SeaDawg

Larry, Paul and I have taken two Canadian tours in our Oliver. Our friend lois joined us, towing her Casita, on both trips. The first was primarily in Ontario, across the top of the Great Lakes, coming back into the US in Minnesota, entering Canada in New York above the Thousand Isles. That was about a month's trip, primarily camping in Provincial and National Parks. The second trip, we went into Canada again from New York, just south of Montreal, and visited Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, returning through the corner of New Brunswick/Maine, from Campobello into Lubec, Maine. That was another four or five week trip, at least the Canadaian part. And, we treasured every day. The second trip, we found fewer Provincial parks open, and camped primarily in private parks, which were all very nice. Both trips were beautiful (and chilly). We didn't even try to take handguns, shotguns or anything else into the country. The list at customs of forbidden items was lengthy...bear spray, pepper spray, brass knuckles, knives with blades over so many inches, etc., etc., etc.and more etc. My niece's husband has Canadian family, and does go up once a year or so on a hunting trip, but he has to take documentation of his hunting trip, and some other papers, to bring in his long guns. I can ask him if you plan to go hunting. We didn't even take our dog, though that is ok with proper papers. Cleaned out vegetables and meat, as well, from the refrigerator. The US side was stickier on produce than the Canadian, but it wasn't worth the hassle to bring anything either way, except the awesome Bay of Fundy scallops. I'll look up the current regulations, which change all the time. and see if I can send you a link. By the way, New York state is very sticky also on gun regs, no reciprocity with most other states, so leave any weapons with someone elsewhere if NY is your gateway. Passing through is ok, but not overnighting with a weapon permitted in another state. That said, camping in Canada is a beautiful experience. We were welcomed wherever we went, even in the rural, and very French speaking areas. Everybody worked to figure out the few language barriers we encountered (my one semester of high school French is very, very bad, and long forgotten.) We carried a small French / English dictionary, and we were fine. We had a wonderful time, both trips. Take extra clothes. Our first trip in July, we had to stop at a Walmart (yup, you'll find them there, too) for sweat pants and jackets. Though it was July, we were really cold at night. but it was one of those summers... Second trip was in the shoulder season (September), and many campgrounds were closed, or accepted cash only, as season was about over. The scenery was breathtaking on both trips, and the people we met were warm, friendly, and helpful==as fellow campers usually are. In Quebec, we watched late season whales sounding in the bay behind our campsite. in NB, we had the finest scallops of my life at a restaurant high above the Bay of Fundy. I bought some frozen to take home, and they made it through customs. We prepared them a few months later, and they brought tears to my eyes, remembering the great times and great people we met in Canada on that trip. We extended our Verizon voice coverage to include Canada for a few bucks a month. Data was another story,and an expensive one, those trips. We limited our data to campsites and cafes with wifi, primarily. Maybe better now. Last trip was four years ago. I checked recently,for a friend who traveled to Toronto and borrowed one of my phones, and data and texting were free on my tmobile phone, but I doubt tmobile has much coverage outside metro areas. Best to check with your cell provider, and data provider. Honestly, we were searched at every entry point, US and Canada, and it's not worth second guessing the regs. Besides that, when it comes to food and beverage, we believe in spending our money where we camp. The fish was awesome everywhere in Ontario, Quebec, and NB and NS. People were absolutely great. Quebec City is like a trip to Europe, without the airfare. Don't worry about the language barrier in rural Quebec. Somebody will find someone who can help, or you'll manage. Sherry

Hear, hear, Larry! Thanks to the IT dept., and many thanks to you for all your help. Sherry

