BlueHighways

Per the new Girard awnings - Fact: to use the awning, you must turn on the switch inside the Oliver door. Then (for the pro model) you turn on the light or manage the awning(s) via the remote. The awning light can be used with the awning out or retracted. You cannot control the awning light with the switch inside the Oliver. You can only turn on the awning light bar with the remote. Opinion: the awnings are beautiful! The light bar on the awnings is not quite as bright as the porch lights which can be a good thing. Also, the porch lights cannot be used individually per side. The awning lights can be if you don’t want to light up the whole camp area. I do wish they were dimmable.

Meanwhile - back east, here's some swamp love. This is a Harvest Host at Breaux Bridge, LA. We stayed there last week on our way to SETX. Give me a couple of years to catch up! Love your out-west pics! By the way, to get a gator to smile for the picture, you have to tickle them underneath their arm - now THAT'S and adventure.

And a great big howdy from Tennessee.

With 10 days under our belt, I’ll give you a slightly different view. I’ve had 3 standard water heaters and this is our first Truma. We love it and wouldn’t go back to the standard. We can get up from eating, turn on the truma and start washing dishes with immediate hot water. When we are done, we turn it off. I believe that is much more efficient than our other water heaters. Then, after being off-grid, it’s nice to schedule full hookups for a night with a nice long shower. When we are in freezing weather, I plan on turning the bypass valve and dumping the truma which takes all of 90 seconds. No tools required. We did not get the 12v travel heater for that reason. Now, was it worth the extra $? For us, yes.

Jason and Sherry, Many thanks for getting mine changed! Jason if you are around tomorrow, look me up. I’ll be the guy with a perpetual smile as we pick up hull #686! Dave (formerly known as dcdude)

So many David here! Thanks!

We all hear/read/learn of places to go through contacts, forums, podcasts, magazines, etc. Does anyone know of an existing app that would quickly and easily record a name or location? It would need to be shared data and work across multiple platforms. Ideally it would allow more in depth info such as site number, contact info or . . . .? I’m wondering about RV Trip Wizard or something else that I’ve not heard of. We have an app like this for groceries. Both of us can add items and the other can see it. However, it is meant for temporal data and not a lot of information depth. I can build a spreadsheet or dB but, that’s not quick or easy data entry! David

Ok, Ok. But his real friends called him Davy!

Ahhh! Good choice! I would not want to discourage a visit to Nashville but even though I grew up there and love listening and playing live music, it’s way too crowded for me. One of my favorites of mine in the SP system: Cumberland Mountain SP in Crossville - that would set you up to take one of the prettiest spring time drives on Hwy 127 south thru the Sequatchie Valley then hit I59 to I65 to get back home. This would logically be done after visiting the factory and would be the long way home. If you want something quicker, the Natchez Trace Parkway runs close to Davy Crockett. The prettiest drive on the Trace is from there north towards Nashville. A nice day trip would be to drive to the northern terminus and eat at the Loveless Cafe (Southern food esp. breakfast) and drive back. There is a camp ground on the Trace (Meriwether-Lewis) but many here know more about that than I do. Another local favorite would be to take the backroads over to Lynnville, TN. It’s a small railroad town with a high end leather shop and a great cheeseburger place. East of Lynnville is Texas T campground on I65 exit 27 I think. It gets high reviews but I’ve never stayed there.

I was definitely referring to Davy Crockett SP in Lawrenceburg. Sorry for any confusion. For modern day hotels, certainly the closest is Columbia - exit 47 on I65. But it also may depend which direction you are coming from and what you would like to see in the area.

Nope, I’m a modern day unicorn; a Nashville native. The moniker comes from my initials, the counties I have lived in and, my general lack of creativity.

All of the above + weight of the vehicle off road and the quietness! After 3 diesels, I’m really enjoying my 3/4 ton gasser. I’m sure there are hills where I will slow down. But, what do I care, it’s Saturday! (Oblique reference to another ongoing thread).

