Meet "Curiosity" - Steve and Deb's 2023 Oliver Elite II - #1360

[Wayfinder]

Congratz, looking great.  Have fun.

[John Dorrer]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:18 AM, Steve Morris said:

Thanks, folks!!! We survived our first night without dying.

Although the propane/CO2 alarm went off after we were in bed. I had the ceramic heater going under the table, and the furnace set to 60 in case the electric heater didn’t keep up. I pulled the fuse, opened another window a crack, and I’ll check it this morning. Ryan, our delivery specialist, told us ahead of time that they go off with all the new stuff smell  

Yes John, an HE. I was one of the silly 1200 that paid extra to get less stuff  😉

Important first thing done, so everything else is gravy!

Curious why you would have the cube heater on and the furnace at the same time. The cube will throw off the thermostat and if you were in temps below freezing the cube isn't going to heat the space between the shells where the tanks and water lines are. Also, the first couple nights is the best time to test all of the trailer components at their full strength while you are close to Hohenwald.

[Steve Morris]

8 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

Curious why you would have the cube heater on and the furnace at the same time.

Just experimenting to see if we could maintain a comfortable temperature just using the cube. It is a simple two speed with no thermostat that we’ve used for years in our squaredrop. 

We had it on low, and the Truma set to 68 degrees, with the ambient temps in the 40s. Once the Truma kicked on, I just let the cube continue running. Like I said, just playing with everything the first two nights while at Oliver. 
 

It is now Friday, and we are at David. Crocket State Park for two nights. Here, we are dry camping, running totally self contained. So testing the opposite of the previous “use electricity instead of propane “ mode. 
 

Just learning. 😁

[Steve Morris]

First two nights went spectacularly! 
 

Having never used indoor plumbing, we *really* need to practice better control. We used the city hookup, and thought we were being conservative. 48 hours later, we had a 75% full gray tank and 60% black. 😳

Hookup took just ten minutes. Easy Peasey! First time ever at a dump station took a while because we were being extra careful. All good until the cheap glove ripped just as I was disconnecting a hose I thought was done draining, but wasn’t. Oliver’s bathroom came in handy…

Setting up at DCSP was a breeze! I only had to straighten out twice, and the Andersen leveling ramps made it so easy. Backing in until sitting in the camp chairs was easily under 30 minutes. Maybe substantially less. 
 

34 mile drive was fine. I’ve never used a brake controller before, so I fiddled with the Redarc trying to dial it in. Too short a distance to tell, but my calculated 18.2 MPG for 608 miles from Ohio to Hohenwald dropped to an indicated 9.6 MPG. 😞

And finally, to my quality/manufacturing report: A+! Absolutely no problems at all so far. Fit and finish is spectacular. Everything functions as intended. Zero defects!

a HUGE thank you to everyone involved at Oliver! And again, thank you to everyone here who have helped us get to this week!

[mossemi]

1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:

I’ve never used a brake controller before, so I fiddled with the Redarc trying to dial it in.

I use a setting of 4 to 4.5 with my Redarc.  Off course you truck and trailer are newer than mine.  I am sure you will cause the brakes to lock up before you get it to your happy place.  Just try to do it on a lonely back country road.

Mossey

[Steve Morris]

8 hours ago, mossemi said:

I use a setting of 4 to 4.5 with my Redarc.

Thanks! Coincidentally, I ended up at 4 after my short drive. I bedded the brakes five or six times with it set at 6 without locking up. I’ll still hit them hard several more times to get the pads, err, shoes worn in and the fine tune some more. 
 

[BBL]

On 3/30/2023 at 5:42 AM, Bryan in NC said:

Woohoo, congratulations Steve and Deb!  We’ll see you in Hohenwald in a couple of hours!

@Steve Morris @Bryan in NC  Were you guys staying over in Camp Oliver last night? It was a wild night with tornadoes all across SW TN and we saw Hohenwald got hit but not sure what part of town that was in.  

We had one touch down several miles from the house but all is good here. 

