SeaDawg

Hmmm, good question. Especially if you're thinking about the logistics of traditional trailers where the water tanks take up a lot of the useable storage area. The Oliver tanks are very different from others.... long, low horizontal "boxes" that fit in the area between the double hulls... not an area you could use for other storage, easily, but a great, protected place for tanks. Their placement frees up other areas for storage. I'm with Tumbleweed... We all buy a trailer thinking we'll keep it for the rest of our lives... or at least many years... but things can change. I think eliminating ANY tankage... fresh, black or grey... would be a big mistake in the resale value of the trailer... any trailer. If weight for your tow vehicle is a factor, just don't fill the freshwater tank. It's just an easier decision to NOT eliminate them in the Oliver where they take up no inside room at all. I see you're some distance from the factory... but when you get down to the final decision making crunch time, I think it's important to see the whole enchilada and be able to look at how they're made from the lightweight, tough all aluminum frame up....The factory is impressive. Besides, it's a pretty drive, and Nasheville's really close by! sherry Good luck with your decision. Sherry

I don't do a lot of upholstery anymore, but I recently had a really good experience with winterbeachmodern.com They also sell have an ebay store, I think. They carry big name fabrics like Knoll, Herman Miller, and Maharam, specifically designed for seating. They offer a limited number of free samples with an email. Prices are 50-75% off retail. Check their descriptions for clues on what to look for in quality seating fabric elsewhere, too: weight, weave, rub count, cleaning directions, fabric content. Personally, I like a tightly woven, part cotton, part poly blend for heavy use seating. (Some rayon added is ok with me, some wool is great.) The local fabric stores tend to mix up drapery, slipcover, and upholstery fabrics in colorway displays, so try to find a clerk to help you who actually knows upholstery if you're unfamiliar with fabrics. I would want to see and feel a sample before I bought anything on the internet, so a lot of ebay auctions and stores would not be an option for me unless I was already familiar with that particular fabric. Good luck in your search for the perfect fabric! It's fun to look at the Oliver interiors and see that no two are alike! Sherry

Paul found this at Sam's Club, and for the price (around $11), we just had to add it to the onboard favorites. Built in batteries, rechargeable by a handcrank, power a weather/am/fm/ radio, led flashlight, and a cell phone charger. Kit includes universal adaptors to charge most phones.... Can also be repowered with three AAA batteries. http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=373944 Sherry

Hi! Thanks for starting the map, and we're on it under St. Petersburg, FL. Sherry

Campsite favorites... Simple, just a few ingredients... often involve the campfire or grill... or maybe something you bring partially prepared from home... What's cooking at your campsite? Paul's Awesome Flank Steak... His claim to fame... Easy & delicious. 1. Go to Sam's club or your favorite meat market. Buy a nice flank steak (or two, as they usually come packaged at Sam's) 2. Lay out each steak on the cutting board and poke with a fork about thirty or forty times on each side. (Two reasons... tenderizes, and accepts more marinade.) Trim any excess tallow. 3. Get out your favorite marinading container... flatter the better, with a tight seal... Or a gallon Ziploc bag. Grab a bottle of your favorite marinade... Ours is Lawry's Teryiaki with Pineapple. Layer a little marinade on the bottom of the dish. Add a flank steak. Cover the top with a thin layer of marinade. Repeat if you're marinading more. Put the lid on, or zip it up. Swirl around, gently. Put in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, turning the steaks every 12 hours. The longer you marinade, the stronger the flavor. Three days is about max. 4.Fire up the grill. Grill for about 5-7 minutes each side... They're thin... not a lot longer unless you're a well done fan. 5. Put the cutting board in a rimmed cookie sheet to keep the juices off the counter or table. Slice thin, on the diagonal, with a sharp knife and enjoy. Great with pasta, baked potatoes, or roasted red bliss & veggies. Figure about 1/3 pound per person... or a half pound if you're really hungry!. Leftovers are great on a salad the next day with croutons, onions, and bleu cheese. We grilled this tonite, and really enjoyed it. Hence, the post. What's your favorite campsite recipe? Sherry

Just for fun, I took a little trip down memory lane today.... I found this website of a California man who renovates (and modernizes) vintage travel trailers from the thirties, forties, fifties, and sixties. Anybody else remember some of these from our childhood? http://www.vintage-vacations.com/pastclients.html My favorites are the '61 Airstream Globetrotter, the '53 Southland Runabout... and that very cool '46 Spartan Manor with the wraparound kitchen.... I'm thinking 50 years from now somebody will be proudly posting photos of her '08 Oliver.. They're surely built to last.... l Sherry

