Hello from Central CA!!

[sunshdw]

We just put our deposit down for a LEII and its expected in Feb. We are super excited to get our Ollie and we look forward to meeting those in this family!!

 

I've owned a couple trailers since 2000 so I'm not new to camping but my Mrs. on the other hand.......... 🙂 We are down sizing from a Grand Design Imagine 30' TT which was a great trailer and company. We are looking to do more boondocking and the over build quality of the Ollies is undeniable and was one of the main things that attracted us. We went a couple weeks ago to see an Ollie in person and we were both very surprised (in a good way), loved the layout and that was pretty much all we needed to call Phil and place our deposit. 

 

Cheers,

JJ

[SeaDawg]

Welcome to the forum, and we're excited for you too.

There are other folks on here that have also "downsized" to do more camping. I know the longer we camp, the less we carry...

What's your tow vehicle?

 

[BackofBeyond]

35 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

Welcome to the forum, and we're excited for you too.

There are other folks on here that have also "downsized" to do more camping. I know the longer we camp, the less we carry...

What's your tow vehicle?

 

I must not have been camping  quite long enough - still carry more than I need😵

[SeaDawg]

33 minutes ago, BackofBeyond said:

I must not have been camping  quite long enough - still carry more than I need😵

We all do. Just trying to carry "less" of more.  Lol.

[topgun2]

I too picked up my Ollie in February.  Just keep an eye on the weather and make adjustments if necessary.  The "normal" weather in Hohenwald isn't really that bad in February (not counting one week of this year) and the roads are a bit less crowded for taking your new arrival home.

Unfortunately for most of us - February will be here before you know it 😃.  Until then you have a great chance to give Phil a hard time (please) and to read virtually everything in the Oliver University and here on the regular Forum.

Let us know if you have questions!

Welcome!

Bill

[JRK]

Where in central CA? I am in Ventura county, on the Oxnard 

Plain.

[sunshdw]

On 4/19/2021 at 11:25 AM, SeaDawg said:

Welcome to the forum, and we're excited for you too.

There are other folks on here that have also "downsized" to do more camping. I know the longer we camp, the less we carry...

What's your tow vehicle?

 

That’s an interesting point, downsizing to do more camping. I think that perfectly describes what I’m after.

I’ve got a Ram2500 Cummins as a tow rig

[sunshdw]

On 4/19/2021 at 12:51 PM, topgun2 said:

I too picked up my Ollie in February.  Just keep an eye on the weather and make adjustments if necessary.  The "normal" weather in Hohenwald isn't really that bad in February (not counting one week of this year) and the roads are a bit less crowded for taking your new arrival home.

Unfortunately for most of us - February will be here before you know it 😃.  Until then you have a great chance to give Phil a hard time (please) and to read virtually everything in the Oliver University and here on the regular Forum.

Let us know if you have questions!

Welcome!

Bill

Thanks Bill. We’re trying to come up with a plan to either drive and pick it up or fly in for the orientation and have it delivered. The drive from California would take a good amount of time off work.

[sunshdw]

2 hours ago, JRK said:

Where in central CA? I am in Ventura county, on the Oxnard 

Plain.

We’re just a bit north of Fresno in the town of Coarsegold. We’ll be on the look out for good boondocking sites!

[johnwen]

Welcome! 🙂

[sunshdw]

On 4/22/2021 at 6:26 PM, johnwen said:

Welcome! 🙂

Thank you sir!

[Mike and Carol]

Welcome to the group!  Your TV will have no problem with your Oliver!  Mike

[GarryandKristi]

On 4/21/2021 at 11:46 PM, sunshdw said:

We’re just a bit north of Fresno in the town of Coarsegold. We’ll be on the look out for good boondocking sites!

 Never heard of Coarsegold, but you probably haven’t heard of my hometown either, Escalon, just north of Modesto. Welcome. 

[SeaDawg]

Whoa, @GarryandKristi, we have good friends in Escalon! Small world 🌎 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:44 PM, sunshdw said:

Thanks Bill. We’re trying to come up with a plan to either drive and pick it up or fly in for the orientation and have it delivered. The drive from California would take a good amount of time off work.

Congratulations!  I'm glad delivery is behind us.  It was the longest road trip we have taken in recent years - over 5,000 miles.  And not much sightseeing since we wanted to be home for family birthdays and Christmas.

It took us 8 days from SW Oregon to Hohenwald, with not too long of driving days (6-7 hrs max) and a day to spare once we got to Tennessee.  We allowed extra time in the event we encountered bad weather (delivery day was Dec 7) . . . . . took I-80 across to Nebraska, then south through Kansas and east through S. Missouri to Tennessee.  We were fortunate to have acceptable weather all the way.  Very little traffic, but then we avoided St. Louis, Kansas City, and Memphis.

I-40 was our trip home, making it in 6 days.  We drove a few longer days in order to avoid a storm coming in to N. Arizona/New Mexico/Texas.  Temps were cold in the higher desert areas, but above freezing during the day.  We had a bit of snow on I-5 between Shasta and Ashland, but that was it.  I spent a fair amount of time the 30 days prior to departure, monitoring the weather and looking at weather history for that time of year along various routes.  

Our original delivery date was Feb 3, but Oliver offered us the earlier Dec delivery.  So thankful, as the first part of Feb there was a huge snow across the Central Plains and into Texas.  Whew!  Dodged that bullet!

You could easily do the trip from your place in 5 hours, each way.  But you want to allow at least a couple of days to stay close to Hohenwald for a shakedown - So nearly two weeks.  

BTW: the total cost of our trip out and back (hotels, fuel, and campsites) was just under $2,000, driving an F350 SD diesel crew cab (16-18mpg/12-14 towing).  We took along all of our meals (only eating out twice) so I didn't count food as an expense.  I put together a large "duffle kitchen" (induction burner, electric tea kettle, pots/pans, cooler (didn't have to replenish ice once since it was cold all the way out).  Booked hotels with fridge/microwave and most had some semblance of breakfast.  Once there, we bought food for the trip home.  Worked well, especially since Covid had most restaurants shut down or take out only.  Fast food for a week would be more than I could stand 😜 

Assuming you drive to delivery: I see you have a crew cab, which is good.  It took the backseat and a pickup bed tool box to carry everything we "needed" for the Ollie!  And, don't forget to take several gal of antifreeze (or purchase there for the trip home) in case you have to winterize on the return trip.  We choose not to have the trailer winterized at delivery because we wanted to test all the systems - water, water heater, shower, dumping/filling tanks, etc.

Our backseat loaded for the trip to Hohenwald: