SeaDawg

Roberth,thanks for the info. I think many of us will find it helpful. John, the team, and especially Matt, work hard to make the site accessible and as quick as possible. Fixes can take time, with the proliferation of devices,os,and browsers. Seems like some one os or browser gets short shrift with every forum in which I participate. As you well know, a fix for most can actually slow others. Sorry if that has happened to you. This one moves faster than I can work on my tablet, lol. Our hope here for all concerned is to provide a congenial free exchange of ideas on our favorite topic here, Oliver travel trailers. For all of you, if you have an issue, please feel free to pm one of the mods. We thank all of you for great ideas and thoughtful contributions. Any forum is a work in progress, and in its new form, this one especially. Thanks for all your patience, everyone, as we move forward. Sherry

We used to go to DC every other year in October, til the Solar Decathlon was moved from the capital mall to the wet coast. Greenbelt cg is very convenient to the greenbelt/university metro station, as well as shoppi g and dining. The College Park IKEA is a great source for storage and kitchen items. I have skubb containers, hanging rack, and dish drainer among other items from there in our trailer. It is a long walk from the station to the campground, and take a flashlight if you decide to walk. You can park at the station for a reasonable fee, and be at the capital in 30 or 40 minutes. No hookups that i remember, which was fine. Plenty of choices for spots in October. We also camped at Pohick Bay Regional park in Virginia. Deer in our site every night, but still only 45 minutes by metro to the capital mall, Smithsonian, etc. We drove 10 minutes to the Springfield mall, parked in the designated floors of the Macys lot, and took the shuttle to the metro. Shuttle was 25 cents then. There is a waterpark at Pohick, but it is closed by October. Not crowded. Facilities were newer and nicer at Pohick, and electricity available, but twice tbe price of Greenbelt. right off 95, it is quite convenient if comi g in from the south. I recommend both. sherry

We have a manual trailer dolly, the ez tug, and a parkit 360, and the smaller Legacy I. The manual dolly works best in tight corners on a flat, smooth driveway, with two or three people to push the trailer. The ez tug works, but is slow, the tire goes flat, and runs the battery down quickly. Also best suited to flat and smooth terrain, it requires an extra person or two pushing on a slight incline or rough surface. I do like how the wheel is mounted, and that it doesnt use the hitch as the pivot point. The parkit 360, much like the ebay kit, has its own battery, but uses the hitch as the pivot point. It takes some finicky adjustments and a learning curve to use it, but it gets the job done without human auxilliary power. On grass or soft ground, we move plywood 2 x 8 sheets under the trailer and tug whheels to ease travel. It will handle a slight incline, and allows us to back the trailer through the gates and onto turf block parking pad with shell fill. The tough part of the 360 is the tongue isnt quite level, so it puts more weight on the tongue. We bought a used large model (they come in sizes m,l,and xl). I doubt ours would work for tbe bigger Legacy II. I do not remember the rating on the xl, but I would be skeptical. Sherry e

Congrats, and welcome to the forum! Sherry

2 x 6 and 2 x 8 cutoffs work fine for us. We always have replacement scrap lumber. Like John, we carry a little Honda 1000 to recharge batteries if we have a series of days with no sun. We have 200 watts of solar. If it gsets hot enough to need ac, we move on to someplace cooler. Hope you enjoy your Oliver as much as we enjoy ours. Our 8 years of Oliver camping have been wonderful. sherry

Congrats, and welcome to the forum. Sherry

Thanks, Hidalga. Also thank you for all the work you do to make the egg rv rally map. It's awesome. Paul and I are thinking of making the detour to the rally, as we have a wedding to attend later in the month up north. Oliver owners... Is anyone else registered? We've been to a few rallies, not many, but it's always great to meet other fiberglass rv owners. No matter the brand, we've found the owners of glass are just a whole bunch of fun. Great to swap camping stories, and information on the best places to visit, with people of a similar mindset. Sherry

John, if you haven't already found the links, going rv is on Great American Country, if you have that station. In our area, there's a marathon of season one tomorrow night. You can also stream it on Amazon. (They have the usual one month free trial going on. Actually, Amazon prime is a good deal if you purchase much through amazon online, and they have some great tv content, as well.) I didn't find it in our netflix offerings. Sherry

Thanks, Larry. I've looked at the Camp Chef and Coleman. Amazon also has a Martin model, a little heavier, a little higher priced, and a little higher temp. However, Amazon is the only place in the US I've seen it for sale. Seems to be primarily sold in Canada. Sherry

Larry, what brand is Betty's oven and cooktop? I've been thinking about asking for one in my "Dear Santa" letter this year. I know Betty loves hers. I do most of my cooking on the campfire, when possible, but on rainy days, it would sure be nice to cook outside under cover. Some of the rental RVs we've used had ovens, and I have to admit, it's really nice to be able to make a quiche and muffins on a rainy day. In the top photo, the table top appears to be some type of plastic. Are these well-insulated enough to use on a plastic picnic table? Thanks. Sherry

Hidalga, I don't think your account lockout was intentional. We had a number of problems with the old site... good members got locked out for no reason. I'm sorry, and glad you're back on the new forum site to keep us informed on the event. Are there still sound front sites available? Sherry PS Should you ever have a problem with this site, you can pm me thru the Fiberglass rv forum, where my member name is SherrynPaul.

