Mike and Carol

I put the gutter right up against the frame. Not saying that’s where it should be, to me it looked best and made it easy keep it straight and aligned with the window. I’ve seen others with a significant gap between the gutter and the window frame. Mike

Tennessee has some great state parks if you don’t want to stay in the Hohenwald neighborhood more that a few days. We stayed a week at Fall Creek Falls State Park last month, lots to do. There are others too, which would keep you close enough to for a service visit if necessary. Mike

Thanks for the links. I think I’ll give them a try, easier set up and tear down is always a good thing. Mike

Our plan up to now is to drive up the coast to Acadia. We just found out about the funeral and family gathering yesterday and we had planned on spending July and August in Colorado, so now everything changes! Maine is one of the few states we’ve never been to. I checked Lemoine State Park and it’s booked all of July and August. It’s going to be a challenge to find campsites this late in the game. I’m thinking after Acadia we could continue up the coast or go north, there appears to be a lot of USFS areas. We will definitely spend some time in New Hampshire and Vermont on our way home. Just haven’t researched enough yet. Thanks for the input! Mike

I removed my black valve, it isn’t too complicated and shouldn’t take up too much of your time while camping (a few hours at the most). You could also try just cleaning the one you have to see if you can get the blade to seat all the way down. Like I said elsewhere, after dumping we routinely open the dinette seat and physically push the blade down. Make sure your black tank is clean! Maybe put a few gallons of water, a detergent pod and a bleach pod in before you leave home and let it agitate around while driving, then dump when you get there. Good luck! Mike

We will be going to a funeral in Portsmouth, NH the end of July (my Aunt who passed away last December, funeral postponed due to COVID restrictions). We plan on heading up to Acadia NP after. Besides the National Park, what recommendations does anyone have for other camping and other sites to see? We’ve never been to Maine. Also, does anyone have any recommendations for camping around the Portsmount/Manchester NH area? My cousin lives in Mont Vernon and we will be spending some time with her and family. Thanks! Mike

Welcome, again! Being a researcher you should have a lot to offer everyone here. Ask questions now and then provide answers later! We always say that our Oliver has everything that we need and nothing that we don’t. Mike

…and it looks like we’ll be getting more rain in the days to come. Not used to things being so green around here!

I can vouch for this. 6 years ago I was concerned with towing specs and did not consider payload. It’s a truck, right? Throw a bunch of stuff in the back and go. Once you add the tongue weight, people weight, stuff in the cab and stuff in the bed (including caps or covers) it doesn’t matter how much you can tow if you’re at or over your weight limit. My 2500 diesel does tow better than my Tacoma did, but it’s the payload capacity that is the big difference. Mike

Tina and Mike, welcome! September is right around the corner and a great time to camp. Glad to have you on the forum and we’ll look for you on the road! Mike

Ours did that occasionally. To remedy, while hooked up to city water and getting overflow from the fresh tank, I turned on the water pump for 15 or 20 seconds. Turn it off and the problem is resolved. There’s probably an explanation that involves physics and fluid mechanics but as long as it works I’m happy.

We always run on propane while towing so if you don’t get it figured out you can use propane and don’t need to worry until you get it fixed. We have the older Dometic so hopefully someone with the new Norcold will chime in. The plug issue seems to be common, I hope the factory folks figure out a solution. Mike

Lee and Linda, welcome! You’ve got a classic trailer with number 36. Hope to meet you out on the road! Mike

Sometimes the blade on the black tank won’t close all the way. We’ve had it happen. There might be a little “something” that gets lodged where the blade seats at the bottom of the valve. You can access it from under the dinette seat by the bath. What we have been doing the last few years is to manually push the blade down all the way after dumping. We’ve had no issues since we started doing this. Also, while you’re looking at it, you can also check for adjustment of the cable. Loosen the screw on top which frees the cable, then adjust it so that when the dump handle is closed you have max pressure on the blade. Also, you can pull the entire cable out clean and lubricate it and then snake it back in to the blade valve. I did that a year or so ago and it did make the operation a bit smoother. If you need to, you can also replace or just remove and clean the valve. It’s not too difficult. Just make sure your black tank is nice and clean. I removed mine when we were having some full hose issues and cleaned and lubricated it. Have fun! Mike

