ok, and can result in fines or eviction. In other campgrounds, it's entirely permissible, especially out west. Some campgrounds define grey water only as wash water. Other areas say if it has passed through a tank, it's not grey water, and has to be dumped at a dump station. Probably because grey water tanks often contain food particles from cooking and washing dishes.

Dwain, don't let lack of full hookups keep you from enjoying a great campground. You'll see. Start with full hookups, and work your way around.

As far as how long between dumps, it really depends on your camping and personal use If we're in a campsite with a toilet (even a pit or vault), we'll use that in the daytime. That extends dumping for up to a week or more, if we are miserly on grey. I do dishes once a day. Minimal 1 to two gallon navy showers. Use paper plates. Mark our glasses and cups. Don't have to wash glasses daily, just rinse. . If you use a lot of water in grey ( showers, dishwashing, etc) you will have to dump sooner. Some people can only manage two or three days.

Well, the stinky slinky isn't that bad, if you don't get the composting toilet. (Actually, really easy for me to say, because it's mainly Pauls job, but I do assist...and learned how years ago traveling on my own in my parents' rv...) If you've never used an rv dump, or full hookups, watch a few videos (not Robin Williams rv...) When you get the trailer, you could practice setting up and dumping with a half tank of clean water in clean black and grey tanks a few times. You won't be as nervous without the debris in there, and can be more relaxed about making sure you've connected the fittings properly, operating the valves, etc. To accomplish that quickly, run a hose through the bathroom window, hold the toilet open with your foot, and run clean water down the stool. Fill the empty black tank. Don't walk away and let it overflow... it holds less than 20 gallons. Hook up your clean drain hose, and give it a try. Or two or three, til you get it right, if you have a full hook up site. People behind you will get impatient if there is a line at the dump station. Btw, most dump stations have a rock or lid or some kind of weight to hold your hose in the inlet. If not, your foot works. Wear disposable gloves for connecting and disconnecting. I keep some in the driver's side door pocket, and a few in the outside shower. Most accidents happen when the hose flops out of the inlet, or someone didn't get the fitting connected right, or, there's a pinhole leak in the hose. Yucky, but there's almost always a nonpotable hose to wash the effluent down the drain. Use it if necessary. Tens of thousands of people learn this new routine every year.. new trailer owners, new rv renters. Like i said, not that big of a deal. Sherry

And, here's another, specifically about food and goods. Also Canadian government. I consult this each time. Rules change. You'll find a comparable US site, as well, for coming home. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/travellers/what-can-i-bring-into-canada-/eng/1389648337546/1389648516990

Here's one link to Canadian traveler information. It's a good place to start planning for your trip, and the information is from the best source, the Canadian government. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/menu-eng.html I don't think this has the answer to your propane question, either, but it will have answers to many other questions. We've found the border agents to be courteous and pleasant. And you're on the right track, asking questions ahead of time, and getting prepared. Have a great trip!

We've done a lot of Canadian crossings. Never been asked about propane tanks, in a land crossing. You'll get questions about firewood, alchohol, tobacco, and probably extensive questions about weapons. Also, sometimes, questions about produce and meat products. Check the Canadian board for what's allowed before you go. Usually, you get a pass on personal use items, but, everything should have a label, for meats. and any products containing meats. And pet food. They don't like eggs, raw or cooked, for some reason. I use those up before we cross. I usually have no fresh produce, either. Don't carry firewood. Just as in the US, no one wants buggy hitchhikers. Leave weapons at home, unless you have the required permits. If you can answer " no" to all the questions, you'll go through faster. We had a casual search in a small port in Quebec, because the guy wanted to see our unusual trailer. The bigger rigs get pulled over more, I think. We've had more searches ( though few) on the USA side. Much more strict about produce and meat products. Watch your supplies, use it up, and buy fresh on the other side. My philosophy is to spend my money where I travel, and buy local. We've been rewarded with awesome Canadian beef, and fish. Especially, fish. You should check the Canada website, and US website, before chucking stuff. There are small changes every year. Put yourself in the position to be able to answer all the questions truthfully. Then, you're all good to go.

Glad that worked for you. An easy item for the previous owner to forget to clean, I guess. Simple enough to do when cleaning the shower floor. The black t-handle inside the shower for the grey water backflow preventer was actually an advance in the fiberglass egg world, back in 2008. Another fiberglass brand located that valve handle outside the trailer, resulting in some disconcerted folks, up to their ankles in water, who forgot to go outside and open the valve before showering. A few of our friends, who moved up from that brand, had a special fondness for that black handle... :) Maybe the drain popup is just belt and suspenders. I don't know. But I think all or most of the early Ollies had both the valve and the popup.

