Greetings from new owner in Washington State

[Landsplash]

Greetings!  I've been lurking on the forum for quite some time, and wanted to share a formal introduction now that we have officially joined the Oliver family! :). 

We picked up our Elite 1, Hull 967,  on December 14, and finally made it home to Camas, WA (near Portland, OR) on 12/24.    We love the trailer so far!  

Interesting tidbits: 

We first learned about Oliver while camping at Meriwether Lewis campground in Hohenwald.  We saw an interesting trailer, and struck up a conversation with a new E2 owner, who pointed us to the factory.  At Oliver,  we appreciated the trailers, and also enjoyed the amount of attention Phil gave to our home built overland trailer.  

We bought this trailer to use primarily for overnight stays on Mt. Hood, where we try to ski as often as possible.  

We were torn, and still are, about E1 vs. E2.   We ultimately chose the E1 due to mobility and parking convenience, and haven't regretted it,  especially for simple towing with our 2018 Tundra.   We do miss the bed setup and storage of the E2, however!  

We opted out of many of the adds-ons, preferring to do some of the modifications ourselves.  I'm sure you will see additional posts to this regard in the near future.  

 

Cheers & Happy New Years!

-Andy

 

[Mike and Carol]

Andy, welcome to the group!  I’m sure your modifications and experiences will benefit everyone here.  Happy New Year!  Mike

[LCTraveler]

Greetings from another Clark County Oliver owner!  We picked up hull 836 in June 2021 and absolutely love our trailer.  We are located in Hockinson.  
Pam 

[Landsplash]

 

3 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

Andy, welcome to the group!  I’m sure your modifications and experiences will benefit everyone here.  Happy New Year!  Mike

 

Thanks Mike!

[Landsplash]

Just now, LCTraveler said:

Greetings from another Clark County Oliver owner!  We picked up hull 836 in June 2021 and absolutely love our trailer.  We are located in Hockinson.  
Pam 

Awesome! We are close neighbors indeed!  

[topgun2]

Glad you saw that Oliver, glad you toured the factory and glad you have not only joined the family but have also joined (officially) us here on the Forum.  Welcome!

Bill

[Time2Go!]

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy many years of adventure in your new Oliver!

 

[Jim and Frances]

Woots!  Exciting times for sure.  Enjoy your new Ollie and we hope to meet you one day!  We picked up ours in October - the only thing they didn't tell us at pick up was that they get dirty and they didn't tell us where to find the "clean and wax it"  power switch/breaker!🤪

[tallmandan]

Welcome Andy!  Congrats on your new Ollie.  Enjoy Mt. Hood staying in your toasty trailer.  We lived in WA for 26 years (Olympia and then Felida/Vancouver) before moving to Colorado in 2019. We were super lucky to find a barely-used LE2 a year ago here in Denver.   We have loved exploring with it!

Awesome places to take your new trailer around the PNW - Enjoy!

Dan

[John E Davies]

Welcome to another Washington Ollie owner. My sister lives in west Portland, that sure is a pretty area. I love the WA 14 drive along the Gorge, it is so much less exhausting than the Interstate on the Oregon side. I like the small town vibes and the more relaxed pace, and there are hardly any semi trucks. 

How do you store your Ollie? Do you have a shop area where you can do those future mods? I look forward to seeing some threads, please post pictures. We love pics here.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Landsplash]

On 1/1/2022 at 7:22 PM, John E Davies said:

Welcome to another Washington Ollie owner. My sister lives in west Portland, that sure is a pretty area. I love the WA 14 drive along the Gorge, it is so much less exhausting than the Interstate on the Oregon side. I like the small town vibes and the more relaxed pace, and there are hardly any semi trucks. 

How do you store your Ollie? Do you have a shop area where you can do those future mods? I look forward to seeing some threads, please post pictures. We love pics here.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Yes, it is a beautiful area indeed!  Storage is... a bit of a challenge.  We do not have a shop or a convenient parking spot.    In the winter (during heaviest use times) we are parking it uncovered in our driveway, which is at an ~11 degree slope.  (the runout of of which ends at a 150' cliff over Hwy 14 😮. )    I'll try to post pics of the parking state when it's daylight tomorrow, as it may be interesting, scary, and/or comical for some; for now, here's one from the weekend, on it's first Mt. Hood campout, with pups in tow.  

