Steph and Dud B

Have fun!

Don't wait to retire longer than you have to. Things can change on a dime and take time away from you. That's my best advice. As for RVing, consider renting 1 or 2 and trying the lifestyle before you commit big dollars to a new purchase. Some people find it isn't for them. Don't expect a problem-free idyllic RV lifestyle like you see on RV ads. You'll need to be flexible and handy with basic repairs on the road. Read, read, read RV forums. Good luck.

An LE2 with dual awnings makes a cameo at the end of this HappilyEverHanks video: Who could it be?

It was a bit chilly on our recent trip and sometimes I'd turn on the propane and run the furnace during lunch stops. Every time we got back on the road I'd ask myself, "Did I put the cover back on?" I'm determined to throw that cover on the front seat of the truck during stops from now on.

Yes, they have a separate charge controller.

True that. I have trouble getting a decent discharge on our 640 AH lithiums to exercise them. The solar keeps topping them off. And we only have 340 watts of solar.

Correct. One of ours started to come loose and we just twisted it back in.

K1PDB. Mostly got my ticket to work with Emergency Management, so not particularly active, but still keep a little Baofeng in the truck at all times.

A motorhome's toad rolled into our fifth wheel in a campground after the owner forgot to set the parking brake before disconnecting.

Also after you put your stabilizer jacks down.

If a Chevy Express does have a 10,000 pound tow rating it might be a good choice. That would probably be the cargo version. I think the passenger versions have much have much lower tow ratings, which is too bad. Years ago, we towed a trailer roughly LE2 size/weight cross country with a Ford E350 passenger van with the V10 engine. It was a great travel vehicle: tons of power, lots of interior cargo space, and captains chairs for all of us. Only got rid of it when we went to a fifth wheel. Wasn't there an Ollie owner on the forum towing with a full-size cargo van?

You can use a small generator to charge your lithium batteries through the 30 amp shoreline cord but you'll have to change a setting on your Xantrex converter if your generator only has a 15 amp outlet. The default setting on the Xantrex will attempt to pull up to 25 amps, which will trip the breaker on your generator. You can change setting 28 to 15 amps (or less) when you're charging with a small generator. Note that the little genny will work hard making those 15 amps. I might choose 5 or 10 amps so the generator doesn't work so hard (and loud). I don't know about connecting a generator 12v DC output to the external solar connector. You'd have to make sure you're within the wiring limits. The good news is, the solar panels do a great job. If you aren't running the A/C off the batteries, and you have decent weather, you probably won't need the generator much.

The tank vent pipe runs through the closet. It may be damaged/leaking fumes and/or not connected through the roof properly. There should be no odor.

Wow, that's silly.

Weekends can still be tough to find sites, depending where you are.

Our rear escape window is stiff to slide. Not 2 hands, but close. We've used an ear wax bulb syringe for this. Allows you to really control the water.

Here are my usuals. The ones you can't read are Wandering Labs and All stays.

Anita is wonderful. She stepped in for us when our initial salesperson was indisposed and she was a great help. We wish her a quick recovery.

Bigfoot was my second choice when we were shopping fiberglass.

I think the second one is an Escape. They and the Bigfoots are more squared off. We ended up next to Bigfoot at a rest area last week.

We stopped (twice) at that Bucees last week. Our first Buc-ees. Very impressed with the food and gas pieces. I'm actually eating some Beaver Nuggets right now. 🍽️

That's really cool. Can't be more than 1 place like that in the whole country, at least with that backstory.

Yep, been down this road before. Kept me busy last year. Just posted a trip report and photos on our blog. A short, but good, trip. A lot more camping to come this summer and we're retiring at the end of the year so, hopefully, we're just warming up!

We just got back from a 9-day, 2300 mile trip to OTT for warranty service and back. It was the first trip we've had with our new trailer that didn't uncover some new problem that needed to be fixed. Eggcelsior performed as expected! A great relief. It was also nice to see a bunch of other Ollie owners down in Hohenwald, either getting service or taking delivery. (Shout out to Merl and Heather!) Now, on to using our trailer instead of fixing it! (Well, almost. The city water connection has loosened up a bit. I'll need to figure out how to snug that up before our next trip, but that shouldn't be a big deal.) Our 2023 season has started!

It looks like the mystery of my hot brake drums on one side has been solved. Last fall I learned that the tires we received from the factory at delivery last summer contained balance beads. This is relevant because the first thing I did when we got the trailer home that summer was take it to a tire shop to have metal valve stems installed. I also had the wheels spin balanced for good measure. A little research revealed that tires containing balance beads will not spin balance correctly. It'll look right on the machine, but not be correctly balanced when the beads shift on the road. Maybe that was why both clockwise-rotating tires were running hot... Before putting the trailer to bed last winter I removed all the stick-on and clip-on weights installed by the tire shop. We just returned from our first trip of the season, 2300 miles. Whereas the right wheels were running 60 degrees hotter than the left before (per IR measurement of the drums), I saw no more then 10 degrees difference between any two wheels on this trip. I think the problem is solved. (I will, however, continue to monitor wheel temps going forward in case there was residual damage to tires or bearings.)