Steph and Dud B

Same here. Pool noodle. 🙄

Get a big truck. Not just for towing, but for the storage space. We have a crew cab gas dually with a covered 8' bed. It's big. We don't full time but even so the truck is full. The Oliver cabinets are full if we're out for 2 weeks or more, loaded up with a mix of clothes, food, and gear for both dry camping and full hookup glamping. In effect, a lot of the stuff that was in the basement of our fifth wheel is now in the truck. Of course, we could cut back what we carry. We have a generator we've never needed. We have a Clam with us. We have a lot of bike gear. A small Blackstone griddle. We could cut back on clothes. We could get a cap for the truck instead of the hard tonneau cover. I'm sure it could be done, but I'm not sure we'd be comfortable with the choices we'd have to make to do it. But, as @SeaDawg points out, others can. There's a couple on YouTube who full time in a Class B van. That's even smaller. It's a big leap. Have you RV'd before?

Tux and tie event. Very classy! 👍

My few experiences with RV dealer-based service centers have not been good. Dealers have a hard time finding and retaining techs, and the techs they have are usually poorly-informed about the details of the various product lines they sell. Just read through any of the forums for SOB trailers and you'll see these types of comments over and over. "I asked the service tech what the red switch does, and he didn't know," "My trailer's been in the shop for 6 weeks now," "I finally got my trailer back and the problem still isn't fixed," etc. In our case, the dealer simply wouldn't return our calls and we ended up taking the trailer back to the factory in Indiana for repairs. Now we only deal with a local/mobile service facility that does NOT sell RVs. If OTT wanted to partner up with RV service centers, fine, but I'd be very wary of any dealership-based service they offered. As for sales, I think a dealer network will effectively cheapen the product, one way or another. To keep the price point the same while still allowing dealer profit would require lowering the manufacturing costs/cutting corners. We've already seen a bit of that to cover the COVID sales crunch: no more customization, no swoosh decals. Two of our previous trailers were from independent manufacturers not based in Elkhart. Slightly better quality than the Indiana trailers and slightly more expensive. Both those companies went under because they couldn't compete side by side with cheaper units on dealer lots. So, service centers? Maybe good. Dealer sales? I don't think so. But,OTT apparently needs to do something different. I hope it works out.

We use one of these to monitor my wife's medications, which have to stay in a certain temperature range: Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer H5179, Smart Humidity Temperature Sensor with App Notification Alert, https://a.co/d/65LlkWV Hook it up to campground wifi or your hotspot and it will send a notification to your phone if the temperature leaves your preset limits. Works very well.

@mossemi, I assume your dog camps with you. How is he in campgrounds? Have you had any issues with other campers or campground management? We want to be good neighbors.

Our son and his new bride have a rescue dog. We think she's a German shorthair/chocolate lab mix. 4 years old. We had her with us for 2 weeks while they were on their honeymoon and she's a sweetheart. Smart, well-trained, and a real cuddle bug. Problem is, she's anxious and reactive to other dogs, and they already have another dog. The two dogs have fought in their house, which led to Truffle spending her days in a crate when they're not home and nights alone in a separate bedroom - which must be hard for her because she's a people-dog and spent every night with us in our bedroom. They've talked about putting her down before they have children because they don't think she's adoptable. We fell in love with her and would consider adopting her but we're worried about her behavior in a campground, especially while being walked. She tends to bark and lunge at other dogs who come within 10-20 feet while she's leashed, even though they have worked with a trainer to try to get her past this. She's absolutely fine with other people while being walked. The only people-problem she has is the mailman, who comes onto their front step and puts mail through a slot in their front door. (Our mail is delivered in the street and she didn't react to that at all.) Has anyone dealt with a dog-reactive dog while camping? Any suggestions or advice to offer?

We like the muted light through the frosted doors better than the harsh overhead lights.

You can submit a service ticket in the Owners section of this site and Oliver will get back to you. No charge for advice/help troubleshooting.

If you have lithium batteries you'll need to change a setting in the converter (Xantrex) to prevent tripping the 15A breaker at your house. It's setting #28. Change it to 15A or less.

Think I'll just let it run over the side until I get home.

Our curbside drain line just stopped and the water is draining down the side of the trailer. As a quick fix onsite, can I simply direct a jet of water from a garden house nozzle up the tube from below to try to clear it?

Construction is just starting on our detached garage for the Ollie and truck. We were shocked at how much construction costs have risen. So much so that we had to downsize our plan from 3 bays to 2 and a half and cut the footprint by 6 feet in both dimensions. Even with those changes it's still going to cost us $80-90,000. For a garage! 😕

Hormel ComplEats: https://www.hormel.com/Brands/Compleats and Barilla microwave pasta: https://www.barilla.com/en-us/home/ready-pasta-hub?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PastaShapes-ReadyPasta-GenericPasta-Brand-Exact&utm_term=barillareadypasta&ds_rl=1275463&ds_rl=1274610&gclid=Cj0KCQjwldKmBhCCARIsAP-0rfzMGAPP641nZnmYHO-0RD4XqtFZEREUicUtRMCF8aPeLKnE1vl4uc8aAgrXEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

A piece of small pool noodle does the trick for us.