Steve, that's a lot of research. Thanks for the detailed measurements and posts. Did you open up the access to the basement while running the cube heater? Just curious. When we're camped in temps falling to twenties or teens, I usually open a drawer or two to send some warm air into the spaces between the hulls, and prop the bathroom door open in our 17. (The older 17s don't have the basement furnace) I only do this in really cold weather, as the furnace runs more often, and the surface mounted furnace fan wakes me up when it kicks in. Since we don't usually camp with electricity, we've only used our cube heater a few times. I'm not sure we have it anymore. However, even the little wall mount furnace keeps the older 17s pretty cozy in weather in the twenties and teens, but we don't have the benefit of the heat in the "basement" area between the hulls. For those who boondock, it would be interesting to know how the furnace deals with heating the interstitial spaces in the new olivers. We don't have the luxury of cube heaters when we have no electricity. Stan, in the old days in Minnesota, all we did was blow out the water in the lines in my parents 70s class c, and the later travel trailer. We never used rv antifreeze, don't even know if it existed then. Probably did, but we had an air compressor, so that's what we did. Don't remember ever having a problem with frozen lines, etc., but maybe Dad just never mentioned it. Since i used the camper as much as anyone in the family, I think he probably would have mentioned it to me. What a lot of people did was add a half cup or so of mineral oil (very cheap, and no staining) to the toilet bowl to keep the seals lubricated. It doesn't spoil, and doesn't apparently freeze very easily. With the price of rv anitifreeze being so inexpensive, that's what we use now.We winterize our trailer if we're leaving it in Nc in the mountains in the late fall, just in case we don't get back before the first hard freeze. The rv "pink stuff" works great, Once we're home in Florida, it's not really necessary. Sherry

Congrats on the new grandchild, Steve! Sherry

For our 17, we bought a simple van cover from empirecovers. They make travel trailer covers as well. Pretty reasonable prices. http://www.empirecovers.com/rvcovers.aspx They have a fall sale going on right now, and free shipping. Ours is just a tyvek type material with a lining, and was really inexpensive. We don't use it, though, since we bought the solar just after we got the cover, so I can't comment on its longevity. I can understand wanting to keep the oak leaves and the tannin stains off your shiny new oliver! Sherry

Thanks for all your help, Mountainborn. Probably some software glitch, as well, that affects certain browsers. This will probably clear itself up when a routine update of the board software is done. (I hope) For whoever asked, To clear cache in google chrome, go to history, (control h at the main google screen) and select the grey box "clear browsing data" and follow instructions. I'd recommend that you only use the four top boxes checked. Don't clear out your licenses, etc., in the bottom four. Sherry

I'm sure it was a little sad to see the Casita roll away, but the Oliver will sure look good in its spot! Sherry

Hello, all, If you've recently had trouble logging in (and staying logged in), as i did, here's something you might try. Clear your browser cache, and try again. Or try logging in from a different web browser. We've seen problems this week with Mozilla Firefox, and google chrome. Sorry for any incomvenience. Sherryt

That's a great mod, Aubrey. So, with the addition of the relay, the water pump is still activated from both swtches--the outsid shower switch and the indoor switch by the sink? I got the same message when trying to upload photos directly. I went back to using my photobucket account, making photos a two step process. I think small photos may still be able to upload directly. Not sure. Sherry

The king-dome is the highest point on ours. It's at least a foot in height, maybe a few inches taller. I don't know which model Oliver is using now, but the low profile new model is still about a foot in height. We don't use ours anymore, as we cancelled the dish contract after the first year, finding we didn't really care about watching tv while traveling. Removing it, however, would leave a big old hole to be refinished in the trailer roof, so it stays, and the ac unit is at least 10 inches tall, so it doesn't make that big a difference in total height of our 17. Sherry

Steve, do you know which furnace the new 22 uses? Is it the same furnace as in our 17, or a bigger, higher btu model? The new heating system is all ducted thru the storage areas? Sherry

Steve, that's really helpful info. And, very precise, as we'd expect from you. What equipment is on your roof? AC, of course. King Dome? Antenna? Thanks. Sherry