If you want to visit Nashville and the factory in one trip, I would recommend Montgomery Bell State Park. It’s 35 miles from Nashville and ~40 miles from Hohenwald. It’s located in Burns, TN (my hometown). From Davy Crockett SP, you can get to The space center in Huntsville and the Ollie factory but, it’s a longer drive to Nashville. It is in Lawrenceburg, TN. If you would rather move closer to Nashville, and, depending on the time of the year, there are several campgrounds on Music Valley Drive close to the Gaylord Hotel. After Thanksgiving and until Christmas, the hotel is really something to see when it is decorated. Hohenwald would be about 90 miles away or close to 2 hours. You can Uber or maybe shuttle downtown or the Opry is nearby also. They just started back with limited live shows. Downtown has become a Las Vegas atmosphere pre-COVID; not my thing but may be a place to visit. If you want to hear good music, I would recommend 3rd & Lindsley (the address and the name of the bar) on Monday nights to hear the Time Jumpers. Get tickets! Finally, if you want to see Nashville from an RV, I think the an alternative would be to look at some COE campgrounds around Percy Priest Lake. That is on the east side and I wouldn’t recommend getting to Hohenwald from there due to traffic. There are some other locals here and I’m sure there are some that have made the trip in their Ollie! PM me if you have specific questions about the area and I’ll help if I can. And, welcome to the forums! Next to a factory visit, it’s the next best place to learn about OTT.

23!

Wow! Olivers are inexpensive!

Arggggh!

Congrats and of course, Go Vols!

That is good to know. And, this happens more and more to me. My wife uses technical terms like “thingy” and uses her hands to show motion, direction and shape. Then, like magic, I remember the step I left out.

Sher, I would definitely check with sales as time gets closer. My date is Nov 11 and they gave me a heads up that the new camping area at service may be open. Therefore, I would expect it to be ready by January. Now, How long they would let you stay, I have no idea. If needed, I feel confident the state park should have room in Jan. If you check your favorite campground apps, there are plenty in the broader area depending on which direction you will be headed. Dave

Dave, GSMNP and Hohenwald are about 4 hours and a time zone apart. If you mean “near” as in “on the route home”, there is a virtual cornucopia of places to stay close to I40 and 81. If you want close to the park, I would suggest the Townsend/Wears Valley area over Sevierville and Gatlinburg (unless you really, really like pancakes). This is a high-end park close to your route http://www.anchordownrvresort.com/. It’s on my li$t but probably not for a $everal day $tay! Use Campendium or your favorite app to view areas around Newport, TN. Cherokee NF is in the mountains northeast of GSMNP and has many many places to Camp. Also, you could go through the mountains to Asheville area then take 26 back to 81. I looked back and saw you were looking at a spring delivery. One of my favorite spring drives is Highway 64 across the southern part of TN then take highway 127 up the Sequatchie valley to Crossville/I40. If you are into June for your pickup, also look at Roane Mountain SP. Dave

Just theorizing here - or, maybe it’s awning gossip? I read earlier that Girard’s new plant was built in Alabama. A couple of days ago, we got the call from sales that our awning will be switched to Girard. In just a few clicks it all made better sense. Their new plant is in Red Bay, AL, home of Tiffin Motorhomes and the corporate office for Van Leigh trailers. I would assume they have struck up a long term deal. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure there’s not another RV manufacturer in Red Bay. So that puts Girard just down the road from Hohenwald. I’d say they can make a good deal to Oliver and, I think Tiffin uses quality products. They have a long reputation to uphold.

Is it browser related? I use Chrome on an iPad and have not had that problem. However, when I use the “Unread Content” button, I see everything before June 21st. Tomorrow, it will be June 22nd and so forth.

As shown earlier, I went with the Yakima rack over my Decked system. Leitner is even more versatile and should be easier to get accessories. It’s a better rack! On edit: To be clear, Yakima is well built. The problem is figuring out which systems are compatible within the brand then getting the parts. So, Leitner at minimum is a better rack system as well as a better rack, too.

I would write “or compressor refrigerator?” but then this post would head off in a much different direction and it would soon be about tow vehicle size!😂

I talked with the sales staff yesterday about my delivery date and this was mentioned. They said this was one of the most requested items. But, I agree with you; it’s not for me.