J-Rhett

Hi Yardsale, I don't have my Ollie yet, coming soon, may be done in three days, but I saw on the Oliver Facebook page some people camping comfortably at 20 degrees in one. Said they were as snug as a bug in a rug! Yeah, being a four season camper is a great advantage. They say and I don't know where i heard or read this, maybe the factory, that the plumbing and tanks will be just 70 degrees if you trailer temp is 74. So, it's 4 degrees cooler in the bottom than your set temp in the trailer. Just don't run out of propane or electric if you are camping and it's 0 degrees outside. I have a gasoline/propane generator I will carry in my truck, plus 30# propane tanks, plus battery powered solar and some small Stanley electric ceramic heater. If you will spend a lot of time in the boonies when it's cold you better figure to have a small air compressor to blow your lines or some anti-freeze to suck in your lines if you do run out of heat. Just saying as I have no experience camping yet! But for me, I think I will head down to TX around Pharr or maybe higher near my brother in San Marcos. Rhett

SeaDawg!~ WowZER! Great Sherry, you and your husband are so blessed to have done so much. I've always wanted to go sailing and learn something about it so sometimes I hang out near the sailing club in our town. But no one yet has ever needed help with their boat. LOL I just want to taste sailing a little and learn some of the modern day nautical terms. I've always been intrigued by stories of the high sea and modern movies like "Dead Calm". I recently watched a short about a young man who spent 76 days in a raft. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/23/adrift-in-atlantic-76-days I guess I'm intrigued because sailing is a great way to feel nature and one's mistakes in sailing on an ocean can be their last. Anyway, if you have the time and inclination would be interested in reading about some of your adventures!

Just wondering again. Why would you spend $50K to $75K on a nice Oliver when there are many, many other kinds of campers on the market? And if you owned another kind of camper before why did you change? Did you change because you wanted more room, higher quality, easier maneuverability, better mileage through aerodynamics and weight, higher quality camping through ease of use of the trailer, for its distinctiveness, for it's claims of legacy, maybe, like me you bought it because you think it's the best for the money even though it's cost is at the top of it's class. I really hadn't planned to buy my Ollie when I first went to see them being made at the plant, but that is exactly what made me buy that very day. Plus I realized that if I ever do something I might really like I have to get on with it since I'm getting older and I can tell it now even though my brain says I'm still young! LOL I see many of you are much younger than me and I appreciate your already having traveled thousands of miles in your campers/Ollies. Actually, I've traveled to almost all the states, but never in a camper. And for a few years I made it a habit to go Mountain Hiking in Colorado with some buddies from Illinois, now I'm pretty old to be backpacking through the mountains with 60 pounds on my back. So, get on with it-tell us why you changed to an Ollie or why you bought it straight out like me.

Unless you're filthy rich you usually hunt for and pick a more economical place to stay. I know, I know, there are some of us who don't care what it costs to stay in a campground such as my nephews who probably make seven figures a year and more. But I'm just a conservative guy hunting for a deal and I'm not crazy about making someone from the East rich while they let the motel go downward and the roaches and bedbugs take over. I've stayed in some pretty nice places and my mate woke up with bites all over. And I've heard lately that some of the bigger national hotels just straighten and smooth the sheets and you get to sleep where some foreigner slept the night before on the same sheets. No thanks, I don't care for that. We stayed in a National Brand Motel a couple years ago and had no idea that there had been dog shows in San Marcos a few days before. Boy did we get an awakening when we found dog hair ingrained in our carpet and then I pulled up the pillows on the second bed and was astonished to find a dog pillow with more dog hair than a years worth on that little doggie pillow. I was not a happy camper. We had rented the room for a week and demanded they re-clean it which they did. One of the main reasons I chose to purchase a RV was to pay less for traveling. A nice motel room on the road now runs about $90 and on up to $200. And the second reason is convenience and then cleanliness. I just found out that some campgrounds are not so economical especially when just staying for a night or two. If you're keeping your home and not full-timing then you always have to keep your place going too so you have that expense, which we do, so one of the main objects is to keep costs down while traveling. Hey, it's ok to splurge sometimes, but I don't want to eat at Texas Road House every night either. And I can understand why campgrounds near and in large cities cost more. There is more demand and more things to do so there should be higher prices in our "Capitalist" country. As I'm writing this I am thinking about what RVers talk about when sharing information about how other campsites operate and why one may or may not want to stay there again. If I'm expressing myself to you I'm going to tell you how the management acted, the amount of fun and peace we had, and the cost of staying. There are lots of variables in life and so out on the road while RVing too. I've heard stories of campers being kicked out of campground for no reason and knowing the people telling me these things I believe them. Some camp managers are crazy. I've heard of trailers being lost because the management didn't warn the campers soon enough that a flash flood was coming downstream and several trailers were swamped and ruined in a flood. Be aware of your surroundings and where you camp. I've just heard stories and some of you have been camping for years. Let's hear some of you interesting stories. What's the most you ever paid to stay for a week end? What is the main reason your purchased your trailer/camper/RV/truck/Van? What are some of the problems you've had a long way from home. Maybe your trailer is your ONLY home. I bet you got some stories to tell! Anyway, I kind of got off subject as my main point was the high cost of staying overnight in a motel vs. the cost of staying in your camper for a small camping fee. How many nights will I have to stay in my Ollie before it's equal to motel bills?? LOL I immediately learned that some camping fees are not so small. I know, there are lots of reasons people camp too. The social life is nicer in the campgrounds and talking and eating around the campfire too. It's bringing back something we've lost in the cities and used to have back in the 50's and 60's and that's neighborliness. God Bless the human race.

