AZ Wonderer
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Posts posted by AZ Wonderer
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I live in southern AZ and the wildfires this year have hit too close to home. Exactly 1 week ago today, I left work before lunch because of reports of 3 separate wildfires raging close to my home. By the time I arrived to my house, the yard was on fire, the smoke was thick, and fire crews were all over the place. My neighbors had already rescued my dogs, and I ran inside to rescue my bearded dragon before fleeing the area. The fire meandered around all the homes in the neighborhood, came right up to my cinderblock fence, but by the grace of God and the amazing fire crews, no homes were lost. This week, portions of Fort Huachuca, where I work, are ablaze. In 2 weeks, I'll be making my way north with the Oliver through Nevada to the southern Oregon coast, hoping for both cooler weather and less chance of raging fires.
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I picked one of these Craftsman containers up at Lowe's. They come in a variety of sizes. I may eventually upgrade to something nicer, like Kirk above @snakeriveridaho is planning to use, but for now, it works.
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Happy Valentine's Day to you too!
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I read on an Escape Trailers Facebook group that the annual fiberglass trailer meet-up will be at Dome Rock Feb 6-12, 2023. I hope to be there at least a few of those days.
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I just watched the video and saw your entry. Congrats! Matt was a little dismissive of the Oliver...and 2005? 2 years before Oliver even started producing travel trailers. But very exciting you won!
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On 12/17/2021 at 8:40 AM, Patriot said:
We purchased this one in 2019 and have not really had the need to use it yet. It may come in handy on a western trip.
We bought it during a sale for $80 off Amazon including tax. I looked on Amazon and they are now 150.00. 🥴 It works and throws off a fair amount of heat and sure beats looking at the ground. 😂
There is nothing like the aroma of a real campfire.
In case anyone is looking for a propane fire pit, Amazon is now offering the Outland for $69.99. That's less than a year ago.
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That's a well-equipped Ollie! I finalized my build back in August. Congrats on finalizing the options. I'm sure you're excited. I know I am.
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I've been watching videos from Overland Expo West 2022 that just concluded in Loveland, Colorado. The Expo had on display a lot of interesting gear for off-the-grid camping. One item that caught my interest was the Geyser Shower System. It seems to be a great way to get a hot shower without filling the grey tank or drawing water from the fresh water tank. I was wondering if anyone has experience using it? Apparently it comes in both a 12 volt and a non-electric version. I especially like that it uses a sponge rather than a shower head as a way of conserving water. Playing with sticks did a video review of the non-electric version:
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3 hours ago, ScottyGS said:
Starting to do some advance planning for a trip out west to Quartzite. Hard to find info on the Fiberglass gathering at Dome Rock. Last year it started on the 7th, so I would assume in 23' it would be the 4th to 11th. Anyone else interested in meeting out there? Any info / advice from folks that have previously been there would be appreciated.
I am interested in meeting there if it's in February of 2023. Thanks!
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I discovered the Truma portable refrigerators/freezers at the Quartzsite RV show in January this year. I took advantage of the show special and bought one...the C44. It works well and I recommend it.
Truma Cooler Portable Fridges and Freezers
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I started out with a Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe. Well-made. Not four seasons and hot in the AZ summer. I sold it for more than I paid for it. I bought another trailer, sold it, and now have an Oliver on order. I'm not sure Olivers are lighter that Airstreams but IMO they are better made and require less maintenance. Happy camping in the Casita...I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
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I've had 2 trailers so far...one had a wet bath, the 2nd one a dry bath. The dry bath shower leaked from the bottom and pooled water on the floor, but it was nice that for the most part, the toilet, floor, and sink stayed dry and I could have my towels hung up on a towel bar. Nevertheless, I really have no real preference and would rather have more space in the rest of the trailer.
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This blog article has some great suggestions for making a wet bath more enjoyable to use. I especially like the tip on creating towel shelving using tension rods. Can anyone else suggest items or ideas that enhance the wet bath experience?
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I completely agree with @Kirk Petersonabout using Harvest Host/Boondockers Welcome. There are some interesting Harvest Host stops along I-20 in Texas, including the Petroleum Museum and Hangar 25 Air Museum. There are also some Texas state campgrounds along the way. I think Campendium is a great resource for searching for campgrounds.
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56 minutes ago, Katjo said:
Vagabond Chicken Bundles.
Foul wrapped meals are easy and very versatile. Add whatever you want to them, they always come out so delicious and no mess!
This is a favorite of mine, I add a few sliced thin potatoes and it’s your entire meal in one foil pack!
Easy and delicious. The best combination!
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1 hour ago, Townesw said:
@AZ Wonderer Thanks for your original post. I was interested in this enough that I rolled under my E2 this morning to take a look.
