Overland

Yes, but they have sentimental value.

Apparently he was going to an established campground, but came down the road from the wrong direction. This looks to me like the spot where he got stuck - the mileage is about right, and it looks like the photo, especially in Google Earth. It doesn't look so bad in Google maps - the switchbacks north of that spot look much tighter, and apparently he had no trouble with that. But if like JD suggested, you check the same spot on Google Earth, the slope and tightness of the corner, and even the fact that it may be washed out a bit, become evident. Though to me, it looks like he could have made the corner if he had been paying a bit more attention. He also passed up what looks like a really nice spot about halfway between the switchbacks and where he ended up. I'm surprised that he didn't walk it out. Perhaps age or mobility was a factor, but he was only about three miles from some houses toward the other end of the road. But I supposed that sitting tightly is almost always the best choice - true disasters usually happen when you start compounding bad decisions atop one another. So I can see how this could easily happen. The guy hears about a good camping spot, hears that it's easy enough to get to, maybe knows someone who's been there. He's headed in from the north so naturally looks at taking the road down from the north end. The route looks a little tight on Google or Apple Maps, but not terrible and he's been told that it's fine. So off he goes. I've been very surprised at times where these RV drivers will take their rigs.

We’ve had surprising success.

Less trouble than you think. Welcome.

Man, look at the calendar. It's been weeks since I've made a New Music Friday post. Miss me? No? Hmmm. Not nice. NMF must happen. OK, I'm starting off with Sparks: • That was a good warmup, right? Sure, you hated that song, but I promise that you will be humming it for days. That is your punishment. Now, on with the show. I don't get the name of this song, but it scores a solid 8.5 on the cool scale: • A nice something from Braids: • You guys know I'm a sucker for jazz flute, so: • Kabuki jazz flute is always cool, or so I've heard. And if cool is going to be the theme this week, we can't leave out Laurent Garnier, especially when teamed with the Limiñanas. Spoken word music, in French, how could that not be cool: • Nice, how about one more of the same, but different. Very, very different: • Speaking of cool, Tricky is too cool to even be heard on his records these days. But at least he shows up for live performances and makes noises that might be words? Hard to say, really: • Thylacine, one of my current favorites, gets a smooth groove going in his latest, and smooth grooves? Always cool: • This song is from last year, but it showed up on my music feed today again for some reason, and I see the video is just a few weeks old. Maybe it's being relaunched by the record company? It definitely deserves another listen. Smooth Motown vibes. Now that's cool: • And I'll finish with a different kind of cool - a dreamy guitar thing from Kele Okereke: • "But wait", you say, "No techno this week? How can that be?" Be, it can. I do have some techno, but I also have this - hip hop techno. Oh, yeah, with a little old school dub reverb thrown in for flavor. Cool: That is all.

I'm glad to know there's someone else out there who's day can be ruined by lighting temperature. There's really nothing on your list that I disagree with. I wouldn't change the nightstand, personally; but since it just screws on, I could see Oliver offering an option for a shorter unit. It might not be difficult even to retrofit a cool looking cubby out of wood, reusing the existing top. Perhaps that's something @Foy_Mirna might make for someone.

I really don't think it cost us anything extra. We were caught in the switchover from Fiamma to Carefree and Oliver kept the same price when they switched. Since we were the first to get the new awning, we got to pick the color. I do think the color was on Carefree's custom color chart, but I don't recall there being an upcharge. Maybe that was a gift from Oliver, but Carefree mixed both Sunbrella and Recaril fabrics together on their color chart and the only way to know which was which was by the stock numbers (which began with an R for Recaril fabrics), so it could easily have been that they were all the same price. I have an email where I asked Carefree what the difference between the Recaril and Sunbrella was, and their reply was a terse "Both are equal. Just two different vendors." So if I had to guess, I'd say both cost the same - at least within the specific lines that were offered. Sunbrella make a wide range of different fabrics - it's not just one thing. The Sunbrella fabric that I'm familiar with is what has always come on patio umbrellas that we've had, which is a very flexible, soft, loose weave - and to me, that looks very much like the photos above. From the swatches I got from Sunbrella, the ones that were 100% acrylic had a nice, tight weave just like the Recaril, whereas the looser, tweedier looking fabrics like what's on my umbrella were mixtures of acrylic and other things. Of the 100% acrylic swatches, it would be very difficult for me to tell the difference between the Sunbrella and Recaril - perhaps the Sunbrella is ever so slightly thinner and more flexible. So, what I'd say is that if anyone is going through the trouble of replacing their awning, definitely take the effort to get some swatches to see for yourself. I think I had to do some legwork to find the swatch books, and I think I even had to pay for the Recaril one (maybe five bucks or something). The swatches I have are the Design Line Solids Collection for Recaril, and the Mayfield Collection for Sunbrella, and those covered most if not all of what Carefree was offering. That was 2016, though, so no idea if those lines are current. My recommendation though would be to select from the 100% acrylic choices if you go with Sunbrella. No doubt, eventually my awnings will stretch, fade, tear, whatever - but I've been impressed with how well they've held up so far.

I think it largely comes down to the fabric. I can’t say enough good things about the Recaril fabric that we special ordered for our Carefree awning, as it has far exceeded our expectations. It stays taut and doesn’t pool water in even heavy rains and we don’t even have to slope it to the side for it to do so. So far it’s shown no sign of fading or stretch. It’s unlike the sunbrella fabrics that I’ve had experience with, in that has the look and feel of a very stiff, tightly woven canvas.