Hi, Lisa, Carefully done, well-thought out. Happy camping! Sherry

Thanks, Phil. I'm really bad about (a) remembering to take the camera out of the cupboard and (b) remembering to download on a timely basis... But, here are a couple recent photos: Paul working on the new parking pad for the Oliver beside our house. My job? Five trips to the concrete plant for turf blocks... they weigh 65 pounds each, and our Silverado's only a half ton. We're really happy with the way it turned out, though. Taken at a rest stop in North Carolina in March. We're really happy we can tow with the truck or the car. This time, we took the ATV along, too, in the truck. I'll try to do better in the future! Thanks for asking. Sherry

Phil, at last year's rv show we saw some really clever drop down beds and also some bunks that folded up into overhead cupboards (especially in toyhaulers and very small stickbuilts) . I think you have the kernel of a great idea here. Sherry

Absolutely, definitely!! Thanks, Meanderthal

On the recommendation of some campers we met on our last trip to NC, we stayed at Santee State Park, Santee, SC near the intersection of I-95 and I-26. We camped in the Cypress section, 50 sites, wooded, beautiful... Big breeze the nights we were there, so no mosquitos, got chilly enough for the furnace to kick in several times set on low. No need for an awning... lots of big old trees.... along with a magnificent view of Lake Marion, a flooded Cypress Swamp. Water and electric, dump station on the way out. The town of Santee is 3 miles away with all the usual services-gas stations, supermarket, McD's ... and cute local restaurants. There is also a 100 site campground on the other side of Lake Marion, just as beautiful from what the park ranger told me. Nice, clean bathrooms with hot showers. Lots of trails for hiking. Cabins also available for reservation if you are meeting trailer-less friends. Very enjoyable experience. Sorry, I can't post pix of my own right now, but here's the link to the state website and santee. Look thru the pix on the left hand side. Cost varies from about $16 to $25. Pick a bigger spot on the website than what you think you need.... Trees can make it difficult to back into some of the small sites. http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/photo-gallery/default.aspx South Carolina state parks are celebrating their 75th anniversary with the theme "Come out and Play".... Great theme, great time... Hope you get a chance to visit!!! We'll check out more on our trips to NC this year.... and keep you updated. South Carolina people have welcomed all of us warmly... Sherry

OK, Pete, if you can pull with the bugeye, we're putting a hitch on the '58 TR3... Wanna race??? I can see it now... 1st Oliver road rally... no tow vehicles from this century allowed, flatland course only... I doubt we can get factory sanction for this kind of rally, though... (ok, we gotta finish the rebuild on the TR3.... first...) All jokes aside, the car is beautiful ... so is the Oliver... what a great pair!) Paul & Sherry

Sorry, I've been offline... no internet or cell phone for a few days... The extra shocks, lift kit, and 15" wheels are great.... I-40 west of Asheville in the right hand lane is pothole heaven.... no problem. Not to mention back country dirt roads... but at least on the dirt roads we're all driving slower and EXPECT issues... Sherry

Hi. I heard there were photos & a floorplan online for the twin model. Could someone post a link, cause I can't find it. One of my best friends would like to see the floorplan for twins after seeing my Oliver. Thanks! Sherry

You did a nice job, Phil. Looks like it came that way! Out of curiosity, what do you have mounted on the bumper (to the curbside of the spare tire cover)? Sherry

Hello, Astrocaster, and welcome to the Oliver Forum! We added the lift kit and 15" wheels because we spend a lot of time in the country... meaning, we are very acquainted with potholes, washouts, and rough dirt & gravel roads. We are also planning a second trip to Alaska, where the side roads can be quite rough. The extra five or six inches give us extra clearance and peace of mind .... The cost to add was minimal, in my husband's opinion. Center of gravity is low anyway with the long, horizontal tanks mounted in the bottom, nestled onto the aluminum frame. Downside, I guess, would be the additional height of the trailer, which isn't enough difference (by way far!) to interfere with normal overpasses, bridges, etc., or any of our tree branches in the yard, for that matter. And, we wouldn't have been able to fit the trailer in the garage in the original form... too much other stuff in there. Our Oliver has a nice little parking pad next to the house, instead. I think a number of other forum members also added the kit and bigger tires. I'm sure we'll hear from some of them later on. Hope this helps. Sherry

