Mike and Carol

We prefer Cracker Barrel’s over Walmarts. We’ve never had a bad experience and like Bill says, you are usually behind the building so road noise is reduced. Also, they are often located with other hotels/motels and restaurants, so it feels safe. The only issue we’ve found is the early morning food delivery truck or early morning garbage truck at the dumpsters. That’s usually when we get up and either get on the road or get ready to go inside for coffee and breakfast. Mike

We’ve got 12 months of camping left before we winterize. Will re-assess in 12 months, but will probably go for another 12 months! I think I know quite a bit about my Oliver, but since we’ve never winterized I don’t have a clue how to do that. Mike

We towed with a 2016 Ram 1500 Lone Star edition for about 50K miles. We liked it enough to trade it in on a 2020 Ram Rebel, same engine and drive train. We like the comfort and features of the interior. We had no issues with our 2016 1500 and had almost 100K miles on it when we traded it. Our new Rebel is pretty loaded, some stuff not very necessary like the sunroof. I’ve got about 1500 lbs of payload capacity, so with the tongue weight, tonneau cover and stuff we carry we’re close to the limit. We are very happy with our Ram. Mike

I saw that this morning, too. 1K watts is nice. Will keep watching...

If you stop near White Sands you might want to check out Aguirre Spring BLM. $7, no hookups, clean vault toilets, spectacular views. You drive up the side of the mountain to the campground. You can see White Sands NP in the distance. Highly recommend.

I’ve only had a trailer so I can’t comment on owning a class B. Maintaining our Oliver is pretty easy. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person bearings and brakes are not difficult. I choose to go by my neighborhood RV repair shop once a year and have them to the repacking and brake checks/adjustments. My tow vehicle is also my daily driver, so maintenance on it is what I would do anyway for whatever I’m driving. I’m not 70, but will be in a few years. Hooking up our trailer is not much of a physical challenge. It does seem to me that a Class B with a toad would be two engines and drivetrains, two gas tanks and more to maintain. It’s probably more comfortable while driving if you can walk back to your camper and get in the fridge or whatever. I’m happy with a trailer that big enough to live comfortably in yet small enough to fit into some really good sites. Mike

Our daughter, who had an RV before we did, told me that people in campgrounds are “salt of the earth people”, very friendly. We’ve found that friendliness is everywhere we’ve camped, whether it’s in a formal campground or out boondocking in the middle of nowhere. Small towns are great. We also try to avoid areas with bugs, just returned from Colorado and Northern Arizona and had few bugs, low humidity and cool nights. We do lock doors just because we lock doors. Our Oliver is truly a second home, it just travels where we do. Mike

Welcome, Jim. You’re going to have a nice Christmas present in December. And, you’re right, lots of advice and opinions around here! 🤓

Welcome back to the camping world and the forum! Ask any questions you might have - lots of answers here. Mike

Arizona parks are generally hard to get into without reservations well in advance. Lyman Lake wasn’t bad during the week, but weekends are full. We’re going back to Catalina State Park in January and made reservations last January! This summer was crazy. We stayed at Navajo State Park in Colorado the last part of July and it was packed.

This is Lyman Lake State Park in eastern AZ. Nice park, sites are well maintained with views of the lake. There are some native hieroglyphs on the bluffs at the lake. Easy hike to see them. We stayed a couple of nights on our way home from Colorado and northern Arizona a couple of weeks ago. Nice sites, covered shelter, lake view. Short hike up the bluff to the hieroglyphs. Campground in the background. Sunrise. Mike

I lost one of the four screws that hold the AC shroud on. I went on the Dometic site and found it, they sell them in sets of 8. I asked how to order them since there was no price or obvious way to order. I got an email a couple days later stating that they would put them in the mail to me, no charge for the screws or the shipment. Mike

Great pictures! Looks like you had the first of many great trips. Keep sharing the pics, now I’ve put Juliette State Park on our list. Mike

3500 is not enough for even the small Oliver. I agree with Sherry, I would look at a larger tow vehicle if you want an Oliver. Otherwise, there are other fiberglass trailers that might work, a Scamp or maybe small Escape.

It’s working so far....

It looks like Marco will hit the coast of LA, maybe some in Houston. About 48 hours or so later, Laura comes in, larger storm right now and will also land a little east of us. We’re just hoping to get some rain from either of both of the them.

We just got back from a few weeks in Colorado and northern Arizona. The pandemic does make things less fun. We visited a couple of National Monuments outside of Flagstaff and masks were required, the visitors centers were closed to the public. If you wanted to purchase any kind of souvenir you had to visit an outdoor table and point to what you wanted and a ranger or volunteer would go inside and get it for you. We found ourselves not stopping to see certain things, just not as much fun. Hopefully our Lake Guntersville/TN/KY trip will be a little better. But, it was still good to get out on the road and away from this south TX heat for a while!

My $0.02... You will need an Andersen hitch. It’s the only one that fits the Oliver without some amount of fiberglass cutting/modifications. I towed with a 4.0L Tacoma (with a TRD Supercharger). Engine-wise is was okay. After about 6K miles I upgraded to a half ton because a) I was tired of stopping at every gas station on the way due to the small fuel tank and b) cargo capacity was limited so we couldn’t carry the stuff we wanted due to both weight and size of the bed. The smaller size truck means you’ll also need to be very aware of stopping distances and hills will not be a lot of fun (both going up and down).

We are in E-06. We were in E-12 last year, it’s a good site. See you there. Mike

Nice truck! I’m sure you’ll be happy with it both towing and just driving around town.

I think your research should show that Oliver bends over backwards to ensure happy owners. As far a discoloration goes, we’re going on 5 years and have none. I’ll be interested in the resolution of this, too. Also, welcome to the forum! Mike

The most amazing camping spots we’ve experienced are the ones that are remote with no hook ups.

Hey Larry, welcome to the forum. Thanks for the support! Mike

Are you lookin’ at me?!?! 😂🤣