Mike and Carol

We drive up and down 550 towing from Ouray to Durango frequently. It is easier with our 2500 but we also used to make the drive towing with a half ton. We’ve done the drive around by Telluride and Cortez, it’s also a very scenic trip that you’ll enjoy! Mike

We like to stay at Ridgway State Park which is in the same area. Great location to explore Ouray, Telluride and even Silverton (nice drive down 550). We’ll be back in Colorado in August! Mike

I’ve been experiencing this for the last couple of years. About every 3rd camping trip, while connected to city water, I get and fast drip from the overflow. I go inside, check that the fresh tank is at 100%, turn on the water pump and turn on a faucet for a couple of seconds and the problem is solved. I bought a new water pump when this started, but I just haven’t gotten around to replacing the old pump since is doesn’t happen very often and when it does it’s a quick fix. I keep the water pump in the trailer hoping that it will threaten the old pump to behave, but it’s not working. Mike

I think the freshwater overflow must allow air in .

By “pressurized” I mean either water pump on or connected to city water. While there can be residual pressure even when the pump is off and there is no connection to city water, if there is a leak in the system, that pressure will steadily lower through the leak to the point where there is no pressure in the system.

Rob, are you talking about the fresh water overflow port or the weep holes? When I overfill the fresh tank the excess water comes out of the overflow port behind the steps, never out of any weep holes. I don’t have any thoughts on why it doesn’t leek at only 80% full, but leaking only when pressurized usually indicates a leak somewhere. I had a plastic pex T-joint that came out of the hot water tank which had a small crack. It was fine until pressurized, then it was a steady drip. It took some time (and some blue paper towels) to find. Mike

I’m going to order one to use with our Mini. It seems it gives a lot of flexibility to the Mini setup… if you can set your dish close to the trailer you may not need it but if you’re under trees and have to move the dish further away the router would ensure good speed. Mike

Yep, joule preservation is important when running naked, (power protection naked, of course).

I have a 2K watt Champion inverter generator that I just plug in to, I haven’t used a special plug. I guess I need to look to see if the Champion is “bonded to ground”, something I wasn’t aware of. Going on 10 years and still learning…. Mike

It was June!

Here are pics of Monarch Pass in June 2023. First time snow, 2 weeks later sunny and warm!

Looks nice, Ken. Enjoy the shade!

Wow, sorry to see this happen. Other’s have had similar experiences so maybe they can advise. Once you get this sorted out a trip up to Grand Junction, CO to get a set of ALCAN springs installed might be worth the trip. Good luck, I hope this gets resolved quickly. Mike

We also try to avoid interstates but sometimes it’s just not reasonably possible. I hope this isn’t a trend in other states! Mike

This thread was started in May 2016. There wasn’t a lot of activity on the forum then, just over 100 trailers produced. Before we left for our pick up in May 2016 someone suggested I start a “Where’s Ollie” thread so folks could post travels and good camping spots. We picked up Hull 135 on May 10 and started this from our second campsite at Land Between the Lakes on May 17. 28 pages later it’s become a nice spot to see where folks have been thanks to everyone who has contributed. Our first campsite was at Fall Hollow Campground in Hohenwald, Oliver’s spot for your first night back then. Proud new owners at Fall Hollow Campground 9 years ago.

We passed through SD on our way to Glacier, Grand Teton, and beyond. We stayed in Spearfish and wish we would have taken a few extra days to visit Badlands. Oh well, another trip! Great pics, John. Enjoy the drug store, I’m sure you’ll find something interesting there! Mike

We’re here. It was a moderator that started this by suggesting “hook ups” have meanings outside of the RV world. The graphic piled on a little. Mildly humorous, not something most of us would put on the outside of our trailer, but humorous in an eye-rolling kind of way. In fact, those of us who boondock quite a bit couldn’t use that graphic because we’re more interested in “no hook ups”. Mike 😎

Maybe a sticker that can be put somewhere on the trailer? Sort of like the map of states overnighted in. Or a patch that could go on your Oliver hat? I’ve kept track of total nights, but would have to go back and look at places to see how many were boondocking.

We rarely use the rafter. As I remember it has a hook like thing on the trailer side and I can’t remember how it attaches to the awning. I think it is to provide stability, although we’ve not noticed much difference. I think it also helps in rainy situations if you forget to get enough angle for drainage. Just don’t try to crank the awning in with the rafter still deployed! Mike

No reservations stresses me out too. On our next long trip to OR and WA we have reservations going all the way to our last destination at Whidby Island north of Seattle. Coming home to Texas is wide open, we’ll be winging it but should be okay mid to late September. Mike

We’ve done the long meandering trips and also the destination specific trips. Plus’s and minus’s for both. We’ve found that many overnight stops in a row can get tiring, so when we’re headed somewhere specific we try to find a spot where we can stay two nights and a day to rest up. Plus, we do enjoy staying at a target destination for a week or more. We’re getting ready to go to the PNW in August and September, 7 National Parks and the OR and WA coast. I’m sure we’ll be tired when we get home, but we’ll fill in OR and WA on our map! Mike

Looks like they did a good job getting you all cleaned up!

…and the Army is celebrating 250 years today!

The few times I’ve left the awning out overnight I regretted it because I had to get up and crank it back in. So, I’m with you 100% there. Mike

We have the manual Fiamma awning and have used it quite a bit. We’ve done a lot of hot weather camping and it provides shade when sitting and cooking outside. It has also provided shelter during light rains so we can sit outside and enjoy the weather. We have a sunshade that easily hooks onto the awning providing even more shade and enables the awning to be used even in pretty windy weather.. I’m not a fan of automatic awnings, but it seems that is where RV’s are trending. At Lake Guntersville. At US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs. Lake Guntersville.