Wasn't that a sweet gift. Sherry

Our ollie is in NC for the summer... out of the heat. Don't know of any legacy units in the keys. Yes, the build quality is amazing. I'm in total agreement on that. Our sailboat (CSY) was overbuilt, as is the Oliver. Meant to last. Sailboat is 40 years old, Ollie is 8. We expect a long, long life from both. Sherry

Randy, I just thought about this. Where are you? Anywhere near one of us with an original 2008/2009 legacy I that you could see? Sherry

OK, I'm back. Daughter's bus was two hours early in arriving from port of Miami. (Now, isn't that a surprise) I only saw one of the new Elites briefly at a factory visit, so I'll compare as best as I can from memory. The molds used are the same from the 2008/2009 models to the 2016/17. So, bathroom, closet, seats, bed size, refrigerator size, etc. are all the same. Some differences I noted, that I like, are the fibergranite tabletop and the wheel well trim fins. (Liked the fins so much we had them added to ours. Nice completing detail, and done very inexpensively and quickly on a factory visit.) I suspect you could get the fibergranite tabletop fairly reasonably, too. I haven't decided on that, though it's quite attractive. I may change ours to wood someday. Or not. Our tabletop is usually covered by a tablecloth, so, might not be worth the change. The heater location has changed from under the cutlery drawer to under the forward small dinette seat. Nice location. Our trailers used that space for a power reel for the electrical cord. That's a tradeoff, and depends on a. how often do you run the furnace and so forth b. how often do you plug in, and where you store the electrical cord. Our furnace heats the trailer just fine where it is. Tom and Karen have done some updates to their trailer along the way. I believe they have the awesome double step (which we added, too), which is a great option. I believe this is an option on the newer trailers, not standard. Aside from different flooring and fabric options, I think the only other big difference is all LED lighting in the new version of the smaller trailer. We changed over some of our lights (the few that we use all the time) for a few dollars with new bulbs, so that's probably an easy fix for you, too, if you want all LED. And, our cabinets are accessed by marine style sliding doors instead of the drop down doors on the newer models. The fire extinguisher is mounted on the wall, and we have mirrored closet doors. I believe the new ones have a molded closet door, with the fire extinguisher inset into the door. We have about 80,000 miles on ours (compared to Pete's almost 100k). The marine gelcoat interior and exterior clean up so very nicely and easily, and we receive constant comments about how new ours looks at eight+ years of age. Karen and Tom have taken great care of theirs, and looks like new to me. Hope this helps. If you have other questions, fire away, and one of us will try to answer. Sherry Well, that's what I can remember for differences.

Welcome to the forum, Randy. Your F150 is a great choice. We've towed our 2008 17 (now rebadged as the 18.5, which includes bumper to tongue in the measurement. The molds are the same) with our Volvo xc90, our Silverado, and our Dodge Ram 1500. Both the trucks have done an admirable job, and a half-ton is gracious plenty as a tow vehicle. The Volvo is rated to 4900 lbs, and did fine on our inaugral run from Florida to NC to Hohenwald and home via the panhandle. I wouldn't want to tow the Oliver up mountains with it, though. We have never used a sway bar or Anderson hitch, and never felt the need. I'm sure Oliver could install one for you, if you decided you wanted one, but I don't know of a single 17 with an Anderson or sway bar. We've camped with Tom and Karen a number of times. They're great people, and take wonderful care of their Oliver. I've got to run now and pick up my daughter, who is returning from a cruise. I'll add more later. Sherry

As a kid on the farm, haying was one pf my favorite times. Dad and his siblings moved from family farm to farm, so we got to spend lots of time with our cousins. Wonderful, hot, smelly days. And wonderful suppers on the big table. Sherry

Make sure you have breakfast at the Mt Pisgah Inn across the road from the campground. The morning layered views of the mountains are amazing. Truly. The restaurant has floor to ceiling glass, and there's a porch outside with rocking chairs to while away a few more minutes with the view. About 11, the sun moves around and the views diminish. We've eaten dinner there, and the view was a disappointment in the evening, compared to the spectacular morning views. Oh, and the menu is good, too, and reasonable for the view. Sherry Edit: I saw you'd posted about camping at Pisgah before, so you probably have already seen the amazing views. I'll leave the post for others. It's just so great... we take all our Asheville visitors to see it.

