SeaDawg

Brrrrrrr I feel cold looking at the photos! We're in the D.C. area... raining and cold for three straight days. I think I'd rather have the snow. It's definitely prettier! Sherry

We very rarely make reservations anywhere we go. You'll find an easier time getting spots at the prime parks (read waterfront) during the week. Weekends are usually pretty well booked up at Ft. DeSoto (Pinellas County park) thru the season, but if you check often enough, you may even get a cancellation on a weekend day. Most state and county parks limit stays to two weeks. Florida has an extensive state park system, and a good website. Also check for county parks in areas you may like to visit (Pinellas, Hillsborough, Dade, etc.). Many of these parks are lesser known and not as crowded, or expensive. I wouldn't be the least bit nervous to head to Florida in the winter without reservations if you're willing to move around a little. The only place you may have trouble finding a spot at all, without making reservations, is the Florida Keys. Disney's Ft. Wilderness is really expensive for what you get. Only if you're planning to spend several days at the Disney parks would I consider it to be worthwhile. There are state parks not too far away from Disney. If you do decide to make the trip, please pm us. We're near Tampa. Sherry

... I've never used it [RV Antifreeze] before. Do you know if it is concentrated and must be diluted, or does it always come in ready to pour containers? Pete, RV antifreeze comes in gallon jugs, ready to use. It doesn't need to be diluted. (Diluting will reduce its effectiveness.) It's much safer around Oscar the smiley dog than car antifreeze, which should never be used in an RV. A gallon or two should be enough to winterize the empty grey & black tanks and traps, and the freshwater lines. I'm sure Herm in the Twin Cities or one of the other northern owners can offer suggestions if anyone has problems following the manual instructions. They look pretty straightforward to me.... but unnecessary here in Florida and where you live in Texas! Sherry

I'm sure you both mean RV antifreeze, available at big box stores for $2-3 a gallon when on sale. The composition of RV antifreeze is different from automotive anti-freeze, and non-toxic (though I wouldn't want to drink it!). http://www.camco.net/faqwinterization.cfm This article explains a bit about how RV antifreeze is different from automotive, and how it works. We have the luxury of warm winters, but do keep some on hand in the shed in North Carolina, just in case. (Last year, we had snow and temps into the teens during late October camping.) We ran the heat, left the bathroom door open, and had no problems in our camper, without RV antifreeze. (We do not, however, have a macerator. It may be colder out there in the bumper area...) YMMV. If you're staying in Maine awhile, you may want to google "winter camping rv". There are many good posts and articles on line about how to protect your plumbing lines in freezing winter weather. We bought the double-hulled Oliver with cold weather camping in mind (I'm from Minnesota, Paul from western NY), but haven't been able to test it in weather less than the teens (yet). Sherry

An update on our Norcold. We hope that this is an anomaly, but suspect it is not. The code that the tech in North Carolina cleared returned within twenty-four hours. When we returned to Florida, we took it to a local dealer. (Once an error code has been reset twice by the user, you are locked out of operations on our Norcold model. It has to be reset by an authorized tech after diagnostics, to keep you from running the refrigerator and damaging it.) Both our local tech and Paul experienced long wait times on hold each time they had to call for information. Norcold sent the tech several pages of new diagnostics to run, and spent a long time with him on the phone going through other ideas when the diagnostics were exhausted. A new main board was finally sent, replaced, a new error code appeared, and after more phone calls, and more diagnostics and trials with the Norcold rep on the phone with our tech, our refrigerator works again. Our trailer was in the shop for a total of three weeks during the process. (We took it out camping with our friends for one week in between, without a working refrigerator, while our tech waited for parts and assistance. This does not include the original service call for clearing the code in North Carolina, which we paid for included in our annual service.) The total time from first problem to resolution was almost six weeks. However, I can now make ice cubes in the freezer once again, and it has worked fine in the driveway for the last three days. No new codes! The part was covered by warranty, as was part of the tech's time. We were asked to pay one hour's labor for removing the refrigerator, which was fine with us, as Norcold pays him only for the time when work is done, not diagnostic time. (Our refrigerator is in its second year, still under full factory warranty.) We were disappointed with the time it took to repair, but pleased with the final outcome, and felt the dealer was fair with us in billing for only one hour. In case you're wondering, our tech has 25 years of experience in marine and travel trailer refrigeration and a/c repair, and the facility is listed on the Norcold website as an authorized dealer. Sherry

