Mike and Carol

Bill, that's an interesting mod. We have a small portable table we use, but this seems a bit more efficient and convenient. Mike

Bill, I agree with your comments. We had the propane hatch added the day we picked up. I decided to add a white on-command hook to the right of the bathroom door for towels during showers. Some of these option should be listed so they could be included when ordering. I'm interested in the dimmer, would be a nice feature. Mike

....or, the gin and tonic!

I agree, there's a lot to learn and we have some real experts who readily share their knowledge! We've been okay with the standard shower head but will be interested in hearing how replacements work. The diverter/splitter sounds like an interesting idea - maybe easier than moving the shower head from the sink to the wall each time. Mike

David, that's good news. I'm going to check my manual tonight. If there are two HDMI inputs, then I can connect either my Apple TV or Amazon Fire directly. I just need to feed the cable down from the upper back storage area. We're going to do some things in the trailer this weekend, I'll add this to the list. Mike

Dave, we found the twin beds big enough. We didn't want the hassle of converting the table each night. The two seat dinette also works well for us. Our other considerations were access to the upper storage being difficult while in sleep mode and we liked having the nightstand. While watching TV we move the pillows to the opposite end and voila, we have recliners. We're happy with our decision, I think you will be too. Mike

While on our trip back from Tennessee we watched broadcast TV, watched a DVD, streamed MP3's Bluetooth and watched a Spurs game by disconnecting the Furion and replacing with the Apple TV. Those functions worked well. I'm also interested in the HDMI splitter and will be interested in how it works. Mike

Dave, I am trying to figure out the best solution as well. On our trip home we wanted to watch the Spurs/Thunder NBA playoff game (we are just a little bit San Antonio Spurs fans). The only way I could get it to work, since it wasn't broadcasted, was to hook up my Apple TV into the HDMI on the TV, which meant unplugging the Furion. I got the game on the ESPN app on my iPhone and streamed it to the Apple TV hooked up to the TV. I haven't had time to work on it, but I'm wondering what ports are on the back of the Furion. I'd like to hook up an Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. Mike

FWIW, during our May 10 delivery Tommy ran through the functions of the A/V system which included using the four trailer speakers with the TV. No problems. It seems like it would be SOP for the technician who installs the A/V hardware to check the functions at the time of installation.

Dave, picked up last week. Towed from TN up to KY over to MO (Ozarks) down through AR, over to TX and down to San Antonio. 1000+ miles. 80% highway/secondary roads, 20% interstate. While on the interstates I kept it at about 65mph, other roads less. MPG was 12/13 per towing tank. My Tacoma is supercharged (306hp and 320ftlbs). It had plenty of acceleration - up hills and on interstate entrance ramps. I wasn't worried about that. My concern was stability and braking. We drove in heavy rain one day and in very high winds one day. The trailer never exhibited any bad behavior. Semi's passing on the interstate did not cause any white knuckle moments. I had one instance where I had to brake hard and my truck ABS kicked in but we came to a quick stop and apparently the brake controller and trailer brakes did what they were supposed to do. My conclusion is that the Tacoma is an adequate tow vehicle. Mine is almost 5 years old and has 95K miles. I'll be keeping it a while longer. When I replace it I will go with an eco boost F150 or big V8 Tundra. But that won't be for another year or two. I like being able to park it in the garage. A bigger truck will be in the driveway. Hope this helps. Mike

We did custom graphics on ours. Had a local designer put together what we were thinking and a local printer print it. There was some confusion at the factory on installation, so I installed it at our first campsite. There are quite a few custom graphics out there.

David, congratulations on your order and welcome to the Oliver family. We picked up ours last week and took our time coming home - it was a day and half to Hohenwald and 9 days to come home. We are very happy with our trailer. We got the twin bed configuration with the optional mattresses. We wanted full time beds. We sleep with heads to the back of the trailer (and slept very well), but watch TV the other way, it's worked out well. The 2 seat dinette is roomy enough for us. It didn't take long to get familiar with all the systems. I just wish we would have had more time going over the solar control panel, I'm still not sure of all the read outs and features and hopefully will get smart by studying the manual. That might be something to ask for - some detailed explanation during your orientation. I wasn't sure if my Tacoma would be up to the towing task and we discussed trading it in and our Audi S3 for a Q7. We've been Audi owners since our first new one in 1976. There are Toureg and Cayenne's towing the Elite II without issue. Maybe some of them will weigh in. My son has a Toureg TDI and it has proven to be a great vehicle. The Audi, VW and Porsche are all similar. Fortunately, our Tacoma did fine so that is not an issue. Not sure what the issue would be with the Andersen hitch. I've found it to be pretty easy to use and I do think it helps lighter weight vehicles with stability and some weight distribution. This is the right place for information and feedback - some great folks on this forum with a lot of knowledge! I've been posting pictures on my profile page. Mike

