donthompson

Rob, Thanks for your response to my post. I spent last night at a friend’s near Bozeman and I’m camped in Grand Teton NP tonight. The smoke is not as bad in Bozeman or GTNP as it was near Banff, but it is still a problem. I’m headed to the Carbondale, Basalt, Aspen, Redstone, Colorado area. I’m sure I’ll encounter some smoke, but I’m not ready to return to Iowa yet!

Looks like you were leaving the park as I was preparing to enter. Drove through to Grand Teton N.P. Wanted to camp at this dispersed camping spot south of Moran, Wyo. Don

I found mine in a different location after receiving this info from Jason a few minutes ago: "Hey Don, Your model may have the inline fuse under the dinette access panel and be located near the LP alarm itself."

I can't find the inline fuse. I'd really appreciate it if someone would post some photos of the fuse and its location. I found the two 12v breakers under the bed on the driver's side. Jason said it's an inline fuse wired to the right of one of those breakers, but I can't find it. :( Don

I've had this problem before my current trip to the smoke-filled areas of Montana and Alberta. I think I know what has caused my issues. The smoke is very thick here and if I open windows and draw air into the camper with the fan, my alarm goes off immediately! I had water/electricity at a campground near Glacier when this first happened and when I closed up and turned on the A/C, the problem disappeared. Now I recall that when this has happened in the past, it's been in campgrounds with a lot of campfires burning. I remember complaining to myself about how the campfires affected me while I tried to sleep with the windows open and then the alarm went off. I assume the smoke in the air equates to increased CO2 in the air as well which triggers the alarm. I communicated with Jason about this a couple of days ago to find out what I can do when boondocking in a smoky area and he too recommended pulling that fuse. However, he counseled me to turn off the propane before going to bed to make sure I woke up in the morning if there were a propane leak and no functioning alarm! Good advice, I think.

I think this is the last trip I'll take to Montana and the Canadian Rockies in the late-summer or fall. Fortunately, fires and smoke didn't affect my backcountry dirt/gravel loaded bike tour in and near Glacier N.P. from August 5 to August 11. But on Saturday, August 11 three fires started in Glacier due to lightning strikes. We hiked on Saturday and Sunday, but by Monday, some campgrounds were being evacuated and part of the Going to the Sun Road was closed. I left Tuesday for the Canadian Rockies--I should have researched the fires in BC and Alberta. The air quality was horrible and the visibility was very limited. I spent one night and turned around to head back to the U.S. British Columbia has had 1500 fires this year and Alberta has had almost 1,000. I'm going to try camping at or above 10.000 feet in the Carbondale, Redstone, Marble and Aspen Colorado area. Air quality is better there. I talked to campers from Alberta and B.C. who said that traveling to the Canadian Rockies in June is best. By August, the forest is very dry and they have had lots of fires in 2017 and 2018.

I use the Andersen leveler ramps that you drive up on. I’m a solo traveler and have a good level that I use on the kitchen counter. I don’t mind getting out of my tow vehicle to check the level as I back onto the levelers. Rarely have to get out more than twice—you get to the point when you have a pretty good sense of how much height you need to achieve to level. I also use the Andersen Jack Blocks now under all three jacks. They are light, but take up quite a bit of space and they aren’t cheep. But, I like this system.

You'll find many posts about the Natures Head composting toilet on the forum. This thread will provide the information you're looking for: http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/natures-head-composting-toilet-installation-in-an-oliver-big-thread/ I had one installed at the factory last October. Love it. Don

I'll be in Glacier National Park in August camping and bikepacking. I haven't decided where to go when I leave Glacier. Without reservations, I think it will be tough to find campsites in the Canadian National Parks in Alberta. If you have experience boondocking in or around these parks and can help me with advice on finding places to camp without reservations, I'd appreciate your help!

I received my cutting board from Foy a couple of weeks ago. It is absolutely beautiful and displays flawless workmanship. Thanks for making it Foy! Don

Nice to see a family in an Ollie! Most owners are couples with no school-age children. Some solo campers.

Same last name and similar experience. I spent about a year deciding on the purchase of a 27' front bedroom Airstream. Negotiated a price, decided on a tow vehicle and called the dealer to place the order. The fellow I was dealing with was on vacation so I decided to wait until he returned. Then I found the Oliver on the web. Drove to the factory and ordered an Elite II in October 2015. Haven't looked back!