Brian & Brandelyne

[Steve Morris]

1 hour ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

Were you guys staying over in Camp Oliver last night?

We were not. We left about 2PM yesterday after two nights. Bryan and Sondra left yesterday morning. Phil answered a similar question on the Facebook group that they had high winds but no damage. 
 

We were 25 miles south, at David. Crocket State Park last night and tonight. We had a wonderful lightning show, and a lot of heavy rain, but not super windy. 1360 passed the leak test with flying colors!

In found this morning that quite a few people here at the campground left during the night. Me? I slept like a baby!

[Bryan in NC]

Sondra and I left camp Oliver Friday morning and were “pushed” on our way east by the front of the system.  Avoided most of the rain and wind until last night when we camped at Tripple Creek campground in Newport, near the NC border.  Heavy rain/wind and lightning last night, but beautiful  weather this morning.  Still gusty winds, but the Ollie is behaving great!

[Bryan in NC]

4 hours ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

@Steve Morris @Bryan in NC  Were you guys staying over in Camp Oliver last night? It was a wild night with tornadoes all across SW TN and we saw Hohenwald got hit but not sure what part of town that was in.  

We had one touch down several miles from the house but all is good here. 

Brian & Brandelyne

Thanks for asking Brian.  Glad to hear y’all are safe.

[SeaDawg]

Glad to hear your night went well. And, that everyone is ok

Some homes destroyed south of hohenwald, near Buffalo Rd. 

As I'm a survivor of multiple tornadoes, I always have weather alerts set up, and look for a shelter nearby as soon as we set up camp,  in tornado season. 

[Steve Morris]

A beautiful day at David Crockett State Park!

[Bryan in NC]

53 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

A beautiful day at David Crockett State Park!

Looking good Steve and Deb!

[John Dorrer]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:17 PM, Steve Morris said:

Just experimenting to see if we could maintain a comfortable temperature just using the cube. It is a simple two speed with no thermostat that we’ve used for years in our squaredrop. 

We had it on low, and the Truma set to 68 degrees, with the ambient temps in the 40s. Once the Truma kicked on, I just let the cube continue running. Like I said, just playing with everything the first two nights while at Oliver. 
 

It is now Friday, and we are at David. Crocket State Park for two nights. Here, we are dry camping, running totally self contained. So testing the opposite of the previous “use electricity instead of propane “ mode. 
 

Just learning. 😁

Love David Crockett. We have a Cube which is great to take the chill off when temps are 40°+/- and our sucks. Need to look at the marine one that Ruth has. Our thermostat doesn't work or I'm stupid, so we have to keep turning it off.

[Steve Morris]

309 miles today from David Crockett State Park to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountan, Georgia. Everything from rolling interstate to steep punchy curvy mountain roads. 
 

Zero problems! The onboard computer said 10.7 MPG, down from the 18.2 sans trailer. The top two gears on my 8-speed automatic tranny are overdrive, so I locked them out. Stuck it on manual mode the entire drive, from 4th to 6th, depending on conditions, keeping the engine in the 2500-3000 RPM range. 
 

Now three nights at the lodge here and then the 776 mile slog home, only to turn around in six weeks to come 664 miles back for the Oliver rally!

We love our new Oliver!!

[Apreski]

appreciate the 8-speed tranny info. I did the same process with the lighter Conqueror (3,700 lbs). I realize it will be struggle at higher altitudes, but it is the journey not the speed to the destination.

Curiosity looks great. Glad to see the trip is going well.

Stay safe...try to avoid the tornados!

Steve 

PS: Finally got a Hull #...1377. Can't wait.

[Steve Morris]

We’re camping at Cracker Barrel in Corbin, Kentucky tonight! Storms rolled in, so we stopped. So another first for us.

Over two hours to get 6 miles in Atlanta, then probably a half hour or more delay each in Chattanooga and Knoxville. Half the vehicles in the country must be on I-75!

We will get home in northern Ohio late tomorrow, and then we’ll really get organizing. Plus swapping out the OEM cushions for the KTT mattresses waiting at home. (Although theses are really comfortable!  Maybe we should have waited to try them before getting KTT mattresses.)