We use Turkish towels. Light woven cotton. Pack small, dry quicker than regular towels, but still feel like cloth.

Funny, I've done that more at home than while RVing. Home is a wooded acre but can't think of any campground around here where I could get away with it. Really envious of those who live closer to true boondocking areas. The closest we get is dry camping in state parks with neighbors all on sides. But at least the ice cream shops are always close to the campgrounds around here!

I can't imagine full timing without a grey tank. There will be lots of places you end up in your travels that absolutely will not let you drain grey water onto the ground (including all of the Eastern US). You could get kicked out of the campground or even fined by the police. There's lots of truck bed water bladders available for extra fresh water. This one is food-grade. Just hook it up to your winterizing port and top off your tank. Available in 10, 25, or 50 gallon sizes: Jenlis Ivy Bag Large Drinking Water Bladder, Food Grade & BPA Free Container, Compact Collapsible & Foldable Storage https://a.co/d/aQE7Q8a

I updated my Lithionics firmware this spring. After that I was able to set up a PIN for the batteries. Really wish I could do that for the Xantrex, too.

@JRK, I see you have a 2021, so it should have the extra latch on the drawers. Silly question, but do you give the drawers a little push in before you leave - to engage the latch? Also, we had one drawer that opened. It was my wife's plates/bowls drawer. The contents were too heavy. After we redistributed the load all the drawers stay closed now. As I've posted, we've also been frustrated by many issues with our Oliver, but there is hope. We just returned from 2 weeks of dry-camping and had no issues with the Oliver at all! It worked perfectly. It took us a year to get here but we're hoping the teething pains are over.

The fact that a hail storm can total an Airstream was one of the main reasons we excluded them from consideration.

For many years we drank from our fresh tank but then I got to thinking about all the little places water can sit between trips, especially since we have well water, so we switched to bottled water for drinking and the fresh tank for bathing, etc. Probably overkill, but it also stretches how long our fresh tank lasts on trips.

I just posted a trip report on our last 2-week dry camping run. It was HOT and HUMID most days here in CT. We have the factory Platinum lithium package and found we could run the Dometic A/C for about 45 minutes at night while watching TV before going to bed. (We use the ARC input to connect the TV audio to the Furrion amp and speakers. With doors and windows closed, it was not audible outside the trailer.) That was enough to significantly cool and dry the cabin. We did that on the worst days, maybe 4 nights. If there was full sun the next day, rooftop solar refilled the batteries. If not, we lost maybe 4-5% SOC. We never used our Honda genny. Even with some cloudy days we could go a LONG time that way, probably a month. Last year we tried running A/C most of the afternoon. That definitely required the generator to run the A/C, recharge the batteries, or both. Not worth it. Also note, the Truma A/C requires a larger generator than the Dometic with soft-start, which runs fine on a 2000W Honda.

Wondering how this is better than the standard twist-lock. Reviewers talk about standard cords with melted connectors or arc damage on standard cords. Melted connectors are usually caused by operating large draws like the A/C with low campground voltage (a problem addressed by the Progressive EMS), or by loose connections. The standard twist-lock should provide ample connection surfaces if it is used correctly (twisted to the locked position). As far as arc damage, that will happen to any connector that is disconnected under load. The pedestal breaker should be opened before disconnecting the cord. The same would be true with the Smart Plug. With a special plug like this, you'd have trouble sourcing a quick replacement if something happened to it, while standard cords are available at every RV shop and replacement plugs/receptacles at any Home Depot. And what is "The retro-fit connector...designed to be used with your existing cord"? If it's an adapter that goes on the end of your regular cord, you still have a twist-lock in the system. I'd need a lot more convincing before purchasing.

Hi. Have you considered renting a trailer or RV and trying the lifestyle before you commit to a purchase? There are commercial rental companies, campgrounds with trailers set up on site, and AirBNB type RV rentals from owners. There's a lot to be said for the lifestyle, but it's not always as easy, fun, and carefree as some YouTubers would have you believe. Expect to be fixing things yourself and having to be flexible with your planned destinations. Once you've decided to press forward, make sure your tow vehicle is up to the job. Lots of posts about that here. Finally, and admittedly conversely, make the jump when you are ready. We were also a couple years shy of retirement when we put the deposit our Ollie. The week we brought it home my wife got a cancer diagnosis, so we're glad we moved when we did. (She's doing well on treatment now.) In the end you have to do what feels right for you. This forum is certainly a great place to start.