Mike and Carol, We've discussed that over the years, and we've had some "mini rally" gatherings, but never the "big one." I think it would be an awesome idea, still. Long ago, I looked for places with Oliver in the name... There are a number of Oliver lakes, towns with the name Oliver. Paul and I talked about it again this year when we passed an Oliver Lake in Canada. BC, I think. But it's too far. If you ever want to work on this idea, I'd be happy to help. Meeting our forum friends in person is always fun, and really cements the relationships we've built online. Look forward to meeting you one day. Sherry

Okay, we're now among the old timers here. I have to tell you, it's an amazing community to live in. We have met the most interesting, and nice, people on this forum. Tom, Karen, Pete, Aubrey, Larry, Betty, Chuck, Geri, the Keifers, Lois, Herm and Kim, Stan and Carol, Steve/tali and so many, many more. We're excited to be an "old'timer", at the same time, yikes, does that mean we're old? Hope you don't think so. We love this space, and the people here. We've met folks we've never thought we'd meet. The camping life is a great denominator. Our camping friends come from all different backgrounds and occupations. Our little Olivers, and our camping life, is the medium for great friendships. When we are in the neighborhood, we drop in. When they are in ours, likewise. It's an amazing connection of people, and I love it. . Those friendships,we will always cherish. To all my Oliver friends, old and new, all our best, Sherry and Paul

Paul and I have spent many of the best months of our married life camping. It's a complete release from the daily life. Yes, even retired, there is "stuff" that hangs around your head.r We both agree that the best thing that we bought in our retirement planning was the Oliver. It has taken us, many times six to eight weeks at a time, to places we've either not been, or not explored the way we'd like. Most of the eastern US and Canada have seen the Ollie, and the strip states on the west side of the Mississipi. Camping is the best (not the only) way to see North America. You are in control, can take your time, move as you please. Reservations not required, when you're willing to go to the road less traveled. Sherry PS Our Oliver is not our only camping vehicle. We have rented around the world. Last year, in a minimal camping van, we met some of the nicest people in our rented camping van in Australia. A special greeting to Jenny and Kevin Harrison in Tasmania. We hope we'll see you again, soon. S

That's the beauty of (fiber)glass. It can be made to look original, with care. You'll find a lot of sailboat and power boat owners on the forum. We all know the durability and repairability of fiberglass. Our sailboat celebrates 40 years soon. And looks like only a few years old. Ollie is eight and a half. Still looks new. In our family, fiberglass rules. Sherry PS Steve, sorry about your bad luck, but hey, stuff happens. Looks great now! S

I suspect, with a few modifacations, the black tank might be easily modified to take the sink water. The shower water would likely be another story, though much more possible, than, say, retrofitting the kitchen sink to flow uphill to the black tank.... The problem is, the Ollie has a "marine bath." Like most marine baths (even the large head in our sailboat, with a separate shower compartment), there's a curb to create drainage, and a stepup to the toilet to allow some space for the black tank. And, the inlet to the black tank is directly beneath the toilet. Who wants another nonfactory inlet, subject to leaking? In many of the big stickbuilt rvs, (actually, all the ones I've owned and rented over the years), the toilet is floor mounted, and the shower is elevated. The shower water could easily be diverted to the black, and maybe is, in a few cases. The composting Nature's Head is, from my conversations with the reps, much more popular so far with boats than rvs. Why? Finding a legal pumpout station is much more difficult with a sailboat/houseboat than finding a dump station with an rv, in my humble opinion. We never have a tough time finding a dump station with the Ollie. Special trip (raise the anchor, go to a marina, etc.) with the boat is another story... It's true, most of us who have purchased Olivers are likely to be lifetime owners. I suspect we are. But who knows? We're in for eight years so far... but? If our trailer were not plumbed for a typically desired toilet, and we wanted a Nature's Head instead, we'd be forced to sell to a really narrow market in today's world if we decided to sell. Not ideal. I think Oliver is wise right now to "duplicate" systems with extra plumbing and a black tank, inoperable, or perhaps linked only to the sink. At least you'll never be stuck with a really narrow resale market if you order the composting toilet. By the way, when we looked at the Nature's Head, I think it was about $950, install it yourself. If that's still true today, I think Oliver is offering a great price at $800. Sure, you don't get the usual Thetford. But you get everything else, and a complete, pro installation with your new Nature's Head. My 2 cents, and probably only worth that much. Sherry

Welcome to the forum! We're hoping all works out soon on the medical side, whether you purchase the Oliver or not. I suspect you'll find some info here to fill the gaps. If you don't ask away, and someone will likely chime in... Keep checking in, and hope you find what your looking for. Sherry

We've taken our Oliver to a nearby Camping World for refrigerator repairs. They took care of the warranty work with the manufacturer, too. They have techs qualified to work on most of the Oliver systems--refrigerator, furnace, etc. Sherry