Mike and Carol

Bill, Nice lakeside site! 30s/60s is great weather for camping.... Mike

As Don says, the fridge is 3-way. We leave it on auto, when we hook up to shore power it automatically switches to shore power. When I disconnect from shore power it automatically goes to propane. I just leave it on propane when we're on the road. We have power where we store ours so the fridge never turns off.

Stan, Carol and I are both originally from Kansas so we understand that kind of cold! We're planning on going to Carlsbad Caverns NP and Guadalupe Mountains NP right after the new year. Then head to southern AZ for a week or so. We could make the short detour to Big Bend on our way back mid January. We visited Big Bend in September and had a great time. Mike

Pete, I like your thinking. I think we're also 3.5 season campers. It's good to know we have the ability to be out in really cold weather, but it just might not be much fun! So far, since we picked up last spring, we've enjoyed spring, summer and fall camping. We're going to jump into winter camping with both feet as soon as the holidays are over. Mike

David, the white grommet is the one that came from the factory. I removed it from the factory hole and used it in the hole I cut. It fits a 2" hole. I covered the old hole with a white plastic door knob protector. When you get ready to do this I'll be available to answer any more questions you might have. Mike

We keep our fresh tank fairly full when out camping and traveling, so unhooking the water hose at night isn't a problem. Plus, where we're going we're only talking a few hours that would be an issue. It warms up pretty quickly during the day to 40s and 50s... maybe even 60s in southern AZ during January. I don't plan on driving in sub-30 degree weather. I was just wondering what the possibilities were if we did get caught in one of those west Texas weather changes. If the weather forecast is severe, we'll just hunker down and wait for it to warm up! We don't really get cold enough weather here to winterize. It seldom gets much below 30 and we rarely see 20s. Having said that, the arctic air that just moved south through the US did hit us. It was 28 Saturday night and 24 last night! I opened the access covers at the dinette and beds and left a space heater going at 65 with a temperature sensor under the dinette in front of the black tank. When I checked this morning it was 65 inside, 45 at the black tank and 25 outside. Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions. We've camped when it was low 30s at night and didn't have any issues. A few more degrees lower.... no problem! Mike

We're planning a trip in January to southern NM (Carlsbad/Guadalupe Mt NP) and then to southern AZ (Sierra Vista/Tombstone/Bisbee). I anticipate temperatures in the mid to high 20's at night and then 40's/50's during the day. If I get a heated water hose or heated tape for my current hose, will that be enough? Do I still need to turn of the water and disconnect the hose at night? I don't plan on driving in freezing conditions, but if for some reason I end up on the road with temperatures below 32 (you never know in west Texas) are there any issues with running the furnace while towing? We already keep the fridge going on propane while on the move. I know there are some experienced cold weather campers out there and would appreciate your thoughts and advice. Mike

I think for FaceBook folks having a page to go to is a good thing and it's good to see someone take the initiative to get it going. I see it as a compliment to these forums. I'm not on FaceBook for a number of reasons and don't anticipate joining. But for those who are I hope it works out as hoped! Mike

Here's my version of the TV relocation. Not too difficult. I took my time and measured multiple times before drilling and cutting. Here's the mount I used. Also, an AppleTV mount, HDMI splitter, 3' HDMI cord, lightening to HDMI adaptor and a 1/8 sheet of aluminum. I used 1/4" bolts that were 1 1/2" long. The aluminum is 6"X8" (I left the plastic backing on). I relocated the hole insert. It takes a 2" hole saw to cut a new hole. Removing the two sides of the attic compartment entails unscrewing the two bolts at the bottom of each. It was somewhat of a rats nest of wires behind the side on the left. Once I got them sorted out I pulled the TV associated wires back to the middle. They use duct tape to secure them, so I had to pull some of that up. I also used duct tape to secure what I moved. Once the insulation is back down and the black mat in place there is only a slight hump in the back where the wires go through the new hole. I used 3M Command tape to mount the HDMI splitter to the side. The HDMI out of the top of the splitter goes to the TV. The two HDMI going in to the bottom are from the Furion and the AppleTV. The power cord is for the Apple TV. I have a lightening to HDMI adaptor cord that I will use when streaming video from my iPhone. Our AT&T/DirecTV account includes unlimited data when streaming video but the ability to send it to the TV via Airplay is blocked. Using the adapter to direct connect works. To do that I will have to unplug the AppleTV from the splitter. So many campgrounds have great wifi.... I wish. I also used 3M Command tape to mount the AppleTV. It's back near the new hole. When the TV is down you can't see it but the remote still controlled it fine. I used a neoprene wire wrap (Amazon). It was more flexible that the plastic the factory used. I zip tied it to a hole at the top of the mount so there's not much wire movement when moving the TV. The mount is adjustable up/down and right/left. You can also adjust the tension to remove any free play. I have it adjusted so I have to apply some force to move it. In the up position. I can see I need to adjust the left/right so that it is more level when stowed. To the left of the window I used while plastic door knob protectors to cover the old holes. Also, on over the old wire hole. They are less noticeable in person. AppleTV streaming from the house. I will share my only frustration. I left removing the old mount until the end. I thought I would just unscrew the two phillips head screws from the inserts in the wall. There were no inserts. They weren't screws. They were bolts that were connected on the back of the inner shell by some sort of lock nut. Whatever is on the back of the inner shell moved with the bolt so that no amount of unscrewing even with a lot of outward pressure did anything. You can see around the upper screw where I tried to get a small screwdriver in to hold the insert (that wasn't there). I ended up using my Dremel to cut the mount around the bolts so I could pull the mount off and then cut the heads off the bolts. I then pushed the remnants back into the holes so that they are flush with the wall and covered them. I think we'll look for something to hang that might cover the cover.... Mike

Coy, thanks for taking the initiative on this. I'm putting it on the calendar and will plan our spring travels so we can attend. Mike

Justin, welcome! I'm a big fan of goal setting. While I don't know enough about your profession to comment on your plan, if you set realistic goals and stay the course you should be ok. I went the traditional route, working 40 years in the same profession ending with an ample retirement. Fortunately, I enjoyed what I did, traveled the globe and lived all over the place. Speaking of living all over the place.... A couple of thoughts on your quest to ship truck/trailer and explore - we lived many years in Europe (Belgium, France and Germany) and also Hawaii. Having shipped vehicles over both oceans I can say it is time consuming and not cheap. If your trailer is your home you will be without it during the time it is in transit (1 - 3 weeks). If you ship to Europe there are customs issues, fees, temporary licensing, etc. You will need to ship any personal belongings separately. I would not ship an RV to Hawaii. There are no RV parks that I know of on Oahu, Maui or Kauai. There might be something on the big island, but I doubt it. You said you don't like RV parks, but you do need to park somewhere and the islands are small and you're not going to find boondocking areas like in BLM and CoE areas here on the mainland. Even if you can find somewhere to park you will also need somewhere to dump and refill water. Plus, unless you are only going to explore one island, you've got shipping time and expense from island to island. Backpacking is the way to go in Hawaii. RV's are popular in Europe. Standards are different (220V electricity, plumbing connections). RV parks are away from the beaten path. Many of the roads are much more narrow than in the US. Forests and parks are tightly controlled. Unless you stay at an RV park you won't be able to just stop and boondock. Fuel is much more expensive. You'll need to get special insurance that is recognized by each country you visit. You'll need an international drivers license. If you were set on RVing in Europe I would recommend renting a European spec RV and vehicle once you get there. Otherwise, my recommendation would be to pack light, use the fantastic train system and stay in hostels wherever you travel. Much cheaper, more flexible and more convenient. Even at my somewhat advanced age I would backpack Europe before considering shipping my truck and Ollie. If you want an Oliver to live in and travel the US/Canada I would say good call. Overseas, not so much. Mike