Tom, as a group we might just come really close to covering the whole map. Interesting idea. Sherry

Hi, Leigh, and welcome to Oliver Forums! We have towed our Oliver with all three of our vehicles: Volvo XC90, Chevy Silverado half ton pickup (sport side, short bed), and Dodge half ton, 4x4. The 4x4 is really overkill for the little Oliver, but it allows us to go where we like... which is often steep country roads in the mountains. The Silverado was two-wheel drive. The covered pickup bed gives us lots of gear storage area, or, uncovered, allows us to carry our ATV with us when we want to, and most of our gear as well. Towing the Oliver behind us changes our mileage very little with the Dodge... a mile or two per gallon. With the Volvo, towing used a bit more gas, but it gets much better mileage in town, not towing than the pickups. Loaded for camping, (with some water in all the tanks, not full), and carrying just about every option Oliver offers plus full gear, food, etc., our Oliver weighed in at about 3950 pounds. This is only about half our towing capacity, and we don't even feel the trailer behind us. The tradeoff: the 08 trucks are all a lot bigger than the earlier models, like our 05 Silverado. Our daughter now enjoys driving this smaller, more nimble, easier to park truck. We just spent a couple months camping with a friend of mine who tows a similar trailer with a Jeep Cherokee (also 4x4). She's found the Jeep to be a very comfortable vehicle, as well as a good tow vehicle and a decent around town vehicle, a good compromise for her. She reported more variance in gas consumption in the steeper hills than we did, as she tows closer to her vehicle capacity than we do, but no problems keeping up with us on our 5,000 mile trip together. Sherry

I think the church is a wonderful tribute to their Scandinavian heritage. It's my understanding that one man did all the carvings in the church. I, too, thought it was beautiful. The original Hopperstad church is in a village near where one of my cousins lives. The bridal dress you described in your blog was probably a bunad, or Norwegian folk dress. Each region of Norway has adopted an "official" folk dress based on traditional designs, and you'll see it worn by everyone from Queen Sonja to a young girl at her confirmation. Not only is it an expression of regional and national pride, but it solves the problem of "what to wear" on any given occasion... being appropriate dress for festivals, weddings,17 of May and other holidays, and any special occasion. Most have fairly full skirts and laced bodices that "expand with the wearer".... Good thing, as they're handmade, often from handmade fabrics, usually extensively embroidered with beadwork on the bodices, and quite expensive. A girl's bunad is often a confirmation gift from her family. Head dress, jewelry and decorations may change according to marital status. The bride wears a special head dress, usually of precious metal, and highly decorated. http://www.husfliden.no/hunf/productgro ... ageid=5002 Sherry

Great signs. When I was a kid in southern Minnesota, there were so many huge signs in that vein. My favorite was the giant toilet on top of the plumber's facility (small kids love scatalogical humor...). So the beet work begins in earnest... I'm glad you got the opportunity to visit Fargo/Moorhead. The Viking ship replica is just too beautiful, and so well done. I'm sure you watched the video of the launch and sailing through the Great Lakes and on to Norway. I marveled at the bravery of the kids sailing it across the Atlantic. Sherry

We spent two months this summer on the road, across Ontario, following the north shore of the lakes, along with my friend Lois. One of the things we regretted as the trip drew to an end was not sharing our digital camera downloads as we went along. As we prepared to part ways in NC, we discussed the best way to share thousands of digital images and captions. Neither of us looked forward to downloading so much data to disc, and knew it would be slow thru email... So, Lois called me tonite with her brilliant solution. She picked up a $19 8 gig thumb drive ... downloaded her photos, and is sending them on. We'll download, erase, and send back our share. Great idea. So much faster than the other available options.

