Mike and Carol

Check the weather, it could be nice or it could be really cold west of San Antonio! We’ve been to Fort Davis in January and the weather was 50s day and 20s night. We’ve also had reservations there and the weather was 30s and teens, so we just came home! Are you camping at Davis Mountain State Park? It’s nice, just outside of Fort Davis. Go see the old Fort, it’s a National Park monument and interesting to walk around. In Fort Davis there are some small shops and the old drug store is a must-see. Nearby is McDonald Observatory. They have Star Party’s several nights a week, reservations required and very interesting. Going south from Fort Davis, Marfa and Alpine are interesting. Once you get down to BIg Bend, there’s much to do and see. If you hike there are some great hikes. The State Park is right to the west and is also interesting. If you go to Fredericksburg I hope you like wine. There are now about 15 or 16 very nice wineries on US290. Just north of Fredericksburg is Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Luckenbach is just south of Fredericksburg. Also, the LBJ Ranch is just east on US290. I’m not an LBJ fan but the visit there was very interesting and well worth the time. Hope this helps. Mike

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope the new year is full of camping adventures…. Mike and Carol

I’ve been using Meguiars Wash and Wax (Carnuba), big jug from Costco. I use Meguiars Marine and RV Quick Wax most of the time and then Meguiars Clean and Wax usually once a year. Our trailer is still pretty shiny, not like when it was new. I’ll probably go the ceramic route sometime in the next year or so. I’ve seen it rejuvenate a couple of older trailers that had lost their shine. Mike

Congrats and welcome! Hull 049… one of the classics! Mike

Are your issues when you are not plugged in to shore power? Does everything work when you have shore power? Without knowing what components your trailer has it is hard to diagnose. Your microwave should need 120V to operate, so it won’t work off of your batteries unless you have your inverter on. The AC blower is the same. Your 12V things should work fine if your batteries are charged, but the 120V things need either shore power or the inverter. Mike

Our trailer is 7 years old. No ceramic. I wash after each trip and wax 2 or 3 times a years. Still looks pretty good. I’m thinking I’ll do the ceramic thing sometime in the near future. Just have to find a window when we’re not out and about. Mike

Do you hear the click click of the furnace trying to light? Gas flow is okay? Are your new batteries AGMs too? Why did you need to charge them when you arrived at your site? When we had AGM’s they were always at or near full charge after the drive, combination of solar and truck charge. The furnace does not draw much from the batteries, basically just the fan. I’m confused as to what may be going on. Mike

We were not surprised. We expected to pay sales/use tax when we registered. We were a little used to that because we’ve purchased vehicles in Europe, tax free, and when we came back to the US and registered them (in Texas) we had the state tax to pay. Mike

Try raising the side of the trailer you are working on.

I have Hull 135, the back window slides open like all the other windows.

On the Elite II the back window slides open like the others.

USAA/Progressive

Well, darn. I don’t have the 5,200 lb axles. I’ll be in to see Ron after our Arizona trip in January for our annual bearing repack and brake check. Maybe he can figure out a way to upgrade our brakes which have between 80 and 90K miles. Mike

Did your 30a breaker look like this (black thing on the right), or did you just look in the fuse box? I don’t know where it would be located in an Elite, but it’s got to be under the dinette seats or bed on the street side. If it is popped, the little button on the top is up and the little wing is out. Just push the wing back in and you’re set to go. This is one of mine during a re-cabling project a couple of years ago when I replaced my AGMs with Lithium. It’s a 60a, but the 30a looks just the same. Here’s one that is popped. See the little wing out and the button on top up. Push the wing in.

We spent part of this past October in Cumberland Mountain State Park, just outside of Crossville, TN. There are 5 camping areas, we started in area 4 but moved to area 5 after one night. Area 5 is at the top of the hill and is a newer area. There are 4 or 5 FHU sites in area 5. We had W/E. Our site in area 4. Older, lots of trees and shade. Our site in area 5. Nicely spaced with a view of the sky! Campground chef. Checking out the fall color.

One of the main drags at Dome Rock, Olivers congregating, owners in the middle of the avenue exchanging information. Grocery shopping in town. Sunset in the desert. Hiking up to Dome Rock. You get to pick your own spot. Here we are next to the Outlaw Oliver #050, @ScubaRx I’m

Yes, Dome Rock is the spot. If you exit I-10 where the Love’s is and then continue on the access road west on the south side of the freeway a few miles you’ll get to the Dome Rock area. It’s a big chunk of desert but easy to drive around looking for other Oliver owners. We’ll be in Arizona in January as well, not sure if/when we might visit Quartzsite. There should also be a bunch of other fiberglass trailers there as well. I’ll post a few pics so you can get an idea of the area. Mike

Your Bulldog hitch is bent? Are you able to hitch without much effort? Have you noticed anything odd looking? We have the standard 2” Bulldog and have been over lots of bumpy roads and way-to-large potholes and everything is fine. This is the first time I’ve heard of a bent hitch. What does service think might have happened?

Put some paper or cardboard under your mattress, trace the curve and call it a day.

The red Oliver (aka Jellybean) is owned by Brandi Shaffer and her husband who live here in San Antonio. She has posted pics, they’ve done quite a bit to restore it. Mike

Wow! Nice job, suitably classy home for a classy Trailer!!

What size Houghton are folks using in their Olivers?

Boerne, TX this morning: unleaded $2.64, diesel $3.99.

Are you looking at an ad on Facebook or here?

There has been a lot of discussion on hitch height in the past few years….