[Landsplash]

Here's a couple pics of our parking arrangement 🙂 .  The front jack is just shy of max extension to approach front-back level.  We cannot use a taller wood block at this time, as it barely fits with the jack at minimum height as-is (after installing the tow vehicle airbag controller, we may use the air springs to set a taller starting tongue height for parking).   The wood block is cut so it has a near level pad when resting on the driveway slope.   

[topgun2]

Sure do hope you never "forget" to chock those tires before unhitching!

Really nice view though.

Bill

[John E Davies]

Is that 11 degrees slope figure correct? That is 20%. I've never towed anything up that steep a hill, especially with moss on it.... Do you use 4 Low to back up the driveway? In you shoes I would have a big anchor at the garage foundation, with a stout chain clipped around the back bumper, for the next big earthquake, your tires could literally hop right over the chocks!

You certainly have a million dollar view! For those who don't know, that is the Columbia River Gorge with Mount Hood in the distance. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[fairmontrvpark]

Congratulations, Enjoy your Oliver and Safe Happy Trails. 

 

[Landrover]

There is a good benefit to your parking situation. If you can park /back your Ollie in that spot you’ll be and expert in parking and backing in no time flat. 😉 Safe travels.

[Landsplash]

7 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Is that 11 degrees slope figure correct? That is 20%. I've never towed anything up that steep a hill, especially with moss on it.... Do you use 4 Low to back up the driveway? In you shoes I would have a big anchor at the garage foundation, with a stout chain clipped around the back bumper, for the next big earthquake, your tires could literally hop right over the chocks!

You certainly have a million dollar view! For those who don't know, that is the Columbia River Gorge with Mount Hood in the distance. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

I just double checked the slope, using the Subaru's in dash gauge (accuracy is approximate). The slope ranges from 6-11 degrees (11 deg further down the hill).  It is about 8deg at the tongue of the trailer in the picture above, 6deg at the trailer tires.   Yes, 4 low is definitely helpful. 🙂    

It was extra fun on our return Sunday evening, with a thin layer of freezing rain on portions of the drive (fortunately not on most of the main slope).  😅

[Fargoman]

Greetings, Andy and Pam! I'm happy to see some more Northwest Ollie owners. Although we currently live in Redding, CA, my daughter and husband live in Salmon Creek, WA, and my son lives in Portland, OR. We expect to bring our Ollie up to your part of the world quite a lot in the coming years, and would appreciate suggestions for good campgrounds.

[Mountainman198]

On 12/30/2021 at 6:41 PM, Landsplash said:

Greetings!  I've been lurking on the forum for quite some time, and wanted to share a formal introduction now that we have officially joined the Oliver family! :). 

We picked up our Elite 1, Hull 967,  on December 14, and finally made it home to Camas, WA (near Portland, OR) on 12/24.    We love the trailer so far!  

Interesting tidbits: 

We first learned about Oliver while camping at Meriwether Lewis campground in Hohenwald.  We saw an interesting trailer, and struck up a conversation with a new E2 owner, who pointed us to the factory.  At Oliver,  we appreciated the trailers, and also enjoyed the amount of attention Phil gave to our home built overland trailer.  

We bought this trailer to use primarily for overnight stays on Mt. Hood, where we try to ski as often as possible.  

We were torn, and still are, about E1 vs. E2.   We ultimately chose the E1 due to mobility and parking convenience, and haven't regretted it,  especially for simple towing with our 2018 Tundra.   We do miss the bed setup and storage of the E2, however!  

We opted out of many of the adds-ons, preferring to do some of the modifications ourselves.  I'm sure you will see additional posts to this regard in the near future.  

 

Cheers & Happy New Years!

-Andy

 

I too showed up at Oliver in my home built overlanding trailer to see the Elite II in person. Rodney Lomax was who showed the Olivers to me and spend over two hours answering questions without any pressure. While My overlanding rig was quite capable it was also very “Fringe” but I was treated the same as I expect had I rolled in with a Class A or Airstream. The Oliver team has class. 

[Galway Girl]

Welcome from Hull 505 in Everett Wa

our blog features many NW campsites 

https://4-ever-hitched.com/trip-to-oliver-factory
 

 

[Fargoman]

Thanks. Galway Girl. I enjoyed your post about your trip to the Oliver factory, and have bookmarked several Northwest campgrounds that you described.