Steve Morris

You can’t see the trailer behind, as it is still in the parts bins in Hohenwald. 😉 @bugeyedriver older cousin; 1958 MGA 1500 Roadster

Thanks David, When I made reservations today, section #1 by the river was completely booked. Section #2 about half booked. We have site 50 on the front loop by the road. Even has a guard rail for me to back into. 🤪 When we took the factory tour, we stayed at a brand new Best Western Plus in Lawrenceburg, so I reserved there again. A nice scenic drive to Hohenwald the next morning for pickup. I’ll check in with Oliver tomorrow, Bill. Thanks.

Today I talked to our sales rep, and finally received our VIN number. Now I can start looking into insurance. We have had State Farm since 1980, and I was insured with them through my parents before that since 1969. But I'm considering alternatives. Amica has a wonderful reputation, although a bit more expensive. I've got two months from yesterday to explore the options. After verifying our pick up date, it was time to make some reservations. We'll leave Ohio on Monday March 27 for a leisurely two day drive to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee where we'll stay Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we'll head to Hohenwald for delivery day and stay over at Camp Oliver. Thursday, we head to David Crockett State Park for three nights though the weekend. Then Sunday, we steer further south to Pine Mountain, Georgia to stay three nights at the lodge at Callaway Gardens. (Remember the part about Deb being an avid gardener? This place is her Nirvana!) I already checked, and the Oliver can be parked in their lot while we're staying in the lodge. Then a meandering multi- day trip back to northern Ohio. Do I need to make prior arrangements to stay at Oliver's campground? Or is that just assumed as part of the delivery process? @DebM and I are really looking forward to our adventures!! Thanks once again to everyone's encouragement and suggestions! Steve

Note that the description contradicts itself.There are TWO fuses per package.

I bought two 2-packs of the Blue Sea 30A slow-blow fuse from Amazon. Expensive, but I've used Blue Sea products for decades, and have never had even a hint of a problem. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZOIR1O?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Rich and Christine, welcome to the forum, and to your new adventures! Safe travels, Steve

Same with Deb. Once we actually saw one, there were no other options!

That's exactly what I was thinking when John posted this. I haven't even picked up my trailer yet and considering yanking the fridge! Slow down there, Steve!!

Ha! You already offered the Betamax player back when I mentioned that our wedding was videotaped on that format.Still don't want it. 😉 I had a Craig combination AM/FM/ 8-track recorder back in high school and college. I made a few bucks converting records into tapes for friends. That's also when I discovered I could take one of the housings apart, make a loop just the right length, and make it play backwards for a few seconds. A bunch of us spent way too much time perfecting saying our name backwards so that when the loop was flipped, it sounded correct forward. 🙃 Electric typewriters are for girls... ::ducksandrunsforcover::

That's where I thought we'd end up, having friends with both 17 and 21 Escape trailers. Which reminds me; we're still on the list to reserve one of the 23s! They're just now only making the second prototype, with at least one more to go before making 10 field trial units. Then production. Early last year I was expecting production in late '22, but now I'd bet late '23 might be even optimistic. And then there are the hundreds of people already on the wait list to place orders. Seeing what they're doing with the shower makes it not only tiny, but awkward to get to the bed, and for a 23, it seems like it will be crowded inside. Until I saw the Oliver, I didn't realize how open it makes a trailer feel having the bathroom across one end of the trailer! I'm so glad we ended up ordering the Oliver! Good luck in whatever you choose, @dennis

I already have a super duper cellular router/antenna combo to install in the trailer we don't yet have. (Mobile Must Have's Speed Demon 5G Bundle) Once we have it going, I should run an Ethernet cable into my home's mesh network and see how it works. The downside is that I have several applications running on my home computer that must to be on 24/7, so I couldn't use this solution while we're travelling. My other option is 20 MB/sec DSL. Been there; never going back! How in the world did I ever get by using 300 baud (.29 kb/sec) dialup back in 1982 on Compuserve!

I keep checking, but neither AT&T nor Verizon are available here west of Cleveland, Ohio. We have Spectrum for our cable/internet/phone subscription, and at $185/month, we're not getting our money's worth. Removing the phone only takes $15 off, so we use for non-essential calls. If I take off cable and phone, then the internet portion goes up. And with streaming services constantly increasing cost, it is probably a wash to just cut the cord. 🤷‍♂️

Sometimes with interesting results!! We were using a Garmin to get to Twin Falls, Idaho a few years back, and it tried taking us across the service road across the Snake River at Shoshone Falls! But 1), it isn't public, and 2), it doesn't go all the way across! But the interesting part was that we ended up going across BLM land on the north side, where Evel Knievel was supposed to land on his ill-fated rocket bike. You can see the launch ramp across the river. We still have a land line, answering machine, film camera, mechanical typewriter, car with a carburetor and manual shift, and probably some 8-track tapes stuck in a box somewhere. 🤪

Oops, I forgot the link. It looks like it is discontinued/out-of-stock, anyway. https://www.blueridgeoverlandgear.com/collections/all/products/trip-planning-bag?variant=19020204867680

I always have this in the truck with us. It has come on handy in areas without cellular, and where the Garmin shows blank spaces. Currently at 18 Gazetteers. It holds five, along with a few folding maps, a notepad, and a couple pencils.

