SeaDawg

As you all know, campers owe a great debt to the CCC. They built so many of the wonderful parks that we camp in yet today. I've personally lost count of the number of statues I've seen of "Iron Mike" in the parks, commemorating the contributions of these young men (and women) who built so much in our nation during the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps. There was a wonderful article in today's St. Pete Times about the CCC and a man who serves as a guide at the CCC museum here in Florida. Thought you might want to see it, too. more info about the CCC is available at : ccclegacy.org Sherry

The new year, and a new decade begin today. And Chuck and Geri begin their new life together! Congratulations and best wishes to you both! Sherry and Paul

Happy New Year! Sherry and Paul

The holidays are so wonderful for family get togethers, and so bad for (almost) everything else. I am so sorry about the mixup on your board. I know it puts a huge, huge wrinkle in your plans. Sherry

Larry, I hope your local dealer can get quicker response time than ours could. It took over a week to get the board from Norcold, but then, it took two weeks of phone calls back and forth to get permission to get the board to the dealer under factory warranty from Norcold. Good luck, and hopefully, since this is under Good Sam's extended warranty, they can order the board from someone more local. I know you're both anxious to get underway, and any work to be done during the holidays is a tough situation to deal with. Sherry

I split the topic with my response to Larry's question.... Lutefisk being far off topic, and, to many, far off the menu... And, as so often happens, my response is a bit long... Happy New Year! Sherry

My parents and my brother had lutefisk for Christmas day dinner. With lefse. And lots of meleted butter. For many people of Scandinavian heritage, it's a Christmas time tradition. Every year for the big holiday dinner on my dad's side of the family, all the aunts and uncles and cousins gathered at one house, and one of the aunts prepared lutefisk and lefse, usually between Christmas and New Year's. At our house, I served turkey and ham, as I am the only one who will go near lutefisk willingly, much less eat it. Actually, it doesn't have any flavor, except whatever sauce (as in melted butter, hot bacon fat with chopped bacon, or white sauce) you put on it, but few people who weren't raised eating it can get past the (a) aroma (b) texture to find out what it tastes like. A few of my braver friends have tried it, though, when I've made it for lodge dinners. Here's what it looks like prepared: Actually, that's how it looks prepared really nicely, as in a restaurant. At home, it often is not quite so full looking.... an extra minute or two in the steam or hot water will turn it first to shreds, then rather gluey... It's a tricky dish. For the Scandinavian immigrants, it was a taste of home. Stockfish (air-dried cod) was easy to ship, and basically, lasts forever unless it gets wet, yet retains all its fish nutrient value. As stockfish, it looks something like an organic shingle, and is just as tough. The stockfish is reconsituted in a bath of edible lye water, then soaked and rinsed till ready and voila... "fresh" lutefisk...It now has the texture of jello wigglers, but looks just like a fresh codfish, just shiny and kind of translucent. And, it's ready to be gently oven-steamed, or more commonly, boiled in a cheescloth bag. Some modern cooks even microwave it with a little water, but that's even trickier, cause you can't see it, and again, it's easy to wreck it and turn it to mushy organic glue if you're too aggressive. Getting ready for the holidays for us meant a trip to the market for a big chunk of "fresh" lutefisk, recently shipped down from Minneapolis. Only a handful of lutefisk processors remain in the U.S. today, probably because most young people will pass on the lutefisk.... rather than ask it to be passed their way. Sherry

Jam49, I don't think anyone seriously took your post as a message of "gloom and doom"... But it spurred some other trains of thought that were valid. It never hurts to have a "backup plan." I would remind anyone who wants to make sure that they are on ScubaRx's owner's group list to send info via a pm, and please, do not post personal information on this or any other open forum. As Pete said, there's not been even one small indication that Oliver has any intention of abandoning our forum support. To paraphrase Mark Twain in response to an erroneous obit, the rumors of the death of the Oliver have been greatly exaggerated... perhaps not so much here, but in other forums. I, too, cherish the many new friends I have made on this forum. I've been lucky enough to meet many folks in person. I hope to get to meet you one of these days, as well. And now, back to the holidays. Pass the lutefisk, please. Sherry

