Mike and Carol

A few years ago we were headed to Catalina from Rockhound SP in Deming, NM. We got a call that morning that the park was closed, the road had flooded (again) and was closed. They were able to get us in to Lost Dutchman so we just kept driving past Tucson!

Catalina State Park is one of our favorites. Looks like your at the site next to the trailhead?

John, I had a small leak that caused drips from the curbside rear. With the water pump off and no city water I could see no leak under the bed in that area. Turn the water pump on and I found a leak (one drip every few seconds) from the T joint coming out of the hot water tank. It was a plastic joint and many miles of traveling obviously caused a very small crack at the bottom of the joint. I replaced it with a brass fitting and no issues since. There’s not a lot of room down there to maneuver tools and I had a sore back after I got it fixed. A blue paper towel helped in locating the drip. Good luck! Mike

Since this thread has taken the off ramp from the original topic…. We lived in France and became well acquainted with both the food and wine, same with Italy in our travels - each country a bit different but great food, both. We also lived in Belgium, good food there, especially in the north. More beer per capita in Belgium than anywhere else. I agree there is a false impression that food in the UK is not as good. Our experience with food in England and Scotland was very favorable, from scones and coffee in the morning to a simple pub meal late afternoon. We also miss the food and beer in Germany. We had a small Gasthaus in our town and a Stammtisch group we enjoyed meals with on Friday evenings. Memories! MIke

Doing ones own maintenance is an individual decision. I certainly did my own work for years and rarely went to the dealer. Growing older and more senior at work there just wasn’t time anymore with the long hours, frequent travel and weekend work. Today’s vehicles are also more technical and complicated. Now being retired, I just don’t feel like taking the time to get greasy. Need to spend that time with grandkids, kids and mom next door. Not to mention traveling and camping. I’ve got a good Ram dealer and Audi dealer very close by that I’ve been doing business with for years. To each his own. Mike

We have our original matresses but have switched to foam. We bought a 10” queen foam mattress at Costco, cut it in half and used the old mattresses as a template for the corner curve. They were very comfortable but a bit tall. We got an 8” gel memory foam queen mattress on Amazon and did the same drill. We’ve had this for the last 2 to 3 years and they are also very comfortable and the height is better. A queen is 60” wide, the Oliver twins are 30” wide, so half a queen mattress. Mike

Lots of great information, I’m trying to digest it all, my map is getting a workout. It’s quite a drive to the PNW from south Texas and we want to plan enough time do make the most of that long drive. Thanks to all for your insights! Mike

This is Aguirre Spring in January…

Lance, we love that campground too! Mike

Yes, using reserveamerica.com. I tried some other dates and looked at the availability view and did see some openings, thanks. Once I nail down our dates hopefully there will be a spot for us. We are right on the edge of the 6 month reservation window, so that might work in our favor too!

Just checked Beverly Beach SP for availability in August. All reservable sites are reserved. It looks like a 6 month reservation window and a number of sites are not reservable, I’m assuming they are probably first come first served. Big park! Will continue to check.

I’m starting the planning for a trip to visit some National Parks and states we haven’t been to. This will be a late summer trip, August/September. Planning to visit Lassen, Redwood, Crater Lake, Mt. Ranier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks. Would also like to work in some coast driving (101) and camping. We’ve never been to either state so if anybody has any recommendations or advice it would be appreciated. I’m sure the weather is somewhat cooler there in late summer than it is here in south Texas! Mike

yonder. You know,

John, we’ve always had good experiences overnighting at Cracker Barrel’s. Stay safe if the roads are slick! It’s cold in Texas, 21 degrees here this morning, colder up north.

When we were thinking about retiring in Arizona the only places we considered were high country. Sierra Vista (5000+’), Payson (5000+’), Prescott (5000+’) and Flagstaff (nosebleed’). Our daughter graduated from Northern AZ University in Flagstaff, it’s easy to get used to the cool summer temperatures there! Plus, there isn’t any humidity anywhere which makes the heat very tolerable. 90 degrees in AZ is 20 degrees cooler than 90 degrees in San Antonio!!

Just finished ours!

Carol and I have been together since 1969, married 49 years this year. For someone who wasn’t very enthusiastic about getting a trailer and camping, she has become the best camping partner ever. SInce I retired in 2016 we’ve been pretty much joined at the hip, we do everything together. Mike

We go where we go, no gentle treatment here. You should see the front of my trailer, there’s enough chips and rock gouges to qualify it as a replica of the surface of the moon. The rest is pretty shiny. 😎

John, despite my efforts washing and waxing on a regular basis our old trailer was looking a little dull. The CGI guys made it look better than the day we picked it up. Much easier to clean now.

CGI does great work…

We haven’t tried them either, they just came out a month or so ago. We’re using the same as you.

Hey Jay, congratulations and welcome! As you get to know your trailer don’t hesitate to ask questions. Mike

Ours originally was going to be delivered in December 2015. But, due to my work schedule I asked to delay until May 2016. They had already started building it in the fall of 2015 and just set it aside, finishing it in the spring. So ours is a mix of 2015 and 2016, not that it matters any since there wasn’t too much standardization then.

Congratulations on your new Oliver! It is a good looking trailer and does tow like a dream. Wishing you many happy travels in the coming years. Mike

My valve installation looks very different than yours. Bends in the cable will definitely cause binding. My cable was straight with no bends at all. Interesting because our hull numbers are so close. Mike