Thanks!

@MDuncan When we were first looking into Oliver Trailers, I joined here and the Facebook group, reading all about the trailer. I had casually asked if anyone was near me so that I could view a trailer. Members directed me to Oliver's site where I could have you guys find someone for me, but meanwhile, a couple nearby offered to show us their trailer. After spending a couple hours with them, we decided to visit the factory for the tour and while we were there, we ordered a trailer. The couple that showed their trailer to us put in the paperwork and were rewarded for their kindness, even though it was not arranged by Oliver. Would situations like this qualify under the new plan? This was not a friends and family thing. Just complete strangers helping out a prospective buyer. Thanks for any clarification, Steve

::Raises hand:: And just for asking the outcome of a delivery problem. As for starting another group; there already is one. From what I understand, it was started by someone booted from the other group some time ago. https://www.facebook.com/groups/250246709208286

I had to ask, as nothing was provided by Oliver. I too had seen other people with later orders than mine already getting their VIN and hull number. When the registration opened for the May rally, I tried registering, but it required a hull number. I wrote to Matt and asked how to proceed; either waiting until closer to the event, or register as a non-owner. That's when he found our hull number for me. Still no VIN, but I won't really need it until time to get insurance. Good luck Steve

Thank you! So, that, plus the thickness of the support (guessing 1/4") plus 3/4ish" for the HyperVent plus 10-1/2" for the mattress equals a seating height of 26-1/2". About the same height as our bed here at home. Thanks for measuring that for me!

Anyone have their trailer available to check for me? Thanks!

I had a CB license back in the '70s. That was our equivalent to Facebook or something similar today, and everyone had one. My handle was "Bojangles". 🤷‍♂️ We had a not quite legal base station at my folks house, and mobile units in our cars and even my boat (along with my 8-track player.) Mom talked to people all over the world using "skip", where the signal bounces off of the atmosphere. I got another CB in 2015 to use in our cross-country travels. (we are in Ohio, and daughter was in college in Seattle.) What a change! Constant foul language, overpowered transmitters that made channels useless for hours. We used two between cars on one trip. Then I got my GMRS license and a 15W Midland mobile unit and some handhelds. I really haven't used it much other than a couple more cross-country trips. I still relied on the CB for highway information, though. I haven't used either since, as we always travel by ourselves. I haven't even mounted the Midland in the Cruiser I bought almost two years ago. I've considered HAM, but I don't think I'd get any use out of it. I have a Garmin InReach I can use for emergency communications if I don't have cellular service.

I became aware of this practice several years ago, and thought it was common knowledge. The *only* time I use a trade in cylinder is when I have a bad valve on the one I have. Then I'll use up the 3/4 full new cylinder, and get it filled at Landmark or similar the next time. Cheaper than buying a new cylinder.

Well, just when I thought we had things figured out with the radius in the corner, I find that I don't. Took the template into The Original Mattress Factory and talked with the manager about ordering a pair of custom twins. One thing I didn't take into account with all my fancy engineering layout, is that there needs to be a whole number of coils. Well, of course there does, dummy, but my layout doesn't fit that model. I'm not sure I want to lose almost 3" along that angled edge shown above... Time to rethink. Could someone with a twin layout please measure the distance from the floor to the platform where the mattress lays? Before I go too far, I want to see how high a 10" mattress is going to be from the floor. I've seen the Hypervent, but never measured it. Is it about 3/4" thick? Thank you!

We've had our Honda EU3000is since 2011, and added the Hutch Mountain conversion in 2018. What a wonderful combination these make! We bought the generator for occasional power outages (with the consideration of an additional one for pairing if needed.) But have mostly used it for remote use of power tools. We added the pneumatic tire kit to move it since it is a heavy beast. Maybe I can fabricate a tongue for it and tow it behind the Oliver when we get it! 🤪 (Surprisingly, with -5°F temps, -36°F wind chill, and up to 50 MPH winds, we have yet to have our power go out for more than a couple of minutes yesterday. Today, temps are up to zero, but winds are still high. Hopefully our luck holds.