This is my philosophy as well. Solar, composting toilet, 3 20-liter Spectre water cans and drive to a higher elevation if you're too warm. I plan my camping trips to enjoy low temperatures at night no higher than 70 to 73 degrees. I've been caught in unexpected warmer weather and that forced me to find a campsite with electricity, but I never sleep well with the A/C running. I've never had a generator and don't plan to purchase one. Don

Bill, as always, is correct! These work with an Elite II right out of the box. Back off of them slowly when you're ready to break camp. I've never had a problem with getting them stuck between the wheels. Don

I also have two of the levelers: https://andersenhitches.com/Products/3604--camper-leveler.aspx These work great when you have to get the tires of the Oliver on one side off the ground to get the camper level.

I have 3 of these and like them. Very light and store easily in the "basement". They are very stable in loose soil, sand, mud, etc. Pretty high, too, so you don't have to extend the jacks very far to create stability. They won't degrade over time either.

I book the Iowa City Jazz Festival. It's a free, outdoor festival that will be held on June 29, 30 and July 1, 2018. If you're interested in attending, contact me and I'll help you find a place to camp.The headliner on Sunday night is Joshua Redman's "Still Dreaming" band featuring Josh, Ron Miles, Brian Blade and Scott Colley. Here are some of the other artists: Matt Wilson's Honey and Salt Jane Ira Bloom Renee Marie Vincent Herring Behn Gillece Braxton Cook Amanda Monaco Steve Kenny's Group 47

Hello, George. I can answer a few of your questions. I have the extra awning and I rarely use it. Once in awhile, it's nice to create shade on that side of the camper depending on where you are camping and the time of day. I added the composting toilet to my '16 Elite II last fall. The black tank remains. I don't know if Oliver deletes the black tank if you order an Elite II with the composting toilet, but I doubt if they do. I know that others have asked Oliver to consider adding additional fresh water capacity in lieu of the unused black tank, but I don't think this has gotten any traction. I ordered upgraded mattresses in October 2015 for my '16 Ollie. I think they are worth the money. Oliver now offers a latex mattress upgrade. I sleep on a latex mattress at home--wish I had one in my camper. I don't have anything on my Ollie to protect it from rock chips. I've driven on gravel and dirt roads. My strategy is to go slow. I have driven in construction zones in Colorado with loose rock. I was more concerned about my windshield so I stayed as far to the right as I could, drove slowly and left a lot of space between my vehicle and the one ahead of me. I've towed my Elite II nearly 20k miles and I don't have any fiberglass damage. Don

Here’s a photo of my A/C drain on my ‘16 Elite II. Camped at Edisto Beach State Park in S.C.—A/C is running!

Well, maybe it worked? Responding to see what signature looks like.

I still can’t follow these directions. Here’s what my signature looks like. What am I doing wrong? Don Thompson Elite II Twin Bed Hull #126 VW Touareg TDI States I've visited with my Ollie [img{]{img-url-here}[}/img]-Remove the "{"&"}"http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/ALCOGAILIAKSMNMSMOMTNENMNCOKSCSDTNTXUTWIWYmed.jpg

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I’ve talked to many people at Oliver and I still don’t think I have definitive information about if and when we’ll see a larger Ollie. Without going into detail, I think it’s only possible, not definite, that Oliver will design and manufacture a larger camper. If this does happen, my best guess is that it will be 4-6 years from now. Don

I programmed the Dill TPMS system before I left Iowa a couple of days ago. Simple process. Discovered that you can rotate the tires without creating problems with the info provided on the monitor. When you rotate, you can make adjustments in the monitor hardware to identify the new locations of the sensors. I’ve traveled about 800 miles with the Dill system and I’m very happy with the setup. I feel very fortunate that I towed my Ollie over 20k miles without a TPMS system without having any issues with my tires. What convinced me to buy a TPMS system for the Ollie was the fact that I’ve had issues with slow leaks in tires on my tow vehicle while traveling with the Ollie. Without the TPNS system in my Touareg, would I have noticed the low tires in time-probably not despite the fact that I know I should check tire pressures each day before starting out.

Sensors installed yesterday and wheels rebalanced. Monitor connected with sensors almost immediately. Didn't have time to do the programming--will get to that later. Impressed with the quality of the materials, design, etc. of the monitor.