If you’re around Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon National Monument is worth at stop as is Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Enjoy the dry weather! Mike

I got the aluminum box off of Amazon. About $100. It carries my heavy rubber chocks, wood blocks, 20 legos, gloves, flashlight and a couple of other items. I never lock it. It’s held up well the past few years. For what I use it for it’s perfect. Mike

On the positive side, you are getting a crash course on some parts of your Oliver. Steve suggested some work in the attic, I’ve had that insulation out several times for various projects. Learning where all the possible leak location are, where the weep holes are, etc will come in handy in the future. Every time I have a maintenance issue I look at it as another short course in my Oliver expertise. Plus, all of your Casita experience will be invaluable. Pretty soon you won’t be the question asker here, you’ll be one of the professors. Mike

Both of our 1500 5.7’s towed fine in the mountains. One had a 10,400 lbs capacity and the latest was a Rebel with a 9,000 lbs capacity. You have to get used to some higher RPM’s when going uphill, but we never had any issues staying at speed or any overheating issues. That includes up and down highway 550 (million dollar highway) in Colorado. I knew I was always at or near the limit of my cargo capacity, but the 1500 towed fine, was comfortable and reliable. Mike

If it is a difficult situation where a large trailer is being backed in to a site with lots of trees or other obstacles, maybe. I’ve had a couple of offers but I always politely refuse. Normally, we don’t use any hand signals at all. Carol quietly talks to me on our phones or our little Motorola’s if there’s no cell service. She stands at the end of the site, no walking backwards and if I can’t see her I don’t move. We always do a site check before backing in to determine location of utilities, if there are any, or just where we want the door to open. Routines are a good thing. Mike

I second this. When we camp we eat like we do at home. Lots of beef, some salmon, brats (and sauerkraut), some chicken for fajitas. A few peppers, broccoli and brussel sprouts. All do well on the grill. Bacon and eggs for breakfast as well as full fat plain Greek yogurt topped with blueberries, cinnamon and sliced almonds. Snacks include humus and snap peas, various cheeses and sliced salami. Some Pinot Noir and/or Sauvignon Blanc (bottle or box) in the fridge and some Cabernet Sauvignon in the pantry. Desert is usually a square of 85% dark chocolate topped with a little peanut butter. Clean, not complicated. We can find what we like almost anywhere. And cashews…. almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, walnuts! Mike

Glad that was it. It took me a while to figure it out. When checking the Blue Sky display make sure you discharge any static electricity! Mike

Another thing…. several times, while I was backing into my site with Carol back there guiding me, I’ve had someone come up to the truck and start asking me about my Oliver. Normally, I’m happy to talk about my trailer - but not when I’m trying to back in or when I’m dumping, hitching, unhitching, etc. I try to be polite, but…. 😤.

I have an aluminum box on the tongue to hold chocks, blocks, gloves, etc. It has been very handy since it’s the first thing I open when we arrive on site. The generator (when we take it) is in the bed of the truck. We only use the generator to charge batteries when the solar can’t keep up so being in the bed is no big deal. It’s also only 37 lbs so it is easy to lift.

If you are in the process of backing in and someone drives up, they wait. If you haven’t started then you should let them go by. You’ll get better at the backing part and most folks remember how it was for them and show patience. There are a few out there that don’t, they are the exception rather than the rule. Mike

My display has gone out a few times, always when I touch it with some static discharge. To fix, unscrew the four screws, pull it out and disconnect the telephone type wire from the back (power). After a few seconds it will reset itself, reconnect the wire and put it back. That should get the display back. Mike