Tom and Doreen

Looks like a nice quality build. I do like the awning / swing-out windows. The refrigerator is a nice size too although I would prefer a true marine style refrigerator that you find in some of the over-land camper builds that have separate slide out refrigerator and freezer sections. Overall I would still choose the Olly given the quality build, components, service support, and styling.

Very exciting - congratulations!

That looks like a pretty light tow vehicle for a Elite ll.

Tom is not a fan of naming anything either, but I am calling her "Olive." Partly due to the Oliver connection of course, and partly because I am a big fan of the author Elizabeth Strout and she has two "Olive" books - "Olive Kitteridge" and "Olive, Again." As an avid reader, that sealed the deal for "Olive," for me anyway. I'm quite sure Tom has performed an eye roll or two when I use it, but so far he's been very discreet about it. 😀 Unfortunately, OTT doesn't allow customization of the back sign any longer or we would have put our hull number there. Instead, we ordered a special license plate - "EGG - 1321" and are looking forward to receiving it soon. Happy trails everyone!

Welcome to the Oliver family and the forum. As new members ourselves, Tom and I could not be happier with our decision and we are looking forward to many adventures with Olive beginning soon (waiting to camp is as hard as it was waiting for delivery!). Enjoy!

Great ideas folks, thanks! I bought a Velcro mounting pad that's about the size of the LevelMate Pro that I'm planning on using.

Thanks very much for the input, I like those ideas better than mine! I'll likely install it on the inside of the closet as shown above. Thanks! ~Tom~

For those who have mounted one, where is the best location for mounting a LevelMate Pro on an Olly II? I'm planning on mounting one possibly in the front closet or above the master switch panel.

This was such an informative discussion thread as Olive is the first (and probably "only" as we love her) travel trailer. Since several people have also mentioned being motorcycle riders, I wanted to let you know that we found a really great motorcycle trailer company which we went to visit last summer when we did the Oliver factory tour. It's Ironhorse Motorcycle Trailers in McMinnville, TN. Like our Oliver trailers, they are made of fiberglass and have a flip top design. We haven't ordered one yet - trying to concentrate on camping with Olive for now, but if we can do motorcycle trips in the future, it's really ideal as you can get your motorcycle to the location where you want to be without dealing with all the road craziness between home and there. Tom and I were able to have a tour of their factory and their product is very impressive. Unfortunately, we can relate to the medical challenges and their impact on motorcycle travel so that has also put this decision on hold for a while.

That's an interesting point about no filter on the air return . The Truma is pretty quiet and it also has a 'night mode' for the fan which helps as well.

Wow - I think 720 miles in one day (towing or not) is a long day for virtually anyone! Great information and that's good mpg in quite a hilly area!

I couldn't agree more - this is the time of life to slow down and enjoy the journey! Speaking of showing off an Ollie, I'm including a picture of Olive at the first Bucc'ees we have ever been to in Crossville, TN. We had been hearing about this "gas station" (not a comprehensive description, although we did get gas there) in various YouTube videos for years and it was quite the experience! The bathrooms are truly amazing (the only time on the trip home I chose to use a public bathroom instead of our personal one) and we had a darn good brisket sandwich too! 😀

Tom and I watched this video last night (we have been following KYD for a few years now) and it was excellent. Bringing Olive home, we were mostly towing 60-65 mph on the highway, but every once in a while we would see that we were close to 70 mph because the Elite II tracked so well, you couldn't feel it back there. Going through the Poconos, I captured a nice sunset in the tow mirror of our Tundra, which also confirmed that Olive was indeed behind us. 😀

Thanks for the responses guys! Quicksilver products remind my of my Mercury outboard days!

I may have missed it but I haven't seen a specification for the appropriate grease to be used on the Dexter EZ-Flex Suspension in my documentation. I currently use Lucas NLGI #2 for my yard equipment, would this suffice? Thanks, ~Tom~

Thank you for the well wishes and it's good to know the "water in the shower pan" issue is likely because we ran water after closing the valve. Also nice to know that we aren't the first ones to do it! 😀 Dudley, it would be great to meet up at Hammonassett - it's an easy ride from home. The one limitation is that we will need to go when we can bring our four-legged girl Joy. As a bonus, there are large parking lots there where I can practice towing forwards and backwards! 🤞on that endeavor - 😳

