Mike and Carol

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

David, this looks like a much better solution than command strips! Thanks. Mike

Marc, (or anyone else who has done this), Any issues since you repositioned the TV? I'm going to copy what you've done when we get back from our December trip. I'm also going to add an HDMI splitter so I can add an Apple TV. I'm thinking about just using command strips to stick the Apple TV up under next to the TV bracket by the hole for the wires. If anyone has done this I would be interested in your results. Mike

This is Round Pond Recreation Area at West Point, New York. Campsites are spread around the pond with picnic pavilions, boat dock and beach area. Sites are nicely spaced, we couldn't see our neighbor - the next site was about 30 to 40 yards up the road. This is just across the road from our site looking across the pond. This was the third week in October.

Thanks to all who posted their installation experience and tips. We hit mid-80s this afternoon so I pulled the trailer out into the sun along with the eze gutters. Cleaned, measured, marked and installed. I used blue masking tape to mark the ends, 5" down from the top of the window. Going slow and taking care to keep spacing with the window worked well. Once stuck, it's not coming unstuck! Two 10' sections covered all windows. We will be hitting the road the week after Thanksgiving and will post if there are any issues. Mike

Mike, sounds like a great trip. Nice phone pics - I'm singing Eagles songs in my head now.... We are going to Carlsbad the week after Thanksgiving. Considering either Carlsbad KOA or Buds Place RV Park. Mike

Bill, great pics - looks like you caught the foliage changing colors at the right time! Mike

David, that's a great looking setup you have there! I think you'll be happy with the Q7. We've been Audi owners since 1976 when I bought my first new one. Driving an S3 right now. Those are great pictures. Utah should be on the list for an Oliver rally! Mike

I have been following this thread wondering if I needed to install some Eze Gutters on the Lone Star Oliver. At the end of our long October trip on the way home we endured a Texas gully washer. Heavy rain for hours. I had the awning out about 5 feet and the back curbside window open about two inches (this window is under the awning). Somehow, water ran down the window screen into the bottom of the shade frame, traveled along the bottom of the plastic frame towards the kitchen then exited onto the bed. It was dark and stormy so I didn't go out to investigate how the water got to the screen. The river stopped flowing as soon as I realized what was going on and closed the window I jumped online and ordered 20' of Eze Gutter from Amazon and it was on our porch when we got home. As soon as we get some sunshine I will follow Bill's procedure and get them installed. This might be something that the factory should consider doing. Mike

zz, if we're back in the area we'll let you know. We really enjoyed our stay there. Mike