Times two! What an adventure! Wishing you safe travels to the Dakotas. Sherry & Paul

Wow, can't believe you'd leave beautiful Arkansas for the Dakotas in October. But, since you're going.... I don't know which factory/processing plant you and Betty will be near, but the Dakotas have their own beauty (notwithstanding the Black Hills, everyone knows that...) In Fargo/Moorhead, you'll find three colleges, two beautiful towns, and thousands of people who fight the floods each spring. In their spare time, they build beautiful monuments to their heritage.... You'll find a replica of a Viking ship, built in a shed, that was sailed by the builder's family from Duluth, through the Great Lakes, out to the Atlantic, and to Norway and back. Also, a lovely replica of one of Norway's stave kjirkes (stave churches). A few of these medieval structures are left in Norway, kind of like upside down ships, with the poles supporting the intricate roofs. Take the time to tour the area if you can. The Scandinavian Festival (hostfest) in Minot is amazing. In this little town, literally thousands of volunteers man the state fairgrounds, and exhibits and great music go on all day... out here in the middle of the great prairie. My dad and I drove out from southern Minnesota a few years ago to meet a distant cousin from Framfjord, Norway (and a few distant cousins from the US), and had a wonderful time. Usually, the first weekend in October. Oh, then there's the Lewis and Clark trail, Mandan, and so much more. Hope you get some time to enjoy your time there. The sky is amazing. (Cell phone coverage is not.) Sherry

Well, I'd guess a lot of people might have been a little discouraged to find their campground snow-and ice-bound in June.... not you two! We're really glad you enjoyed the summer up at 10,-000 feet in Trujillo Meadows. Hope to see you soon. Sherry & Paul

JrBirdman, Thanks for sharing the manual online. That's a great resource. Very detailed, and clearly written. I think this should be made a sticky. Sherry

We have a good friend who has a general mechanic's shop... and is also familiar with trailers and electric brakes. We take ours there. Not something beyond Paul's skills, but he's right around the corner, and takes care of several of our vehicles. Honest and good, he's a rare guy. Sherry

Welcome to our fourm, gcasper.

http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/ ... ountains/1 Just yesterday, I had just mentioned to DougI how much we enjoyed the Cherohala Skyway last summer. Today, our friend who camped with us this summer sent me this link to a great website from National Geographic which lists a number of scenic drives if you click back to the home page. "Drives of a Lifetime." Thought it might be of interest to some of you, as well, in planning your camping adventures. Sherry

We have a Norcold refrigerator in our Oliver. We got a code on the panel in Missouri this summer, and pulled out the manual to check out the reason. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had not just a one, but a three year warranty on our refrigerator. (This has changed recently, so check your manual and the Norcold website. Norcold now offers only the industry standard one year warrantly.) First two years on ours is parts and labor, third year parts only. However, to obtain the third year, you must have an authorized service center do a maintenance check, and send the receipt in to Norcold to validate your warranty. We took ours to a dealer in NC while camping there, so we'll be abe to extend the warranty on our now 18 month old refrigerator. Just thought I'd let those of you with Norcolds know. I didn't know, because I never had a reason to look in the manual till a few weeks ago. Sherry

Tom, Looks wondberful... except could we substitute chicken for the 'coon? (Every strange food is supposed to taste like chicken anyway, isn't it? Squirrel, alligator, etc. ... I personally never thought any of them tasted like chicken, though....)

Welcome to the Oliver Forums, Campolar. Sherry

Wade, Thanks for the introduction. I'm sure you learned a lot about towing in your travels. We're very glad to have you on the forum. Sherry

Welcome to our forum, certifiedmarine!

Welcome to the Oliver Forums, Vandango! (Sorry for the belated welcome. I ran out of battery power just as I authorized your membership....) Sherry

MMMM... love to. Today we went into Hendersonville to our favorite Irish pub, Hannah Flannigan's, and met some friends from Florida for a (big) lunch. We thought salad and dessert would be good tonite. Chef's salad and texas toast warmed over the coals, berry cobbler is on the fire now, in the Dutch oven, compliments of my friend, Lois. Picked up some really nice extra pie irons on closeout at Tractor Supply this afternoon. Mini-pizzas tomorrow? Any favorite campfire recipes or ideas you'd like to share? Sherry

Nothing tastes better than dinner over the open fire. Tonite's dinner.... heirloom tomatoes, sliced, from the Western NC Farmer's Market in Asheville, round steak marinated in teryiaki, foil grilled onions, zuccini and carrots in foil packet over the hickory coals. We have to go home soon. Yes, we'll miss dinner outdoors, and our friend Lois who has been camping with us the last two months. And, oh, will we miss those campfire dinners.