I still like Hull's Angels Sherry

Cherie, Thanks for the background info on forums. I had no idea what costs were involved. Personally, I think that as long as Oliver is serious about eventually returning to the travel trailer business when the economy improves that they will continue supporting the forum and their own website. (Their website is, after all, one of their most powerful marketing tools.) Even though none of us on the moderator team work for Oliver (we all happily devote our mod hours on a free, voluntary basis), I believe that the folks at Oliver would give us some notice to make other arrangements for the forum in the event that they should ever decide to discontinue their financial support of our "sandbox". Perhaps Mountainborn, as administrator, can shed some additional light here, but I believe he and his wife are spending the holidays with family right now. In the meantime, if you're willing to collect an off-line contact list, that's a nice backup in any event. Sherry

Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2010 from Paul and Sherry!

This is basically what happened to us: Sherry Some codes are re-settable more than once; others lock you out after two tries (one seems successful, second fails, you're done....)

Larry, We also have a Norcold. Seems like most folks have a Dometic. Please give us a call if you think we may be of help. Do you have any error codes? With certain codes, you will get locked out, and have to take it to a dealer to get reset if you have reset it more than once. We experienced this with an NC code that repeated last summer. Ultimate resolution was board replacement, after visits to two different dealers in two different states. Sherry PS Norcold does not, apparently, pay its authorized dealers very well for warranty work, and it's a good idea to take your refrigerator to a dealer you know, and that has patience. Their customer service, in our experience, was extremely slow, both for us and our local dealer. I posted about the extended warranty for those of us who have older Norcolds... You would probably qualify, with the proper documentation sent to Norcold. At least in the third year, it covers parts, though not labor.

I see the Xtreme heaters are on sale at Boater's World, Hodges Marine, and several other places this month. http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... ps-sellers in case this is on anyone' s list for Santa Sherry

We haven't really looked into any other vents. The Oliver seemed to be properly equipped for our use,so far. I'm thinking about new rugs... a runner and entrance mat that more closely match our cushions. Other than that, I just haven't found anything else I need (or want) for our little trailer. Sherry

So, Karen and I were talking today. Do we have a date range yet for Jugfest, or is it to early to pick? Sherry

We agree, especially since we reside in one of those corners!! Hope to see you in Florida this winter.

Thanks, jam49. We'll look into that, too. I doubt the duct tape is the long term solution, but it should stop the abrading effect of metal on metal, at least temporarily. Sherry

That would be great if some (or all!) of you would decide to come our way in January! We hope to see Tom and Karen on their way up to the Panhandle. We'd love to see you. All our best wishes for a beautiful wedding, and more importantly, a wonderful, happy future together! Sherry and Paul

Probably not much of a test in the twenties. We've not had any problems in temps in that range, boondocking. I wonder if running the gas furnace helps heat the area between the hulls. We rarely have hookups, and in the coldest weather we've camped in (I think the thermometer said low temp 13 degrees), we had to use the furnace, not electric heat.

Just curious, how cold will it be tonight in southeast Kansas? Nice job on the tape install. Hope it all works well for you! Sherry

I just finished updating the logs from our last trip (adding up mileage, and notes). I was surprised to find we're already celebrating 30,000 miles camping with our Oliver. What a lot of great times we've had... mostly in the eastern US, but also the Midwest, and this past summer, a month trip along the top of the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada. Thinking about plans for next year. Sherry

Someone asked me the other day how to get his map into his sig. Instructions are in the first post of this thread. Mountainborn, I see you've found another map-making service, and I like the solid color better than the many colors of the one I used. Care to share the link? Thanks. Sherry

Just to clarify things, this change in discount is at the request of the concessionaires who operate a large number of the USFS campgrounds under long term contracts. The change would only affect those USFS campgrounds run by concessionaires, at least at this time. Campgrounds operated directly by the USFS would still offer the 50% discount. Sherry

Phil & Denise, We love seeing all the photos of your family, your extended family, and your friends. Looks like a wonderful time! What great memories you both are creating for your family for the many years to come. Thank you for sharing with all of us. Sherry