I feel bad for those folks. What a way to start a vacation. I can't speak to the new Legacy II, but we measured our 17 with the high lift, a/c and King dome when we started plans for our new home. We set the height of the side garage door at 10 ft. to allow us to bring the trailer into the garage if we had to. I think we measured at 9'$" at the top of the King Dome, the highest point of our trailer. We've never had to turn around and detour because of a bridge or train trestle, but have to watch the garage eaves carefully at our current house (a 70s ranch style) when we park the Oliver beside the garage in the winter to avoid snagging the solar panels mounted on the side. The new Oliver has a few more inches interior height, so likely approaches 10 feet if it has a king dome. I'm not sure which a/c unit is used now, nor its height above the Oliver roof. Will you post measurements & top of roof equipment when you get your new one? Sherry

Love the photos, Steve. Thanks for sharing. I especially love the photo of the bridge supports. Sherry

Sorry, I missed this question earlier. I don't know of anything at the moment, but I haven't been looking. I could pm you the info on the realtor we used, who specializes in land, if you're interested. He's based in Asheville. Sherry

Really looking great! Thanks for sharing the photo series. Please keep sharing them. it's fascinating to watch your Olive as its built. Sherry

We have stayed at Davy Crockett SP, but it was years ago. We've stayed in a number of TN state parks, and have enjoyed all of them. If you're picking up in cold weather, it's probably a good idea to camp with electrical hookups. I remember the showerhouses seemed a little tired at Davy Crockett and Cedars parks, but I see from their website that Davy Crockett has recently been updated. If you don't care about hookups, Meriwether Lewis campground on the Natchez Trace is quite pretty, and really close to the factory--probably 5 miles. Can't beat the price. It's free. There is a public restroom,(no showers, no dumpstation, no electricity) but I don't know if they keep it open in the winter months. The latest we've stayed there was October, I think. Sherry

Glad you had an awesome harvest , and a good trip. I know a lot of the crew are now good friends. Best wishes for a great holiday season. Are you doing Amazon again, somewhere?

Looking good! I see you just have to click on photos in the blog to see the pictures of your new Ollie about to be hatched! Sherry

I'm sure you're getting excited about picking up the new camper. Have you checked Good Sams insurance? We found our best deal with them. They also discount the coverage during the winter storage period if we remember to call. A checklist would be a great idea! Sherry

The solar panels are pretty much self cleaning. They get a bath every time it rains. We added ours six months after getting our trailer, so had to come up with the sidemount panel to acheive enough space. We only adjust ours if we are camping for an extended period of time without hookups. We have to carry a small stepladder for that. I'm sure they add wind resistance, but didn't see that much difference in the mileage before and after the panels. We like making our own power, like the extended camping time without services. Sherry

Beautiful photos, and thanks for the restaurant trip. The trees around Canindagua Lake were beautiful yesterday. We're in Virginia this morning, and autumn is in its glory. Sherry

Steve, have you spoken to Robert about new cushions or new covers for you cushions? We bought our fabric and shipped it to him when we ordered our trailer back in 2008.We asked for a different foam, and he was accomodating on that, too. We had our boat cushions done last year by a shop in St. Pete. They made the patterns, and did a very nice job. They used a medium density foam, with an inch and a half of memory foam on top. (Actually, a foam mattress topper cut to size and glued on.) Most memory foam mattresses I've looked at are built up layers of different density foams, glued together, with memory foam on top. The memory foam alone is probably just too soft alone. I like the fabrics from the sites I posted, as they are rated for commercial seating manufacturers, but have some "style." The fabrics we chose help to repel liquids and dirt, and still look great after six years. I stayed with synthetic fabrics for better wear. Dave's idea of buying the mattress and carving it up for the bed cushions is great. Foam is really expensive these days. Sherry

We've camped a few times on the Natchez, at the little campground out by the monument. Very quiet, no services other than a restroom. We like it there, and t he park is beautiful, but close to town. We've also camped at the state parks close to Hohenwald (and around other parts of Tennessee, too.) We've found them to be very nice. Sherry

It is quiet here this week. Wow. Not sure why. I'll try to check into your blog. We'll be camping for a few weeks, though, with limited bandwidth. Love to see photos of your last camping trip in the Casita. Though we're in Florida, as well, we've never camped on the Suwanee. Have a wonderful time camping. Sherry