My ubolts have hit the frame. There’s less than 2 inches of travel there
There is a crossmember in front of the front axle and behind the rear axle so that rules out installation in those positions
The product requires a 7.4 - 8.65 inch gap for installation
Font axle gap, level, empty, on concrete floor
Rear axle gap, level, empty, on concrete floor
I like the idea of a bumper of some kind in that location but it doesn’t look like the Sumo Springs will work. Thanks again @AZ Wonderer for posting that link.
Thank you for doing all of this! It's great information. Now I know the Sumo Springs won't work on an LEII. I originally learned about them from an RV YouTube couple, Wayward Wags, who installed them on their 5th wheel. The couple set up a camera inside the RV both before and after installation to show the difference in the amount of movement and jarring inside while traveling. The Sumo Springs seemed to make a big difference. But, unfortunately, based on your research above, they won't work on the LEII. Thanks again.
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Does anyone know if Sumo Springs are compatible with the LEII? If so, has anyone installed them and with what result?
Trailer SumoSprings - SuperSprings® International, Inc. (superspringsinternational.com)
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24 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:
We usually go to Arizona for the month of January. We’ve got reservations at Catalina State Park starting January 2, then more around the state. If there’s ice in southern Texas it usually doesn’t last long. Mike
Catalina's a great park. Also, have you tried Gilbert Ray?
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Congrats! I pick my LEII up in the middle of winter--January 3rd. But, I'll take the southern route home to AZ and hope Texas doesn't get the ice storm it did in 2020!
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I have a small Ninja 7-way cooker. One simple thing I like to do is put a roast in it, pour a can of cream of mushroom soup and a packet of dry onion dip mix onto the roast, and slow cook it on low for 8 hours. So easy and delicious. Set it in the morning, enjoy the day, come back to the camper, and you'll have a yummy roast.
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7 minutes ago, Imelda said:
Do I need an Andersen hitch with the F150? That was what was good about my F250, I didn't need it.
I don't know if you "need" it but I would recommend it. IMO, it's very easy to use and does make towing more stable.
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Just now, Imelda said:
Thank you
Thank you. Are you going to need any weight distribution etc. added?
yes, I have used an Andersen hitch on both of my previous trailers and will use it with the Oliver.
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2 minutes ago, Imelda said:
Hi all, just wanted to hear if anyone out there is using a F150 V8 2WD to pull their Oliver. I am considering buying one of these F150 and not using my F250 6.4 L diesel to pull due to high diesel cost.
Imelda
Hi Imelda. I will be towing with a 2021 F150 XLT 2WD V8 with the extended cab (2 full doors with 2 suicide doors). Bear in mind the more equipment you option, the lower the cargo capacity. I towed my Lance 2075 with it, and that trailer was only slightly less weighty than the Oliver. It worked fine.
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6 hours ago, Bryan in NC said:
Hello, my wife Sondra and I joined the forum last month. After reading through many posts, we reach out to a couple of you directly to ask specific questions about your rigs, but, now that we have placed our order, we felt it was a good time to introduce ourselves to the community. As you can tell from my display name, we live in NC. I’m an NC native, who grew up in Mukilteo, WA, and Sondra is from Tinton Falls, NJ. We’ve been looking for a retirement RV for a couple of years and knew from the start we wanted something small, reliable, and reasonably four season capable. Our journey will probably sound familiar. We started with class Bs and smaller Cs, but quickly moved to truck campers then even more quickly to molded fiberglass ones. We really like Northern Lite and Bigfoot, but their weight meant we would likely need a 1 ton dually, which we didn’t want. That led us to molded fiberglass travel trailers and we narrowed that down to Bigfoot, Escape, and Oliver. We really liked how Escape allows for a great deal of customization. We were able to view a couple of them and until last month, we were certain that’s what we were going to buy. But, before placing an order with Escape, we wanted to at least take a look at the Elite. @Brian and Maria graciously opened their trailer to us and we knew we had found our retirement RV. Oliver being a family owned business and being relatively close to home were also big for us. Our Elite will be ready this March and we are looking forward to meeting you on the road. I guess we need to put our reservations in for Hiawassee 🙂
Congratulations! I went so far as to place a deposit on an Escape before finally deciding to purchase the Oliver. I also considered Bigfoot for a short time, but did not want to buy through a dealer. Hopefully we'll both be happy with our decision.
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Oliver Reward Program Video
in General Discussion
Posted
I believe you actually won't have money loaded onto the debit card after the very first showing, unless you've already earned rewards another way. Isn't there still an administrative fee that gets deducted first before you actually begin receiving the monetary rewards?