Ray and Susan Huff

We stopped over at Great Basin NP on our way home from Utah last week . . . . . mainly because it was half-way between Cannonville (our last Utah stopover) and Lamoille, NV (where we were meeting one of my HS friends), but also because the sites were FCFS (until Memorial Day weekend). We chose to stay at Baker Creek. There were several sites available, but we had a hard time finding one anywhere near level. As it was, we had to jack the Oliver's front up quite a bit. The sites were all gravel, which is fine, but apparently the NP system doesn't understand the need for levelness. We tried two pull through sites, entering from both directions before we found an orientation that sort of worked. Some of the problem is that our SD longbed crew cab is hard to maneuver into pull-through sites that have a good curve to them. Before leaving, we drove up to Wheeler Peak and checked out both of the Lehman CGs. I thought the Upper CG was better than Baker Creek as the sites were all paved and appeared to be more level; it looked well maintained. Lower Lehman seemed a bit neglected. We did enjoy the change in scenery, after nearly two weeks of desert, canyons and red rocks; the wildflowers, at the campground elevation (7,500') were fantastic - there were meadows full of Sunflowers, Lupine, and Indian Paintbrush. We also had numerous encounters with marmots, deer and a variety of birds. We also met a couple (ironically from Bend, Oregon) who asked how we like our Oliver. They had a shorter version Lance, but with a slide out and way more room than they need, and Oliver is at the top of their list. They were thrilled when we offered them a "look-see" (the wife confessed that she had adamantly told the husband "not to ask for a tour"!) As an aside, we found S. Utah to be overwhelmed with campers; too much for our taste. Fortunately we had made reservations because everything was full, including the popular boondock sites. We didn't even attempt to see Arches or Bryce Canyon; we did spend a couple of days at Capitol Reef, which was not too busy. All of the trailhead parking throughout the entire southern region was full and overflowing; we inquired at the Escalante visitor center where a ranger gave us some suggestions for hiking areas that are less frequented: The Red Canyon Arches trail was awesome. Additionally, the state parks (Dead Horse Point and Kodachrome were not crowded, if you got there early. We drove several scenic routes along the way - Colorado River Hwy 128 (again, all the campgrounds were full); Hwy 313 to Dead Horse Point, and Hwy 12 from Torrey to Cannonville. We were able to drive through the Cedar Breaks (the road had just recently opened) and we drove out BLM road 500 from Cannonville and hiked through the Willis slot canyon; the road was decent and had been recently graded. After returning to pavement, we decided to drive the 11 miles out Cottonwood Canyon Road to see the Grosvener Arch. The road was terribly wash-boardy; it took us nearly an hour to reach the arch, but it was well worth it; again, not many people there. It seems that getting off pavement is the trick to avoiding crowds. The final leg of our trip was spectacular; we took Hwy 50 from Utah to Ely, NV, then through the Ruby Valley (east side of the Ruby Mountains), over a pass, and down into the Lamoille Valley. Such a beautiful place; I've been wanting to visit since my girlfriend moved there a few years ago and so glad we did. We spent the night at Thomas Canyon CG (USFS) - yes, we had reservations. Our only disappointment was the last day on the trip home when we decided to spend the night at Virgin Valley, NV. My husband usually stops there when he's passing through on his motorcycle; there is a "warm spring" with a pool and always on warm showers - free camping in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. FCFS (always) and rarely more than a couple of campers. However, being the Friday of the Memorial Day holiday, it was full - and, again, way too many people. We spent a quiet night at the rest area just west Virgin Valley. We are home for a time, now: with grandkids graduating, family commitments, physical therapy (long story), and garden planting. Have you tried purchasing raised bed soil this season? Yet another Covid shortage. I guess I'll have to resort to using our barn compost and deal with the weeds. Or, perhaps I could sell it on Craigslist 😎

Our F-350 super duty has tow mode with assists downhill braking. As far an emergency braking, we haven't had the opportunity to test them in that respect; hope we never do.

Same here - F350 brakes do most of the work! I understand wanting to size down to an E-I if you want to tow with a smaller vehicle, but for us, the reduced interior storage of the E-I would be difficult to accept.

When I Googled "E6000" guess what the first result was . . . . . . Ace, of course! Will pick some up today.

The corners of two of the non-slip step treads (leading edge, right side as you face the steps), on our 2021 Elite II have come "unstuck" from the step (Poor grammar, I know; my HS English teacher is probably groaning). I imagine they are installed with the self-stick backing that comes on the strips. What adhesive would you recommend to re-glue them to the step? I would ask our friendly Ace Hardware expert, but it's much more fun seeing the answers my Oliver friends come up with, which might help others who experience this minor problem. I just took a batch of Molasses Crinkle Ginger Cookies out of the oven. Can you smell them? 😋

Perfect!!! Our son has a plasma cutter . . . . . and he's licensed to blast 😀

We are heading to Utah this Saturday!!!

Try saying that fast, three times!

