SeaDawg

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

And, if the wind picks up, take that awning in. You do not, not not want your awning ripped off in the wind. Sherry

I'd agree. We have been in "gully washers." The whole fam damily stood under the awning, and not a lot of drip. The seal we have, which is what I think you have, is fairly bullet proof. Some corners of chairs got wet. Try that in any awning, in any rv. It's the way it is. I'm happy. And if it's raining cats, dogs, and bulls.... I'm inside, anyway. Sherry

I've been following the Nature's Head discussion for a long time. Paul and I met with a couple with two installed in their houseboat at a boat show a fe w years ago. It looks like a simple operation, good system. The owners, who were working on a per diem basis, loved the results on their boat. Has anyone actually installed one in an Oliver? A year ago, we were camped in the same park as the Wynns (Lake Louise), but too tired to walk and find where they eventually camped. I spoke to Nikki as she drove thru looking fo a campsite for the bus, but..... Composting toilets and incinerating toilets offer a lot of freedom, and little water use. Incinerating toilets use a bit of energy, so we;re evaluatating. On a funny note, one comment on a website said, well, it's funny to look at a composting toilet, but hey, we've all been taught to pee in a bowl of water.... How funny is that? Yes, after 45 days of primitive camping in the Yukon and Alaska, pit toilets kind of rock (from an evnironmental standpoint). Why, indeed, is a bowl of water the preferred place to do business? Yes, it is what it is. Sherry (Paul may not agree)

Thanks, Matt. We can count on you. And we appreciate all your help to keep our sandbox fast, clean,and fun. Sherry

Agreed, Laps. Love the new modern look, and intuitiveness of the new forum mormat. Bringing the old forum to a new home without losing all the legacy posts and photos was a great deal of work for our administrator. I know Matt continues to work on features and efficiency, and he's a very skilled guy. We're still in the infancy of the new forum, so bear with us. Often, I find Matt's on top of an issue before we even bring it up to him. I suspect he's already done some tweaking today. My pages are loading in half the time they did earlier today, on same equipment, browser, and speed. Sherry

I think in deleting my test post, I may have deleted someone else's as well, unintentionally. My apologies if so. It seems to me there were more posts in this thread yesterday. Sherry

Scotty, I just reread your post. We have two 12 volt batteries, and I see you have six volt batteries. I'm not sure what this means in the per centages you are seeing displayed since we have different systems. Perhaps someone who uses your system can be more helpful. Sherry

My edit loaded today, but I still could not find a way to delete test posts. My fiber optic connection is 55 mbps download, 52 upload on this mornings speed test. Asus laptop, using Chrome. Sherry

quite slow, actually, compared to the old forum standards. 15 seconds for me, this time. We just got back from a 45 day camping trip. Hadn't tried too many times to load the page, but had weak signal most of the time.We were in remote areas of Canada and Alaska for a month and a half. I'm sure Matt will work on it. chrome, btw Sherry returning to "recent topics" was way worse. Maybe a minute. Also had trouble editing my posts. Hope you all are doing better.

We don't have the same monitor, so you may want to call a manufacturer rep and see what the readings really mean for you. Our monitor gives us a per centage of remaining power, and how many amp hours to full when charging. We have two agm batteries, and 200 watts solar, running for 8 years. We typically have a "full" reading at 13.2 to 13.4. (Same reading you get when charging with plug in or generator power). We try not to run the battery capacity below 75 per cent. With any kind of sun, we're above 85 in a short time, by noon. A series of rainy days means we use less power, to retain battery power. May seem primitive, but turn off lights, use a flash light at night. We charge computers and cell phones in the sunny part of the day, or on a series of rainy days, while driving into town for dinner because we can't cook on the campfire. Or, give it up, and connect the honda 1000 to charge the batteries. The gas refrigerator won't operate when you draw down too many volts on the battery, nor will the furnace. Our two key pieces of equipment, so we are careful to make sure they can operate. Curiousity... how often do you get a reading of 50 per cent. And what are you running, for how long? Even on crappy, gloomy days, or in mottled shade while camping, we get a little charge, and can go two or three, even four days, before we hit 70 per cent. Sherry

Turn the ac off if you want to use the microwave. The ac draws a lot on startup. Less after, when running, but no reason to push it. Lights don't draw much. Any of us who have had two teenage girls running two hair dryers and two curling irons at the same time on a household 15 amp circuit know how well that works..... Results would likely be the same on a 20 amp circuit with the high-powered hair dryers of today... We rarely plug in, but a friend of ours who does carries a meter and checks each outlet. Not a bad idea. Even a cheap plug in device to make sure the outlet isn't wired backwards is helpful. It's surprising, even in the US, how many outlets are not wired correctly. Happy travels, Sherry

Love the grey truck with the lone star graphic background. Great looking rig. FWIW, our 2008 ram 1500 4 x 4 is going strong with about 150k on it. Keep them serviced, and the ram and hemi keep on running. We expect to keep it on the road another eight years or so.... Congrats, and happy travels. Sherry

We just left the microwave plate at home. Never used it. Micro is a great breadbox for us. Everybody had a different camping style . You'll find what works for you. Sherry

Congrats, and happy camping! Sherry

Awesome. Loved the photos. Give Oscar my love, and a treat. Liv likes pet botanicals bacon.

Dave, I hear you. That's a lot of water that you can't access, apparently, without taking the trailer out of level. I wonder what the difference is in our older trailer. A few possibilities--perhaps our guage isn't accurate, and shows less water than what is truly left in the tank. Or, perhaps the tank is mounted differently , and more of the water can be pumped. I'd suspect the tanks are the same, or similar, as the capacities are the same in the specs. Sherry

Lol. I smell bacon.