Mike and Carol

Don, thanks for the report. I’ve got a service appointment for Nov 7 and 8 with a list of things to be done. Our last tour was 3 years ago, so it’s probably time for another! Mike

If we need to dump and we’re not at 70 or 80% I turn on the water for the black flush until it gets up to 80%. Then I pull, leaving the water running into the black tank. When it gets down to zero or 5% I close the valve and fill again. Sometimes with the water running it won’t get below 5%. Then I do it a third time. When it gets down to zero I shut the black flush water off and let the tank drain. Then I do the gray tank. I leave the valve under the dinette seat open most of the time. I have a back flow preventer on my hose and I think there might be one built in. Mike

We usually fill it to 80% for the extra rinses. I’m outside and Carol is inside watching the level readout. She tells me when it hits 80% and then I pull. I just leave the water running while it’s draining, then do it again. We drop in a detergent pod and a little Calgon water softener with some water after we dump. If we’re putting it away I also add some Happy Camper powder and a couple of gallons of water in both the black and gray tanks. Mike

Steph and Steve, welcome from south Texas. Oregon is on our short list of places to visit. If you have questions, ask away - there will be no shortage of answers! Mike

Matt, I’ve used Boerne RV Service and was happy with their work. Boerne RV Service, 125 Industrial Drive, Boerne, TX 78006

Steve, sad news. Robert was my initial contact at Oliver and we enjoyed meeting with him on our first visit. Good guy. Mike

I removed the front graphic (which was easy) and installed our own while at our first campsite. I also removed the lettering on the sides and put on our own. We worked with a local artist/graphic designer to come up with our star graphic. I think she charged $130. We had two printed for around $40, I think. Mike

If you have no hose connected to the city water connection there should be no pressure so the pump should come on. If the two red wires are connected to the bottom of the pump and the fuse is good, not sure what else to suggest. Mike

Nice! Simple but effective. Mike

My pump quit working once. There are two wires that connect to the pump. They had both worked themselves lose. Check under the bed, you can see the wires. If they are connected it might be a fuse? Mike

Jeff, having lived in Sierra Vista for years I know the lowest temps you will get are about like what we experience here in San Antonio. On those days it gets below freezing, even into the mid to low 20s, I just turn on a small space heater and open the hatches under the rear dinette and beds. It usually gets above freezing during daylight hours. We like to be ready to go year round and since the south Texas weather isn’t severe we can safely skip winterizing. If I was back in Sierra Vista I would do the same thing. Mike

We have 20amp electrical at our facility. I keep it plugged in with the fridge on all the time. The bays are deep to accommodate big class A’s so I can back my “little” Ollie in deep to avoid sun, rain etc.

We store ours at a local boat and RV storage facility. It’s covered and has electricity. I give it a good wash after each trip. I’ve waxed it once in 18 months. Still looks new. Mike

It went on pretty easily. The curve wasn’t much trouble. I did it on a warm day in sunshine. I taped it on with masking tape making sure it was centered and level (Carol’s keen eye helped). I took the tape off of the top half and then part of the backing. Using a hard plastic squeegee I slowly worked from the middle out to the edge. Once part of the top was stuck, I took the tape off of the rest and slowly peeled the back off while using the squeegee to insure there were no air bubbles. I had a few small air bubbles, but they weren’t too noticeable and are now gone.

That’s a good looking trailer! Congrats, happy camping and hope to see you on the road. Mike

The Lonestar logo is 23.5”. I had two made in case I messed up installing the first one. Here’s a pic of my backup just now. Putting it on at Land Between the Lakes just after pickup. I had it printed locally because of the size limitation Oliver had. It wasn’t expensive and was easy to install. I think about 24” diameter is about right. Mike

Darrel & Kathy, seems like we should have run into each other! We even stayed in Albuquerque on our way back to San Antonio. We didn’t see any other Olivers either, but did see lots of fiberglass trailers. We saw a Casita with an interesting paint job camped near us at Black Canyon NP. I had to take a picture....

For our first visit when we placed our order (Oct 2015) we stayed at Natchez Hills B&B. It’s associated with the Natchez Hills Winery. It was a log cabin in the middle of the woods about a quarter mile from the owners house. There is also a small house that you can rent at Amber Falls Winery. Here’s the only picture I have of our cabin at Natchez Hills. We really enjoyed the rustic ambiance. Mike

I got two 10 foot hoses off Amazon. I usually can set up so I only need to use one for my Q1000 grill, but have used both on occasion. Unless you’re going to grill or run a generator you don’t need anything for pick up. Mike

Great mods! I’m especially interested in the propane tanks. I like the weight reduction and being able to visually check the level. Your CradlePoint install is something I’m going to look at too. Thanks for posting these. Mike

We have the front quick connect and use it frequently. Haven’t had any issues with rocks from the truck. Mike

I’ve had generally good responses from both sales and service. Always had timely answers and follow ups from Tommy and Jason. Accents haven’t been an issue either. They are in central TN and folks there have accents, just like we have here in south TX. I like being able to talk directly to Oliver employees and would hate to see things get too sophisticated. I can tolerate an occasional delay knowing how busy they are getting. I agree that a “contact us” tab on the web page with a list of names and phone numbers/email addresses would be helpful. Mike

We made it back from our month in Colorado (and Utah and Arizona). We had a great time and appreciate all the advice from everyone. I’ll post some pictures once we get used to being home. We enjoyed everything. Garden of the Gods is pretty amazing considering it’s a city park. The weather while we were at RMNP was great, some snow at the higher elevations but mostly sunshine and agreeable temps. We visited Estes Park and Breckinridge. Black Canyon NP was unique and well worth the visit. The Campground (South Rim) was close to the canyon and pretty well maintained. We visited Crested Butte while there. The drive through Montrose, Ouray, Silverton to Durango was scenic! Mesa Verde NP is historically fascinating, the Rangers there do a great job. We made a change at Mesa Verde and headed northwest to Moab instead of east to Sand Dunes NP to avoid some weather. In Moab we stayed at Horsethief Campground, which is BLM. It’s in between Canyonlands NP and Arches NP so we could see both while there. Moab is an interesting little town. Then we dropped south into Arizona and spent a couple of days at Petrified Forest NP before heading east to TX and home. The end result of the trip was a very dirty truck and trailer and a couple of big smiles. Mike

This is what we use, with an Asus lock. A determined thief will win, this is just deterrence. Mike

Sounds like the cable disconnected from the gate. You can check under the dinette seat closest to the bathroom. You might be able to push the handle back in and reconnect it under the seat.