It would seem that the forum software doesn't understand the .heic photo format, which is used for HEIF photos. I believe iPhones now default to HEIF photos, but will export photos as jpegs, which are compatible with the forum, unless you specify otherwise. For example, if you're on a Mac, and export from the Photos app using the "Export Unmodified Original" option, you'll end up with a .heic file, assuming you took the photo with an iPhone. If instead, you choose "Export", or just drag the photo from Photos directly into your post, which is the easiest way, then you'll end up with a jpeg and your photos should post fine.

FYI, fixed the photos for you. I can't say that mine has ever done that, but I have a different awning (Carefree) and your fabric doesn't look as stiff as mine.

It's an impressive tow rating for such a small truck though. 'Small', relative to the oversized full size pickups of today. I've been surprised at how many Honda Ridgelines I've seen around town, but I can see how the comfort and road handling of a unibody truck is appealing. So I think Ford has a ready market, and I think the hybrid choice was wise. We love our little X3 hybrid, and I'm eager for a hybrid Raptor (which will never happen, but I can dream). I've also been seeing quite a few of the Bronco Sports around, which is the same basic chassis as the Maverick. I was expecting the Sport to be something of a pretender; but in person, it's clearly more like the original LR Disco, and seems like it would be similarly capable offroad.

If I find myself lost at sea in my Ollie, I’ll assume everything is well caulked.

Yeah, not cheap, and we have a National Luna, which is definitely not the bargain brand. But, I wanted something that I knew would last, and the National Lunas have been used for decades in very harsh environments. If it helps, ours has come in handy outside of traveling - not just for grocery runs, but we've used it in the house a great deal for freezer overflow.

I appreciate the ingenuity on display here, but I wonder if just caulking around the interior window frame wouldn't send the water into the basement rather than the bed? The bed wetting provides a good indicator that it's time to caulk the light; but water in the basement is easier to live with.

My technique has been to take the trailer to Oliver for something else, and they'll put a new screen in for you. I keep taking the screen off to improve the view, and Oliver keeps adding it back. I have a collection of three in the basement now.

Well it took them several tries, but they've at least found an excuse that's believable.

I've asked about that as well. A side benefit should be that the caulk should last much longer since it will be shaded from the sun. And I guess you could just caulk between the gutter and the window without taking it off and reinstalling it. Alternatively, you could put the gutter on the frame itself.

We're the same, but we let it slip a bit when camping. Maybe more than a bit at times. We rationalize it with the extra hiking we're doing. Like above, we usually have a stocked freezer at home, and we always portion and vacuum pack meats when we buy them, so pulling out individual portions for camping is a breeze. With the freezer in our truck, we can carry most everything for a three week trip, but usually stop at least once every week and a half or so to refresh vegetables that are bulky or don't keep well. We'll also individually vacuum pack trail snacks, which helps get us out the door quickly in the morning.

If you've never done one of those driving schools, I highly recommend them. We didn't do the one that was offered with our Raptor, just because it was too far away, but we did one with BMW and one with Saab (many years ago), and they were both a blast.

I don't know. Patience has never been a virtue of my own, but I've definitely run into a few fellow travelers who deserved not only a mean mug, but perhaps a vigorous finger wag as well. To the original post, I'd say that whenever you're in a situation where you're holding someone up, ask your partner to go over and ask if they'd like you to let them by. My guess is that the offer in itself would be enough to diffuse any tension.

It might be hit and miss on the fan noise, if Xantrex quality control isn't excellent. When we saw our first Ollie at the factory, one of the trailers had an inverter that made an awful high pitched squeal, which our tour guide couldn't hear, but would have driven me crazy in no time. But I've since read similar complaints about Victron inverters, so I really do think that just some units make noise and some don't. Thankfully, ours doesn't, and even at full tilt, I have to be paying attention to hear even the fan.

If you're able to see one in person and find that it is in fact too tight for you, you might consider replacing the fiberglass top with a wooden one that folds. There are quite a few versions available out there for the boating crowd, and I think it would be a breeze to replace. Maybe even Oliver would consider doing it for you in service when you pick up.

Keep in mind that quite a few owners on the forum are in fact insane, and will do things to their trailers that normal people would not. But, you can tap into that insanity when needed and can usually find one of the crazies who can (occasionally successfully) walk you through a diagnosis or repair that would otherwise be overwhelming.

This is true, but you can enable WiFi calling on iPhones (and I assume others?) and then it’s essentially the same thing.

I heard a rumor that Oliver was thinking about offering it. I have one - we had an owner on the forum four or so years ago who could get them for owners at wholesale. So relative to what we paid, that’s a remarkably expensive price. Plus cradlepoint now requires a subscription service plan for support. It’s a great little device - really love ours - but it would be difficult to recommend at that price. And I’d never recommend it for anyone who’s not comfortable with complex tech. It’s a professional router that’s designed for corporate clients whom they assume have dedicated and trained staff to maintain it. User friendly it is not. I’d say that nice though it is, even if Oliver is offering to pay the subscription support costs, give it a hard pass and don’t look back. Satellite internet is way too close to spend a chunk of money on an expensive cell router.