Nick and Linda Stratigakis

Thanks Trainman for your comments, for sure we are planning to visit the McDonald Observatory. It is going to be one interesting trip for sure, originally planned 2 weeks and now we are extending to 3+ weeks. Ohh by the ay I did get the Clam tent for 🤶. Cable for me is not a priority, last year I decided to go with Starlink for our home use as the local telephone company is 200 years behind reality ( 5 Mbps up and 1 down) with a cost of $90.00 per month, so Starlink was a no brainer and plan to take it along to West Texas and see how it works out for me. Merry Christmas to all Nick

Cannot confirm yet if we will have a Clam tent for Xmas (it is a well kept secret 🤐). I already bought a gas fire pit/ heater. We will make sure to visit the Becker vineyards, if you recommend it should be good. We were in Greece for 3 months this past summer , visited numerous wineries and really enjoyed doing this. I don’t think you will meet nicer folks. Nick

Mike and all, thanks a lot for your advice and comments. I think I will get a Clam tent for Xmas, if so, I will take it with us on our trip and I think we will enjoy it. I was planning one or two nights in Fredericksburg but basis on your advice we may extend our stay to three days to visit ( mainly wineries for me ) before we return home in E Texas. Thanks again Nick

We have made reservations at the Palmetto State Park (Texas) for a few days in early January and then travel towards the Big Bend area. Thinking of camping at Fort Davis for 5-6 days and make daily trips to Alpine, Marfa , Balmorhea and ….. ?? On the way back we would like to visit Fredericksburg perhaps. Since this will be our first trip in the area can anyone who has been there recommend anything else we can do or see ? Thanks in advance Nick

John, thanks for posting the answer from Andersen and happy with the reply. You will be surprised how this alternative method can make your life easier (connect and disconnect the trailer) after the initial hookup.

I used 3/4’ Χ 9’ galvanized turnbuckles. Checked several local hardware stores but they did not have them in galvanized, found them in Amazon for around $ 50. Just returned from a 450 mile trip and did not see any loosening issues at all. I will keep an eye and if I need to I would prefer to add a backup nut. If I drill a hole for a pin it may weaken the SWL ratings. I saw the build in clevises but the 3/4’ pin of the clevise would not go through the Andersen provided chains ( the OD of the clevise pin is a bit too large. As a matter of fact the 3/8” shackles need to be tapped gently in the eye of the 3/4’ turnbuckle. You could of course use the 5/8” X 6” that you suggest, dont see a problem with it but I opted for the 3/4”

Here is another option for the Andersen WDH. I found it easy to connect and disconnect in just minutes by turning the two turbbuckles . Black marker on threads provide a guide to the correct tension when ready to connect again.

Purchased last week a 2500 w Champion dual fuel generator . It runs our AC ( with soft start ) with no issues. I am only using it propane right now. Manual says 1X25 # propane cylinder will last for 30 hours, doubt it will do this under load. I will find out more in the next 45 days when we travel in Central and West Texas

Terry, thanks for your post and video. It surely makes sense, great idea, but I have one question. You did remove the hooks that came with the load binders which is ok to do but why ? The end hooks that came with binders are made to be attached to the chains. Just curious.

I own two Garmin GPS - one is 20 years old and I use it while driving a car in Europe- and the 890 which I used in our recent first trip. The 890 is a great unit, got me out of trouble three times especially in the Atlanta area and in construction sites great large screen. Never got lost -really - one time that we thought it betrayed our trust, we had missed a sign 10’ X 8’ which was our fault . It is especially useful when your gas tank is only 1/4 full, red light cameras, rail crossings, traffic delays, etc etc. it is regularly updated via WiFi . Fairly expensive but well worth the price.