We have a cutting torch . . . . would that be better? Where there's a will, there's a way 😄

I guess they could remove the hitch from the receiver, attach it to the shank protruding from the Bulldog coupler, then replace the hitch in the receiver. Probably not an easy task, but possible. Could you sacrifice a spare 2" ball by cutting off the shank? As you can probably tell, I'm trying to come up with a solution using what we have 😀

We have several spare hitch balls. Would one work instead of a ball bearing?

If a ball bearing is used with the collar lock, wouldn't the "thief" have to breach the collar lock in order to remove the ball bearing? I get that the ball bearing or Blaylock prevents someone from towing the trailer away with a smaller than 2" ball. But just how likely is that to happen? Would you fell secure with just the Collar lock? Trying to keep it simple and eliminate the need for two padlocks.

Does this diminish the effectiveness of the Proven Lock?

I figured that would be the case 😏

Is anyone using something like this: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Coupler-Locks/Blaylock-Industries/BLTL-20-40D.html I should know this, but I don't 😀 Is the Elite II Bulldog coupler 2" or 2-5/16"?

Some USFS campgrounds in Oregon are currently open . . . . . most are expected to be open by the Thursday prior to Memorial Day weekend. The exceptions are those located in burn areas from the Labor Day 2020 wildfires - Clackamas River and McKenzie River Highways, and the Santiam Hwy, around Detroit Lake. It's going to be a while before those areas will be made safe from hazardous trees. I haven't heard if Oregon Public Campgrounds are all going to be by reservation. That might be their way to maintain safe numbers, for Covid restrictions. Nonetheless, it will be nice to have more camping options and get away from the coastal tourist crowds.

Thanks for the ideas. We stopped overnight at The Fish House Inn (Dayville, OR), a favorite stop over. Stopped by the Painted Hills . . . yep, still there 😉 You are right about the lack of campgrounds. . . . even RV parks. There are quite a few USFS CGs along Hwy 26, but they are still closed. We discovered a nice BLM dispersed CG just a mile in on the road to the Painted Hills. We are setting up base camp at a fairly new KOA on the Snake River near Colfax - Boyer Park & Marina, where we have 3 nights reserved in the quieter, more open portion of the park, away from the marina and overlooking the river. We'll drive the Palouse scenic route. Planning to bike the rail trail from Pullman to Moscow, ID. We like poking around small towns and photographing landscapes and old buildings. Will most certainly go up to Steptoe Butte . . . . hoping for clear skies after today's rains pass. I'm especially excited to see the Palouse when it's green. We explored the Scablands and the Grand Coulle a couple of years ago, but in early Fall. We plan to drive through the Palouse on our way to Montana this Fall; I understand it's also impressive when the wheat fields are ripe and being harvested. We're returning to OR via a route that goes across the northern part of Hanford Reach; anything in that area to see? I will post pics if we have decent Internet.

We're on the road, headed to the Palouse region of Washington state. Today we traveled from Corvallis, OR to Dayville, OR, along the John Day River. Saw four fiberglass trailers - a Trillium, an Escaoe, a Scamp, and our first ever Happier Camper. We've yet to see an Ollie 😧

Thanks for sharing pics of the plantation. The buildings are amazing . . . . . especially the log houses. We have a log house on our SW Oregon ranch . . . . . still occupied . . . . . though it isn't as old as those you shared.

The components and their customer service contact information is there, but no model # or list of serial numbers for each. Leisure Travel Vans supplied this info at delivery. I didn't even have to ask.

The firmware update went as you state, until the power off/on cycle (step 6 of instructions) when the light is supposed to flash again. Both displays still show ver 01.04 😬 After quite some time on the phone with Shaun at Xantrex, we are still unable to install the firmware update.

BTW: Solar tax credit reduced our tax liability to less than $1,000 (along with other adjustments)

What did Xantrex/OTT say about this?

Here's what seems to be the case with our Pro 3000 with BT remote display: As per Jason, I did a reset to confirm the software version on both the main display and the remote. Remove AC & DC power - disconnect shore power and trip the 200a inverter breaker located under the street side bed area. Wait about 2 minutes Reset the 300a breaker to allow DC power back to the inverter Turn the inverter on at the remote display Scroll through the settings to verify software version - should be U3 01 06. Double check the remote display to ensure it also shows the U3 01 06 software. Upon doing this, we discovered our inverter is running ver 01 04. Next, OTT had me install the ver 01 06 update, which was unsuccessful. The files appear to download, as indicate by the amber/green flashing light at the inverter's USB port, but when powered off and back on again, the displays still show ver 01 04 (both the main display and the remote panel) After hooking up and disconnecting from shore power several times, ino order to run a space heater at night to combat freezing temperatures, the remote panel stayed functional. Then, yesterday, while running on just solar power, with only phantom loads, the remote panel again gave me the "20" error. Through all of this, the inverter was not disconnected from the battery. The only way I can get the remote panel back to normal is to do the reset as outlined by Jason above. I am clueless as to what is interrupting the BT display connection.

Does this app work if the BT display shows the "20" code?