Hi, Pete, Thanks for posting the great photos. Sorry we didn't get to stay in Howenwald when we picked ours up.... Too little time, too many commitments at home... tho we'll take them up on the offer of a night on Oliver one of these days!! Hope the rally is a lot of fun... sure it is. Best regards, Sherry & Paul

Well thought out, beautifully done.... Thanks for sharing. Sher

Welcome to the forum... Just answered this question, in part, on another forum.... We have the Oliver Legacy Elite Big dinette back, converts to standard full size bed... 52-53" (depends on where you measure, tho fairly square...) by 75" This conforms to standard dimensions of many good name mattresses like Tempurpedic... We keep the big dinette set up as a bed if we're gone awhile... Had thought about putting in a different mattress originally, but I sleep very well on the cushions topped with a good quality mattress pad. Small dinette converts to narrow twin... a little deeper and longer than my sofa... 24 x 73 The full size bed is very comfortable for us ... I haven't tried the small dinette bed, but, like I said, it's bigger than my couch where I fall asleep if the TV is on.... Hope this helps. Sherry

Hello, Amer, and welcome to the forum. I looked on the olivertraveltrailers.com calendar.... Oliver is showing at the Pomona RV show in California this week, thru the 6th. I think that is very close to you. I understand that there are more interior options available now than when we ordered our Oliver, and the representatives will be there to explain them all. I'm sure a carpet kit was an option when we ordered, but I didn't want one. Instead, I use a nice runner and two small throw rugs that I can easily remove and launder. I love the fiberglass interior both for appearance and easy cleanup. Sliders on the cupboards are available in a number of colors, and I think some more table top options are available. I have not seen the twin bed Oliver yet, so I can't comment on it. In our Legacy Elite, we leave the rear dinette set up as a bed most of the time. The side "dinette" is comprised of two seats & a small table that can be made into a narrow twin bed if needed. Hope this helps. We enjoy our Oliver very much. Regards, Sherry

I love Butcherknife's sense of humor... Hope to meet you both one day! Thanks for the link. Sherry PS Our cushions still slide too... I haven't done any velcro or anything to hold them in place.... Just seems ok to stack them in/on the bed/big dinette... (Velcro may be a rainy day project for me???) But, even moving cushions around, we can still set up in 5-15 minutes, including awning and folding chair deployment (If Paul does the awning ... I'm a little height-challenged ). Gotta love those electric jacks... S.

Well, the weather is heating up around here (already in the mid-80's daytime) and I'm dreaming about Alaska again. Unfortunately, our trip may be delayed till next year due to a couple of projects running overtime, and family commitments, milestone birthdays.... Our second trip may be postponed till summer '09 unless we can figure something out. But, a girl can dream, right? One of our favorite nights in Alaska was spent boondocking in old Valdez harbor. The lights in the distance are anchored ships in the harbor, and the field in the foreground surrounded our campsite. We had a great campfire most of the night... the summer sun didn't really "set" . I think this was taken about 3 am or so. This pic was taken around midnite... You can see the mountains and the harbor more clearly. Looking at my old pix makes me want to find a way for this summer..... Anybody else making plans for this summer or next? (I got my new Alaska Milepost in the mail last week....) Sherry

Thanks to both of you, Lisa & Pete. Pete... Strong & aromatic brew is almost like air to me.... Three minutes at ANY draw is probably worth it to both of us... I'll be happy, hence, he'll be happy.... And he (the engineer) can figure out how to make it work if we're boondocking... I have total confidence! We just came back from an overnite where I made a liter of coffee with the pourover Mellita method... Great coffee, no power consumed.... twenty minutes, miniumum. Water on the SMEV stove (so quick) was hot in three minutes... but pouring over 12 times was tedious, at best, in that little filter cup.... Sherry

What a great idea.... Like a timeshare, but very limited partner(s). Sherry

We often don't have electric available, and I'm not a huge fan of our old standby percolator coffee, so I bought a little inexpensive French Press coffee maker at IKEA. However, the process is cumbersome... heat the water on the stovetop in the teakettle, pour over the coffee grounds, let it bloom, stir, press, wait awhile... for coffee that's not all that great, and cools down too rapidly in the glass carafe. I went back to a couple of one-cup Mellitta pourovers that a friend had given me years ago. Kind of like a little funnel that holds a tiny cone filter & coffee right over the cup, pour hot water over and let it drip down... The coffee is better, but I'm not a one-cup person.... Meaning the process has to be repeated several times.... I'm shopping again. I saw Pete uses a 12-volt Cuisinart coffee maker. I'm kind of intrigued.. but does it draw down a lot on battery power, Pete? Anyone else with an idea? Sherry