SeaDawg

Although it's been unseasonably cold here in Florida, we know it doesn't compare to the weather further north. We're actually enjoying the sweater weather for the holiday! My brother in Minnesota calls frequently to update me on what I'm missing, though... first frost, first snow, soon I'm sure will be the reports of first sub-zero cold snap and taking the ice-house out onto the lake!

We wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving! Sherry & Paul

When we bought our Oliver this past January, we couldn't decide on what to use as a mural, or if we wanted one. We were told it could be added later if we decided on a mural photo. Graphics can also be removed and changed if you like. I believe the murals are produced elsewhere, but Oliver creates all the cool custom graphics in-house. I suspect this policy is still the same. Sherry

Mountainborn, Love the final version of the coin. Do we have to learn how to geocache to find one? Sherry

Ok, I'm not adverse to winter camping... especially in a toasty warm Oliver. (I grew up, after all, in Minnesota.) Last year, we were in Middle Tennessee in mid-January. Sweater weather (to me, at least...) But, honestly, it will likely be awfully chilly at happy hour around the old BBQ. A number of area attractions, other than Nashville,will be closed outside of season. However, we might get to see a little snow, and that's always fun for a Florida transplant!!! Today's high for the Hohenwald area is in the high thirties, and low in the teens. Forecast says up to the fifties over the weekend, though, for a high. Just something to think about... Sherry

Cherie, great creative solutions with your beautiful extra fabric! Love the room divider idea. Sherry

We're with you, meanderthal. We'd love to be a "hull's angel"!

Wow, Thanks, Jonathan! The new colors are so much easier on my eyes. Can't wait to see how this color scheme works in different light conditions. I like the posting block in black on white, too. Much appreciated! Sherry

Wannabee, Welcome to the forum, Wannabee! The factory tour is the quickest and most complete way to see all the differences between your present trailer and the Oliver, because you can see everything from the ground up... aluminum frame, how the hulls go together, the quality glasswork and gelcoat, innovative ideas, etc... I'm glad you're so close and able to drive down in 30 minutes. It was a long trip for us, but well worth the drive! We spent most of the spring and summer this year in our Oliver, towing it about 17,000 miles. We prefer camping in state parks, national forests, and army corps parks, and found the Oliver well-suited to our style, with relatively large storage and tankage for its small size. We had so much fun, we're planning a longer trip next year. We love our Oliver. Sherry

Agreed. I'm excited about this expansion in the Oliver product line. Many people who have looked at our Oliver were very impressed with the quality construction, double hulls, aluminum frame, enclosed tanks, etc., but didn't really want or need all the bells and whistles on the Classic or Elite. Sherry

An update on the Rock Tamers. We got a new truck a few months ago (a Ram 1500), and our old Rock Tamer flaps are now too short, as they were trimmed for the lower Silverado. I found out that replacement flaps can be ordered from Enkay in Colorado for $30.00 each (black) or $45.00 each (chrome), plus shipping. You don't have to buy a whole new Rock Tamer system. Note: I tried contacting Enkay (parent company) by internet, but didn't get an answer for several days. Phone calls are answered promptly. 800-545-1894. The whole Rock Tamers system is still much less thru Costco online, or Cabela's, than by ordering direct. Sherry

Looks like everybody had a great time, Larry! Especially the mascot... Plumb wore him out! Sherry

Three months later, what a difference. On our last trip to North Carolina, we paid a high of $2.59 and a low of $2.06 for gasoline. Nope, not a typo. In one week, gas prices fell almost 20 cents in the Carolinas and Georgia. Never thought I'd see $2.06 in the same year that we paid over $4..... but it sure was nice. For anyone travelling I-95, the $2.06 was at an Exxon at the last exit in South Georgia (#3 I think) . The Exxon has an attached Krystal Burger with free wifi. My brother in Minnesota was reporting $2.12 in Brainerd, a dime higher in northern Missouri was the report from my other brother. Sherry

Happy Halloween to all our friends on the Oliver Forum!