Buzzy, yes we did. I think the Andersen hitch helps and has been fairly easy to hook up and unhook. Mike

Gregg, We worked mostly with Anita on the graphics, and a little with Rodney Staggs (Tommy's nephew, I think). Rodney doesn't work in the Trailer part of the company. I requested to have "The Lone Star Oliver" on the side instead of the "Legacy Elite II", our hull number on the back above the window and out big star with winding road on the front. There were a couple of issues - I think they just forgot/overlooked the side and back graphics. On the front, Rodney couldn't print our star big enough, so I had it done locally. That presented a question of liability - if it was messed up being installed he didn't have the ability to print a new one. The graphics took a back seat to the other issues. The outlets were easily fixed and the short in the wiring was just bad luck, it took the better part of a day to fix that. I decided I would take care of the graphics later. I peeled of the their front graphic and installed mine at our first campground. Very easy, just had to be slow and careful. I have some pictures in our profile. I'll do the side and back graphics over the next few weeks. We have a local guy who prints and installs. Mike

When we picked up last week the factory weight for our trailer was 5130. That's with full 30lb propane tanks, solar and 4 batteries. Our trip home (8 days) included heavy rain and high winds. Our Ollie never exhibited any bad behavior and pulled smoothly behind my not-so-big Tacoma.

This is Mother Neff State Park just south of Waco, TX. It sits on land donated to Texas by the mother of former governor Pat Neff. There are only 16 RV sites, all with full hook ups, tables, etc. It's very nice and not far off I-35. Bill, our shiny new trailer is now not so shiny after 9 days on the road!

This is at Table Rock Lake State Park just outside of Branson, MO. This is a great campground and just minutes from Branson and all the shows and activities. We had a good visit to Silver Dollar City during their BBQ and Bluegrass week. The park is right on Table Rock Lake for those who like water activities.

Last week before we picked up it was suggested that a "Where's Ollie" thread might be good for folks to post pictures of where they've been, maybe with a few comments about the location. I'll get it going.... This is Hillman Ferry State Park in KY at Land Between the Lakes. Nice campground, with lots of lake water activities. You can get a site right on the lake to fish from!

Our very shady site....

Since they are right on the Natchez Trace they cater to cyclists biking the Trace. We had breakfast with a guy from NH that was on his last day of biking up the Trace.

Here's a picture of our site....

This is a very nice park in the Ozark Mountains just outside of Branson, MO. We stayed 3 nights, full hook ups. At campground 2 all the pads are concrete, large and well spaced with picnic tables and fire areas. There was a shower/restroom facility with washers/dryers. It's just a few minutes from Branson and all that there is to do there. When we come back to Branson we will definitely stay here. Very nice.

After our first night at Fall Hollow we drove up to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It straddles TN and KY and is less than 200 miles from Hohenwald. We stayed two nights at Hillman Ferry State Park. This is a fairly big park. There are sites right on the lake that have water and electric hook ups, folks were fishing from their sites. We opted for all services w/e/s just 50 yards back. Pads are gravel with picnic table and fire ring. Sites are well spaced and almost fully shaded. They had showers and rest rooms located throughout, although we didn't use them. It was nice. We would go back.

We spent two nights in the B&B at Fall Hollow and one night in the campground. B&B is very basic but clean. Noel cooked breakfast both mornings which kept us going until mid afternoon. They have recently added sewer to some of the sites. They are all grass, kind of like camping in a field. Also very basic. It's been under new ownership for less than a year, I think they are planning improvements. They night we stayed there were 4 Oliver's there!

I've read the info on the Nest and looked at the photo's. Looks like a nice design on the outside, although I'm not crazy about the counter seating inside. Airstream will have to realize that they are coming into the FG market at no more that 2nd best. They will have a long way to go to match an Oliver.