We took delivery of our Elite II on March 4. Visited the Oliver facility and met with some great people who helped us with documentation and with the delivery tour. Tour and explanations of how things work were pretty straight forward with no major hiccups. Stayed at Olivers campsite for two nights so we were hands on. Left the facility on Sunday for Nashville for 2 nights. After this we were pretty confident that we could be on our own. Called tech support once, confused for the orientation of the valves - normal, boondocking. The technician was great explaining the difference between the two. Our route took us to 6 HH locations (by the way best investment we ever made )met with some great hosts from wineries, distilleries, organic farms. Great people to meet and talk to. All HH sites ( with the exception of one ) offered no electricity or water which was no issue for us. Used the central heat for 9 days and consumed the first propane tank which is not bad at all. On March 11 and 12 while in NC, we experienced a snow blizzard with temperatures down to 7 degrees. Our truck and the Ollie were covered with snow and ice, however we were very comfortable inside and nothing froze. I was concerned about the outside shower but luckily I did not flush the antifreeze on delivery date. After this we headed south GA, AL, FL , MS , LA and returned back home late last week. Had many curious visitors inquiring about the trailer, most unaware of the name, some pretty disgusted with their own complaining about the particle board roof and tarp, floors and overall the low quality craftsmanship of the rigs that they currently own. I saw some folks bring their own level to make sure their rig was level. Towing the trailer was a dream and especially easy on road construction sites. Overall we averaged 13.3 MPG taking in consideration the NC steep grades - some 4 degrees up and down and driving against strong head winds for 4 days. Solar option works really great - did not choose the Lithium battery option - but sufficient for lights, microwave, instapot, radio, etc.Just 4-5 hours of sunlight was enough to fully charge the batteries and I think that we can stretch the battery reserve for 2-3 days with no sun. The convection oven was a no no with solar. Only complaint we have is the roof AC, very noisy, uncomfortable. Another great feature is the black tank flush port. Before we arrived home we stayed in a RV park, drained both tanks and flushed black with fresh water. Overall it was a great first trip and already started planning the second and third.

We are set to leave on March 1 to take delivery on March 4. We will be traveling light leaving behind our bulky espresso maker. As an alternative we will have our stove top Bialetti 6 cup, which will do for the time being. It is not exactly what a counter top espresso quality cup is but it will be good enough.

Thank you all reading my note , your advise and supporting the reasons for buying the RV trailer and yes, it is our first one. As Topgun mentioned and when a local tells me that there is nothing to see in their small town, this exactly what i will do -go and see for myself. The very last thing we want to do is to invade other peoples privacy and respect their space. One thing we have learned living in our part of texas - be friendly, courteous but dont come over unless you are invited. We have read many posts here and i think we will be prepared for our first trip-hope it will be great with no major issues and see all or some of you on the road someday. I will post delivery day comments in a few weeks.

We are now taking delivery of our Ollie II on March 4. After 40 some years in business, Linda and I retired or so we thought. We spent the first few months traveling abroad and enjoying the time off and doing things we wanted to do. Then 2020 came along and everything changed overnight. Early on I decided to remodel our country home and I remodeled it to death. Then came the burn- out syndrome. We suffered long isolations and numerous days and nights, thinking and deciding if this was the life we wanted to live. Because of my business, we often traveled abroad and we have seen Europe and other countries more than we have seen our own beautiful country and state, and I am not saying that we have not been anywhere but all we knew was large cities and airports, taxis from the airport to a hotel, meetings, and then, back to the airport. Regretfully, we did not stop and smell the roses, mainly because of me. Our first trip will start from Tennessee, NC, SC, FL and return back home driving and stopping in small towns along the Gulf Coast, visiting friends and relatives that we have not seen in many years. We did discover HH and became members. What better way is there to visit meet and talk to every day hard-working people and businesses such as farms, wineries, breweries, etc. We will gladly support them - one overnight stay should be enough. After the first trip we will concentrate seeing and visiting our state and neighboring states. If we can, and there is availability to national parks, it will be a bonus. There is so much to do and see. Hope we will live long enough.

Albert, not sure about satellite internet. We will be storing our Ollie in East Texas. We currently have internet service with our local telephone provider ( it sucks, can’t receive or send emails while watching Netflix , they call it broadband service 4.8 up and 1.02 down ). Currently our only other option is Starlink, on waiting list they say mid 2022, Hopefully by then they may have the Starlink mobile service .