So, the newer trailers don't have a popup? I never noticed. Our 2008, #12, has both the manual shutoff, and the popup. I keep the popup closed unless actually using the shower, close the valve when traveling. Never really thought about the redundancy. It does help keep dirt and small objects out of the drain, I guess.... Sherry

Hobo, you're going to attend the rally, right? You'll get the opportunity there to see Steve's big Yamaha, and possibly see and talk with others with the Honda 2200s and /or Yama 2400 and easystart mod on the ac . Besides the little Honda 1000 that we carry for recharging, we also have a Yamaha 3000 like Steve's, but we only use it at home for power outages . It's a really great genset, and very quiet for its size. After Hurricane Irma blew through, we used the 3000 for a week to power our home refrigerator and some lights, ceiling fans, and outlets, and also our neighbor's refrigerator, plus a few lights and fans for them. It ran overnight on a full tank, which is about the same size tank as the comparable Honda. Not sure how that use compares to an Ollie's ac for power consumption. My point above was that the more power our generator can give, the more likely we are to use more power, and, consequently, more fuel. Fwiw, if we ever decided to boondock where we actually needed ac, I think we'd look at the Honda 2200, at 50some pounds, or the Yamaha 2400, at around 75. We can manage lifting either of those out of the truck bed, and both brands have given us solid performance for many years. The heft of that 3000 is just too much (for us), for camping. Fortunately, it has wheels for moving it around the garage and yard. :) For where and when we camp, the easily portable Honda 1000 has been perfect for recharging batteries if we hit a string of inclement days. Sherry

Not exactly... the 3000 yamaha we own has a bigger tank, but our 1000 with a tiny tank runs longer. Because it uses less fuel, but produces less energy. Have you looked at an auxiliary tank for a smaller genset? Like the honda 2200, or the yamaha? Sherry

Love it. Looking forward to your delivery photos, tag included.? Sherry

Looks like you've been doing this for years! The Ollie looks great. Thanks for the photo. Enjoy your weekend at Montgomery Bell.

Raspy, that looks really nice. Love the drop down door, and your stainless door interior. How did you fasten the new microwave? Are the storage tubes lengths of pvc pipe? How are thectubes fastened? Congratulations on your solution. Looks awesome. Sherry

Dave, beautiful photos! Thank you! We were at the Arches last year, Mother's day weekend. Very long line and wait to get in. It was very beautiful, and this is from a person who is NOT a rockscape lover. If you plan to be there on a holiday weekend, try to get a reservation ahead of time. Even the boondock/blm/free campsites outside the park were full. We had not really planned to be there over the weekend, but it worked out that way. We wound up staying the night in a town about an hour away... and glas for that. Sherry

That's interesting that command hooks didn't work. They've been great in our trailer. Some suction cup attachments are better than others I stiil have some from 2008 (target) that are going great. Some others from lowes, with the red line, from circa 2010, going strong. Others have been discarded, or replaced the cups. All the command hooks have held. Did you clean the area with alchohol first, before applying the command hook adhesive tape? I just use the 70 per cent in the first aid kit, and haven't had issues. Sigh. Command in the early days had chrome finish hooks. Can't find them anymore... This photo is from 2008. Those target accrsories still work... Sherry

John, thanks for posting the link on the aftermarket male connector for the Furrion port. It's the same one we used. Furrion has not yet made their proprietary connector available, to my knowledge . Paul found the connections a bit tedious, but it's working for us, so far. There is a zamp to Furrion convertor on the zamp site, and amazon. These two remind me of vhs and beta battling it out... Furrion ports on a bunch of manufacturers units, Zamp on a bunch of others... Sherry

Rumline, great review from Cooks on the Thermoworks. Looks like a good solution. I like that it tracks the time the fridge is out of accepted temperature range. I may add that to the home freezers before hurricane season... along with the penny frozen to the top of a water container... Sherry

Hi, and welcome to the Oliver family! Congratulations on finding your 2016. So much depends on how you want to camp, and where you camp. Some people love the tankless. Others are quite happy with the standard 6 gallon, which runs on either gas or electric. I almost think the standard 6 can be good for limiting water use boondocking. The call is easier after you have camped awhile. We've had both. And, I'm fine with either one, honestly. I think the microair easy start is most attractive to those who camp in hot areas, without hookups. We tend to follow the cooler weather, almost never have power, don't like to use the generator, don't use ac. Does your 2016 have solar? That's my alltime favorite upgrade. You'll find lots of answers to your questions here. Ask away. Are you going to the rally in May? Great opportunity to meet other owners, and see a lot of ideas. Sherry

Great to see yet another "shorty." I don't know of a single Elite owner with a wdh, or sway bar, but I could have missed one. I hope you love yours as much as we've loved ours for eleven years. Sherry

Congratulations to all of you, and safe travels. Wishing you many miles of smiles... Sherry

That's a very good question. On my sister's rpod, the zamp solar port is just a wire and a fuse. But, her trailer had no other solar, so no controller. On our 2008, we had retrofitted solar, in late 2008. We added the solar port recently, and my husband wired it to our existing controller, after we checked with the manufacturer to make sure we had the controller capacity. If you don't have fixed solar on the trailer, you will need a controller, I'm pretty sure... What is in the new trailers?

I like " Rockin Robin." :) What came into my head was a rather old, and quite bad, country song by Billy Joe Shaver. "Rockin robin" is sooo much happier, and fun!