Junior BirdMan! WowZER! That is so cool Junior BirdMan and I'd like to do exactly that sometime. I still don't think it's very safe as I've heard some really bad things, well, read where some roads the bandidos are mean and nasty. Besides that they will kill you! Maybe with a long caravan like that is safer, but I'd want the guides to be heavily armed. Yeah, I think joining a group and going anywhere with 15-20 Olivers or Fiberglass RVs would be really cool. You can be the wagon master BirdMan! Oh what fun we're gonna have! See you on the trail sometime. Cold here now and windy in central Illinois, like 20 degs.

Wow, John, to me this is a defect and quality control at the Oliver plant should have caught it. For sure there should not be any play in the battery tray while in transit. Can you imagine 300# of batteries lying out in the street or highway as you make a turn?!!! Thanks for bringing this to our attention and it will be one of the things I make sure I check when picking up my Ollie. These Ollies cost a lot and I believe the components are high quality and so should the workmanship be.

I'm a new RV Camper and just wondering what is legal or I should say Illegal to carry across state lines or have in my trailer at any time. Such things as RX prescriptions, open alcohol spirits, firearms, marijuana, opiates for medicine, ammunition, and such. If my trailer is my second home I should be able to carry any and all of the above, right? I should add gasoline and diesel fuel, kerosene too. When looking at the other side of this question I find that we living here in the USA are really blessed too. We can travel extensively for 1000's of miles without being inspected at the border and can easily venture into two other countries with few questions and little impediment. BTW when crossing into Canada, do they and can they search your Ollie? I don't think I want to venture into Mexico, do you?

I'm impatiently waiting on Vector's mpg on his new diesel Nissan XD!!! Of course, pulling his Ollie for a 1000 miles at 60 mph. I think I would so love that truck with all the goodies. I looked at a 2016 here locally priced at $58K and when the 2017s came out they dropped it about 10K and then another 1000 if you had a college degree. It was $46+! Guess I'll stick with the old Ford for awhile longer!! lol

Gray Ghost: I have never owned a Dodge or Chrysler product, BUT getting mileage like you stated is above the norm I believe and you for sure have piqued my interest on a lightweight Ram. I'm not at all familiar with these trucks. Picking up 3-4 miles per gallon of a long haul adds up to lots of $$$. Let's see my truck holds 38 gals. x 3.5mpg more equals 133 more miles per tank with fuel at $2.15 per gallon... 1000 mile run for me would be to about San Marcos, TX if I got 14 mpg that would be 71.4 gals X $2.15=$153.51 and 17.5 mpg equal 57.1 gals x $2.15=$122.76 per 1000 miles. So, getting 3.5 mpg more on a 1000 mile trek would be less cost of $30.75. WowZER, very nice lunch for two people and if you're driving 1000's of miles per year pulling your Ollie that adds up fast! Can anyone beat that 17.5 mpg pulling an Ollie?

I assume your 7.3 liter is a Ford F-250 but would like to know what year it is? I will soon be towing with a 1995 Ford F-250 and if I get 14.5 mpg I will be dancing in the streets. I think that's pretty good and reasonable. I'm sure it helps to have a aerodynamic and lightweight trailer and that is one of the reasons I chose Oliver. And it's much easier to fuel up with a 23'-6" trailer than one of those big 'uns. I have my eye on the new Nissan Cummins XD diesel at 310hp/555 ft. lbs and I'm sure there is one Ollie owner and probably more I'd like to hear from on mileage. This is supposed to be a medium sized pickup but I'm sure it would really walk the dog with my new Ollie. The dealer guy says it gets 2o-22 mpg with no load on Illinois roads but I bet he sells used cars too!

What is wrong with having more than one rally and in different places so campers closer can attend to one or the other? My trailer is being built now, but I'd like to meet other Oliver Campers. I guess the trick is to get to know people on here and set a date and YOU ask your Ollie friends to meet you there. I'd like to see 17 Oliver trailers in a row pulling into a nice camp grounds. Haa, when we were recently in London, England, we ran into a large bunch of campers just pulled off the road in between major junctions. Our cousins said they were gypsies and they would not stay there long because the police would run them off. Awwwheheehehe. Let's cluster some Ollies at a Walmart sometime. I'm starting to feel more "Free" already. Hey there are already a lot of us Ollie owners. 22 pages, but I'm sure some will always be loners. That's ok, it's good to get away from everyone sometimes too.

Hi Vector, I'm J-Rhett and live in Decatur, IL. Just purchased our Ollie in September of 2016 and patiently awaiting it's birth. Last time I checked Hull #186 was in plumbing and electrical. Maybe we'll meet out on the road sometime. We've never camped before so it's all new to us. Well, I have a brother who is a snowbird and he's guiding me on what to buy to prepare for camp life. I saw recently that we have another Ollie person in Mattoon, IL too. I've done a search on here but did not come up with a name for that owner in Mattoon. Hope to meet up with you at some rally. I have an old, but very good Ford F-250 diesel I plan on pulling with. Rhett and Dory