Though temps remained below freezing for three nights straight, (and hovered just above for two days), we had no problems with the Oliver. In fact, it was too warm sometimes,with the furnace set on very low, just above off at night... but then, I grew up in rural Minnesota.... We're still on the same LP tank after five days and six nights, no power for heat or refrigerator. Oh, yes, I cooked indoors on the SMEV... but then, it's probably more fuel efficient than our LP grill. Sherry PS our snow-covered solar panels only gave us a half amp until the snow melted.... not much help. However, after snow melt, we picked up five to ten amps with the leaves off the trees around us!

The autumn days were glorious.... At 3000 feet, the leaves were changing.... the fall flowers in bloom Then, the temperatures plummetted, and around 1 am we heard a little rain? sleet? hail? then nothing.... we looked outside, and the big flakes had started falling.... By early morning light, the landscape had changed... So, we took a ride on the ATV.... here's a photo of Paul, from my seat on the back: and a few photos from our ride: What a wonderful, winter wonderland morning! (In October, no less!)

Happy birthday, my friend! Sherry

We thought we were coming up to North Carolina to catch the fall foliage (which was beautiful, by the way!).... but oh, what a bonus. This morning about 1 am the snow started falling, and kept up till mid-morning... a total of around two and a half inches on our side of the mountain. It was Christmas card snow... big, fat, fluffy flakes drifting softly to the ground and blanketing the mountain laurel and the mountainside with pure, clean whiteness. Paul and I took a ride around the property on the ATV in the snow... I felt like a little kid again. Our high today so far has been 34 degrees, low the last two nights was 31. Supposed to drop into the twenties tonight. We have no electricity available, so we use the furnace, and it has kept us toasty warm on a very low setting. I'll post photos next trip into town... I forgot the camera back at camp. Sherry

Sounds like fun, Mountainborn. However, we're in North Carolina, playing in the snow!!! Yep, first snow of the season started about 1 this morning. More on that later! Sherry

Looking forward to your continued reports, Mountainborn. My laptop runs on Vista. Thanks for the info! Sherry

We really like our Dometic... and I suspect both Coleman and Dometic generate about the same amount of noise. (On the few occasions we've used it, we actually welcomed the "white noise". At a rally we went to, we tried to sleep the first night without A/C, as we're accustomed to sleeping with the windows open and fresh air, but the highway noise kept me awake most of the night. The next two nights, we used the A/C, and I slept much better. Ditto at a couple state parks with hookups on Saturday nights... where a few young people were having too much fun to notice quiet hours...) Personally, I think the Dometic has a more aerodynamic, sleeker looking cowl. We have a more basic model, I guess.... just high, medium, low... If you like the digital thermostat, and usually have hookups, I'd probably keep the Dometic. We've never run our Dometic on the generator. We have two, a Honda 1000i we usually carry, which is definitely too small, and a Yamaha 3000i that sits in the garage because it's so heavy to lug around, but is good backup for Florida storms. Our Dometic will run on the household circuit from the garage, which has a 20 amp breaker. Sherry

Thanks for the idea. We stopped at the auto parts store today, and added the clear door molding to the bottom of the propane tank cover. Cost was about $3 for two 27 inch strips. Instead of the felt tape on the top and sides of the cover, we used some strips of white ribbed bathtub non-skid (about $2 at Walmart) that I had left over... very inexpensive, thin, and hopefully, will provide a decent cushion. Sherry

Glad to hear that, Doug. The earlier models didn't have wires or chains for the pins. We used some Stainless Steel leader wire and crimp rings from the tackle box to secure our pins. Thanks for the update. Sherry

Steve, I deleted my own post. It was one I was working on, by had not yet finished. Posted by accident. Sherry

Glad to know that about the Command hooks, Andrew! Thanks. Super Velcro may hold mag lites, but your holder is much safer and better. I hang only the mini LED flashlights on the wall with Velcro.... I'm with you. I wouldn't want a big maglite coming loose and flying around inside my trailer on a mountain road... DougI, the suction cup holders from Target will stay up, loaded with spices, paper plates, and melmac dinnerware, plastic glasses, etc... I was leary at first, but there's nothing breakable in them, so what the heck... and it's been fine. So will their clear hooks, most of the time. Many of these I'm replacing with 3m Command hooks and the button press suction hooks as I go along, using the original set outside the trailer. The button press towel rings are great. As far as .... where do we put stuff and what we carry, maybe we shouldl start another thread. Everybody has different ideas (and different stuff...). This thread could get really lengthy. Sherry