Hey Jim, welcome. Ask a lot of questions - there's a great deal of experienced Oliver owners here. Our journey is much like yours. We looked at Airstreams for a couple years and ended up with an Oliver for the same reasons you did. We don't full time, but we've got over 7,000 miles on ours since we picked up this past May. We just finished a 30 day trip and space was never an issue. Mike

Bill, thanks. They are not going to re-stick. I think I will trim the ends and live with it until summer. I may try again once there is consistent warm/hot weather. Also, maybe laying them out straight in the hot Texas sun for a week or two might help! The good news is that getting another 20' is not a huge expense. I did clean and then cleaned again with denatured alcohol. I had an old toothbrush that I ran back and forth several times. I'm thinking this should be a hot weather installation activity. Mike

For planning purposes.... I just measured from the top of the seam around the middle to the top of our graphic - 33". Our graphic has a diameter of 24". Hope that helps. Mike

Went to pick up our trailer this morning to load for our trip tomorrow and saw this: All but one window looks the same. The only thing I can figure is that the weather cooled down a lot the day after I put them on. Being out of the sun in a covered location the gutter's tendency to curl back up was greater than the adhesive. I've got it out in the sun right now and we're supposed to get close to 70 this afternoon. I'm going to try to re-stick them once they get pliable. Bummer.

Reed and Karen, we will be watching for your pick up pictures. The Oliver is a unique trailer all by itself and when each owner adds their own touch it makes them even more unique...and conversation starters! Glad questions were answered. If you have more, ask away. Someone here has the answer. Mike

Steve, agree. We vote for fall as well. Making plans for spring trips now.

We had the front graphic done locally. There is an artist in town that also does computer graphics. We asked her to combine a star, a compass and the Oliver winding road in dark red and gray. She came up with a couple designs and we then did some refining to get what we've got. I emailed the computer file to the factory, but was told that their printer was not able to print it the size we wanted. So I had a local print shop print two big ones (in case one got messed up during application). We took both with us when we picked up. The factory would not put it on, saying that if they messed it up they would be unable to replace it (even though I showed them the back up). At our first campground at Land Between the Lakes I put it on, pretty easy actually. It is pretty noticeable....? I'm not sure what the front measurements are to work with. I think our star is 30" across. I'll measure it Thursday when I bring it home to prep for our December trip. Once we got back from our pick up trip we changed out the rest of the graphics working with our local print shop. They were fast and reasonably priced. I did the installs, it just takes a little time and patience. We always get comments. The only issue with "The Lone Star Oliver" on the side is that most folks think that is the model and that it is made in Texas. I always explain that that was our name for our trailer and that all Olivers are made in Tennessee! It's a conversation starter anyway. BTW, our inspiration for what we did came from Steve and Tali's "Outlaw Oliver", both how they did their front compass graphic and the lettering on the side. The idea for our names on the side by the front door came from Gary and Jona and the hull number on the back above the window from Gary and Jona and Lee and Terry. They all made a San Antonio stop about a year ago and we had dinner with them at Pete's house (Bugeyedriver). It was a small Texas Oliver Rally. Maybe we should do a repeat! Mike

Hopefully some planning dates will be announced. We are starting to look at trips for next year and would like to factor in an Oliver rally.

Coy, that's a great story. It's good to know businesses like that are still out there! Sleep well - Mike

Happy Thanksgiving to all from San Antonio! Mike and Carol

Steve, thanks. Will look locally first, see what kind of drops/pieces I can snag. Happy Thanksgiving all!

My plan is to reinforce with some MDF. Aluminum would be better. What's a good source for a sheet of 1/4" aluminum?

Stan and Linda, that's great news. Welcome to the family! We enjoyed your visit while we were camped at West Point, even if the weather was a bit damp, rainy and cool. A March delivery might coincide with the next Oliver rally.... Mike

Steve, that does look like a sturdy mount, more robust than what is used for the standard corner mount. You've got a lot of trouble free miles with it, I'm going to check it out on Amazon. Thanks. Mike