Mike and Carol

This is Caddo Lake State Park on the TX/LA border. We're on our way to the rally, stopping at state parks and COE campgrounds along the way. Trivia: Caddo Lake is the only naturally formed lake in Texas! Mike

Congrats! Glad to hear all went well and the weather cooperated. Looks great - Mike

We stayed at the Natchez Hills Winery B&B. They have two small buildings, one is a real 1800's log cabin, which is where we stayed. Breakfast is served in the owners home. It was very nice. Amber Falls Winery also has some lodging that we noticed during a visit there. We also stayed in the Fall Hollow B&B for two nights. Very basic, but clean and convenient. The breakfast that is provided is so good we weren't hungry until late afternoon. Mike

Dave, I found the same thing when I was doing some cleaning last week before we left on our "Rally Trip". It was a real pain cleaning the collected debris off of the gasket. During heavy rain that gasket does not stop water flow. The water flows under the awning and over the gasket. I'm not sure what its purpose is. I may do what Pete did and just remove it. Mike

We carry the two Oliver supplied 10' hoses in the bumper with a 4" clear section attached to one hose. I will replace these hoses with better quality hoses when they show some wear. So far, after about 13K miles, they still look pretty good. I don't think the diamond plate has caused any excessive wear. Mike

There will be quite a few non owners there. Everyone is welcome! Mike

Welcome Clair and Kathy! Not sure how far Oakdale is from Hohenwald, but you could meet a lot of Oliver owners at the rally next weekend. Mike

Coy, assuming Micro-Air will have a vendor area for demonstrations Saturday afternoon? Just look for your trailer! ???? Mike

Reed, I had them balanced because of the extra weight of the stems and TPMS sensors. It's not a lot of weight, but they had them off the trailer anyway and it seemed prudent. Mike

I had metal stems installed when we got the TPMS last summer. I also had the tires rebalanced. No issues so far. TPMS works fine. Mike

We keep the hose attached all the time. After I drain the black tank I do two rinses and then drain the gray. Then, I cap the end of the hose (actually, the clear section added to the end of the hose), put it back into the bumper and away we go. Mike

That's good news. Seeing one in person does make a big difference. Mike

Interesting. We picked up last May and have done about 12,000 miles since. Getting ready to do another 4,ooo starting next week through June. I'll get mine repacked as soon as we return. Mike

Chixter, glad you're going to get an owner's tour! Nothing better than seeing one in person. We showed Stan and Linda our Ollie last October when we were traveling on the east coast. Now they are giving tours... Enjoy. Mike

We are going to drive the Trace on our way to the rally. We'll start at Jackson, Mississippi. Should be a nice drive. Mike

I planned for an extra day at Fall Hollow. We ended up needing it. While we were testing the Andersen Hitch at the factory we discovered an electrical short preventing trailer back up lights from coming on which required replacing the furnace. If you have the flexibility I would build in an extra day. Mike

We have similar symptoms to what Russ described. We went a long time before realizing our solar wasn't charging. We usually camped with hook ups and store plugged into shore power. On an extended boondocking trip to AZ and southern CA in February we realized we weren't getting any charge. We did a lot of troubleshooting while out in the desert with the help of Steve/ScubaRX. Also had a local repair facility look at it once we returned. Jason is going to take care of it while we're at the rally in a couple of weeks. This is something worth checking out right away. It's taken me a while to get familiar with the Blue Sky controller and display. Mike

Jason, thanks for putting this together. While some of the experienced campers already have this knowledge there are a lot of folks that will find this very useful. It would be nice to have an information archive on the forums or Oliver web page that information like this could reside. Maybe in the Tech Bulletin area? Mike

There are basic forum etiquette rules that most forums follow and enforce. Mostly common sense - don't constantly highjack threads, don't post extraneous information, don't consider your opinion or preferences as the only way, don't engage in personal attacks, leave politics and religion at the door. Let's get back to the business of exchanging information, assisting and encouraging each other and enjoying the Oliver experience. Mike

Our vents are good and we drain with the stoppers out. It's just because the tank is so flat, not much pressure. Since you don't have to worry about a black tank, you could just leave the gray open if you're in an area that allows that. I can think of a few things I could carry in the rear bumper if I didn't have to carry my big slinky.

Agree. We don't usually delete posts, but I just did. This is Canoe12's thread on his pick up experience, let's get back on topic. Mike

John, my only input is that the gray tank seems to drain fairly slow, even with the large diameter hose. I'm sure a 1" hose would work, might just take a little longer. May not be an issue for you, especially since you won't be using your black tank. You won't have to worry about the bulk of the large hose. Mike

Good luck! It's a fun experience. Also looking forward to pictures - Mike

Looks like a nice little vac. We got the small hand held Dyson that we keep plugged in an optional 110V outlet we had installed in the closet. It's good for quick clean ups and is always charged. Mike

That would be a pretty sweet combination that would pass me in my Ram doing my usual 62mph! Mike