[Ollie-Haus]

58 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

We’re camping at Cracker Barrel in Corbin, Kentucky tonight! Storms rolled in, so we stopped. So another first for us.

Over two hours to get 6 miles in Atlanta, then probably a half hour or more delay each in Chattanooga and Knoxville. Half the vehicles in the country must be on I-75!

We will get home in northern Ohio late tomorrow, and then we’ll really get organizing. Plus swapping out the OEM cushions for the KTT mattresses waiting at home. (Although theses are really comfortable!  Maybe we should have waited to try them before getting KTT mattresses.)

Glad to hear you are taking the time to rest after stressful traffic. I see the campers at the Cracker Barrel at the Greenfield exit now and then and I'm very glad they are willing to accommodate. Never seems crowded and It's well lit and in a safe location. 

Funny you should mention second guessing ordering your KTT mattresses ahead of delivery. We had them on the list of upgrades on our order and a few days later we decided to back that option out and give the standard mattresses a chance. We may end up replacing them but it was a significant up charge and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try them, nothing lost. After all we've been tent camping on air mattresses for many years. 😄

[Bryan in NC]

7 hours ago, Steve Morris said:

We’re camping at Cracker Barrel in Corbin, Kentucky tonight! Storms rolled in, so we stopped. So another first for us.

Over two hours to get 6 miles in Atlanta, then probably a half hour or more delay each in Chattanooga and Knoxville. Half the vehicles in the country must be on I-75!

We will get home in northern Ohio late tomorrow, and then we’ll really get organizing. Plus swapping out the OEM cushions for the KTT mattresses waiting at home. (Although theses are really comfortable!  Maybe we should have waited to try them before getting KTT mattresses.)

I’ll have some biscuits and gravy please.  I guess you’re hitting Spring break traffic.  Safe travels!

[Steve Morris]

We arrived back home in northern Ohio late on Thursday. Traffic was miserable on I-75 and I-71!

 

Totals were 691 miles (16.7 MPG) on our way south, and 1160 miles (10.6 MPG) towing to Pine Mountain, Georgia and then home, for a total of 1851 miles. What a fantastic trip! I'm ready to head out again!! 😃 Including the five nights so far, we have 31 nights scheduled for this year (plus the Egg rally in Florida in January) and another two tentative. Plus whenever I can drag Deb away from her gardens to go somewhere.

Now, to do all things to personalize our trailer and make it even more comfortable, and all the tinkering I plan. I'll eventually create another thread not in the "Delivery Photos" sub-forum.

A huge than you to all of you for your help, encouragement, and support. We honestly would not be here with a new trailer without you. YOU make the experience fantastic!

Steve & Deb

 

(yes, I have a cheap extension cord going in the bathroom window for a ceramic heater. I have every dogbone imaginable except 30A female to 15A male. Amazon is delivering today...)

 

[ScubaRx]

23 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

...I'm ready to head out again!! 😃 Including the five nights so far, we have 31 nights scheduled for this year (plus the Egg rally in Florida in January) and another two tentative. Plus whenever I can drag Deb away from her gardens to go somewhere...

 

Are you guys planning on coming to the OTTOR in May?

Edit: Sorry, I remembered just now that you're the keeper of the list.

[Steve Morris]

Aaron Wolters did a video while we were picking up our trailer. I'd asked him to hold it until this last week until we could reveal our purchase to my brothers. Neither knew we were even considering a new trailer, let alone bought one. Here's Aaron's magic transformation of a fun and funny 45 minutes of chatting in front of the camera.

 

 

 

We did our surprise visit with my brothers and their wives on Sunday. We showed up at their camp with no notice. Both happened to be at the same place chatting, so when I pulled up and waved, all they could see was the Cruiser. They walked out to talk to us, and then saw the Oliver. It was wonderful to see the confused look on their faces. 🤣

 

 

[Steve Morris]

Now with graphics!  We put them on today, and it took longer than I expected. 

A big Thank You to Robin at Banana Banners for making these for us!