Mike and Carol

That would as close to a slide-out as you could get with an Oliver!

Both tanks vent through a singe vent on the roof that is over the bathroom. When we camp we don’t use any treatment in the gray tank. When we get home I add some Happy Campers and a little water to the gray. We have not had any odor issues. In the black, when camping we add some water softener and a detergent pod (Geo Method) after each dump. When we get home I add some Happy Campers to the black along with the softener and detergent. No odors there either. Mike

Tom and Marie, welcome! Look forward to meeting you, hope you consider attending our spring rally in Alabama. Mike

Looks like a great trip! We have family outside of KC as well (north, Leavenworth/Lansing) and there are not many campgrounds to choose from in that area. Hopefully, the December weather will cooperate for your trip. We have found that state parks in Arkansas are very good, we’ve stayed at a half dozen or so. Tennessee also has some nice state parks. You’ve got Caddo Lake State Park here in Texas on your map. We’ve stayed there and it is nice. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas. Big trees, some swampy areas. Should be nice that time of year. We’ve also stayed at Village Creek State Park which is just north of Beaumont, small but nice. In Louisiana, we have stayed at Fountainebleau State Park which is on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain just off I-10. We didn’t stay long, but we did have a nice site. Also on I-10 in Louisiana is the Atchafalaya Rest Stop which has RV parking and 24 hour security. We overnighted there once on our way home. They welcome overnight guests there. Take a look at The Ultimate US Public Campground App. It lists parks (National down to city), Corps of Engineer campgrounds (some are exceptional), BLM, Forest Service, Utility and military campgrounds. It’s what I use first, then I go to Allstays. Good luck! Mike

10th grade, thank you. Foy, agree with the other comedians, sorry for the hijack. I don’t know where that washer is from, although when I first read your post the first thing that popped into my head was a washer from the red bushing on the Andersen. Mike

My initial TV was a 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport. It had a TRD supercharger. My Oliver weighed 5100lbs when I picked it up. I towed for about 6,000 miles with my Tacoma and it did fine. Uphills in the Ozarks were not a problem. I ended up trading it for a Ram 1500 for several reasons. The gas tank size made it necessary to stop for gas every 150 to 200 miles. The bed was not as big as a full size pickup and it was a trick fitting in the stuff we wanted to carry. Plus, it had well over 100K miles and I had the new truck itch. Mike

I was going to say left side sprocket, but now that I look at it more closely it does look like the right side. Mike

We’ve never used a shower curtain. Just a squeegee and towel after showers. The bathroom is the cleanest place in the trailer! We don’t have a Natures Head, if it must stay dry then there must be a workable solution out there. Mike

We use the low fan setting whenever running the AC. Mike

Well,...um.... I’m glad it got fixed!!

We carry an ice chest for ice and drinks in the back seat of the truck. We usually pick up bagged ice wherever we’re at. We’ve been discussing getting an ice maker, just not sure where we’d carry it. I haven’t had any problems with log ins. I mostly use an iPad and never log out so when I turn on I’m already logged in. Mike

BLM - Bureau of Land Management. A lot of land in the western US is public and BLM managed. For instance, at Quartzsite, AZ where there is a fiberglass rally every winter (January) there are miles and miles of BLM land where you can camp for free. No utilities or designated sites, just lots of land. If you use the Ultimate US Public Campground App it will show BLM, FS (Forest Service) and utility areas where you can camp, state and national parks as well as county and municipal campgrounds. It’s the app I use for planning. If I can’t find anything near where we’re going then I go to Allstays which shows commercial RV parks. Mike

Sounds like a very capable truck to me. Should have no problem pulling and Oliver. Mike

We’ve never stopped at a Walmart, but we have stopped at many Cracker Barrel’s and Rest Stops. These locations were all level enough that we didn’t unhook. The main reason you might need to unhook is if you had to lower the tongue. I have put down the jacks, but I have fairly tall blocks so the jacks don’t extend too far. The rest stops we’ve stayed at had RV parking and 24 hour security. We’ve overnighted at parks and BLM spots and we have had to unhook to get level at some of them. We haven’t tried truck stops yet (Pilot, Flying J or Love’s). Once you get the hang of the Andersen Hitch it goes on/off pretty quickly. Mike

We have a single outside sensor, too. I keep it unattached and just move it around as the sun moves around. Usually twice a day. If someone comes up with a good mounting spot please share! I’ve thought about mounting it in with the propane tanks, maybe against the outside trailer wall. I don’t know.... Mike

We have not had any problems using the MW when the AC was on. The AC is on its own breaker and the MW simply plugs into a 110 outlet on a separate circuit. So, we are careful when using the MW and another appliance plugged into a 110 outlet. I’m not an electrical expert, but that is my understanding of how things are configured. Having said that..... We had all of our 110 outlets go dead last winter. I checked and rechecked and couldn’t figure it out. So I went to my local RV repair guy and had him check. He found a lose cable in the junction box next to the inverter (under the dinette seat) and also a burned wire in the back of the circuit breaker box. He tightened the cable and replaced the wire in the box and also made sure everything else was tight. Problem solved. I supppose connections can loosen as the miles increase (we had about 30K miles on our trailer when this happened). Mike

Tom and Marie, welcome to you as well! September is going to be a great delivery month. We have fond memories of our time living in Augusta. Mike

Tom and Linda, welcome! September is right around the corner.... Mike

I had a TRD Supercharger on my 2012 Tacoma. I understand fun factor! Mike

I towed with a 2012 Tacoma for the first 6K miles of my Elite II. It had a tow weight of 6500lbs and tongue weight of 650lbs. If the Honda has a tow weight of 5000lbs you are already at or near the limit as it comes off the factory floor. I would be concerned with suspension and brake limitations with a 5000lb weight limit. I think “stopping” and handling curves and downhills is more important than “going”. I traded my Tacoma (100K+ miles) for a larger truck to get a larger gas tank and more load capacity. I was stopping every 150 miles for gas with the Tacoma. We don’t really carry much more now, but it’s just nice not to be pushing the limits. Since it is such a low mileage vehicle it might get a decent sale price or trade in for something more capable. Mike

John and Susan, welcome to the group from just down the road near San Antonio. The tour is a real eye opener. It’s good to know how our trailers are built. Lots of smart folks hang out here so don’t hesitate to ask questions! Mike

May 16-19 should be the dates. Thursday - Sunday. I’m sure Coy will weigh in to verify, he’s been traveling but is also already laying the groundwork for next spring. Should be a great time! Mike

Welcome to the group! Ours did not come with metal stems. I bought the TST TPMS and had metal stems installed then rebalanced the wheels with the TPMS mounted. Mike

Sherry, good info. I’m going to try the test on my iPhone. We use our cell booster quite a bit. Our iPhones are our hotspots for internet that we connect our iPads and MacBook to, we have the AT&T unlimited data plan. We find sitting at the dinette table that the booster gives us 1 or 2 more bars of signal strength. We don’t have a WiFi booster. Mike