Hello All - Thank you for your thoughts. We have a composting toilet so no water possible from that source and luckily we had mostly good weather for our ride back to CT (very lucky to avoid snow and ice storms!). For sure, the drain valve was closed as well. In thinking back, I don't believe we ran water in either sink after closing the valve, but I wouldn't bet on it as we did have rest and lunch stops along the way and we might have washed hands without thinking about it. I like the idea of signs near both sinks to remind us not to use them after the valve is closed! We will post some pictures and list the few issues we have had in the near future. Unfortunately, in the week we have been home I have been dealing with severe lower back and thigh pain - apparently from a pinched nerve. PT will hopefully have me ready for local weekend adventures in Olive in a few weeks. Tom retires 3/31 so we will be heading south soon thereafter - very exciting as we love our cozy home on wheels! Best, Doreen

Ingenious! Excellent analytical thinking and practical expertise; impressive!

I'm sure that there was no water in the sink before departure. After looking at the auto drain drawing, simply a typical gate valve with a motor and rack gear, I suspect that the gate was either not completely closed or there was some small amount of debris preventing it from sealing. What I should have done was to not open the valve immediately after finding the water in the shower pan and see if the water would seep back into the tank on it's own over time. I can certainly do that test but I won't be able to do a "slosh test" as the rig is now winterized ( and it's going to be -4 degrees soon ☹️).

On our return trip home from Oliver we noticed standing water in the shower pan. The "auto drain" valve had been closed as was evident by the standing water not draining from the pan and the light in the closet was not blinking. How is it possible that water from the grey tank can pass through the valve in one direction and not the other? Once I opened the valve the water drained out of the shower pan as expected. I didn't see any evidence of water entering the pan from any other source. Could hydraulic pressure be forcing water through the valve as the water sloshes around in the grey tank while driving?

Tom and I won't have our Ollie E2 (Hull #1321) until January, but here are some favorite photos from 2022: We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy new year! Best, Doreen and Tom DE64BCCB-E2B2-4144-B81E-49912B2C2242_1_201_a.heic

When we first started dreaming about RVing back in early 2020 we looked at several setups including truck campers and were really impressed with Earthroamer and Truckhouse, both are amazing rigs! Ultimately we decided that the Earthroamer was too much truck for us for the type of camping that we expect to do and Truckhouse required too much custom modification of the power train and would likely not be covered by Toyota's warranty even though it would be a brand new truck. I can't say enough about those builds though, they are amazing! ....Maybe some day! Good luck with your upcoming setup!

Yes, it's best to stick to the essentials until you know what you need, but even the essentials add up to quite a bit of stuff! 🙂 We will be towing with a Tundra (we hear it will be arriving at the dealer soon; so relieved as it has taken months) and we are concerned with staying under the payload so no extra toys or non-essential items are planned until we pick up our trailer and get ourselves to a CAT scale! 🤞🙂

After a lot of research, Tom and I ordered the KTT mattresses yesterday for our Ollie II with the twin bed option. As it turns out, we are very fortunate that their facility is within a half hour's drive from our home so we can pick them up with our landscape trailer; saving shipping costs which is a huge benefit these days. I spoke with Dick, who was very friendly and helpful, and the ordering process couldn't have been easier. As earlier posts have noted, the price for the two mattresses is $1,500 (shipping costs are extra). They are approximately 7" in height. I found the information on both the KTT Enterprises and Talalay Global websites very helpful with regard to their manufacturing process, the types of latex foam in existence and their differences, and the pros and cons of memory foam versus latex foam. Our truck bed length won't allow us to bring the mattresses with us to Hohlenwald in January, but we will have them at home waiting for us for future trips. 🙂

As Tom and I wait to go down to Hohlenwald in January to pick up our Elite II, we continue to benefit so much from this forum. I love the "real life" pictures of your interior Nancy and Bill (assuming you are still alive, Bill 😃) . Thanks to Kathy, we have so many useful items for our Ollie II and I will spend December and early January getting all these items ready for our trip. Tom will be recovering from his surgery on December 8, but I'm sure we both will be reviewing OTT videos, keeping up with the forum, and the Facebook group during that timeframe as well. It's a great way to channel our growing excitement as Tom and I get ready for this new life chapter (I have been retired since January, 2022 and Tom retires in March, 2023). Needless to say, our first long trip will begin in April! 🙂 Thanks again y'all!