cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Traveling in Winter

Retired48
Explorer
Explorer
Looking for advice and insight for our 1st trip:
We will be leaving upstate NY in late December for a 3 month trip/stay in Florida . We plan on spending two nights getting there.
Our class c has been winterized and will be when we leave. I am looking for any and all advice on the do,s and donโ€™ts.
Thanks in advance
14 REPLIES 14

charlestonsouth
Explorer
Explorer
RVman, When you heat with your propane furnace at the Flying J, how do you use the fan (which I think is electric) to force the heat around the fifth wheel? Do you just let the fan run off the battery during the night?

RVman3252
Explorer
Explorer
We leave Ohio in January for Florida also... and pretty much do as everyone mentioned above, however we do use our 5th Wheel the entire trip. We watch the weather close before leaving to not run in snow or ice. We put a full day of driving the 1st day. We like above bring water with us for brushing teeth and coffee. We normally spend the night at a Flying J, which has RV designated parking areas. We heat with our propane furnace and sleep in the 5th Wheel. In the morning if temperatures are above 30, we will un-winterize that morning at the Flying J... they have freshwater, sewer dump and propane right there. Our 2nd night is normally fine temperature-wise... We have been doing this for over 20 years.

RVman / John
RVman3252
3252Px3 KZ Sportsmen Limited Triple Slide Fifth Wheel
Dodge Ram HD3500 CrewCab, Longbed 4x4 Cummins w/ PullRite Super 5th

Good Sam Life Member

Jack_Spratt
Explorer
Explorer
Coastal route I-95 is often 10-15 degrees warmer than I-81
You should be able to get out of the freezing weather in one day.
Leprechaun 260 DSF
2017 Big Horn FL3750

'10 Yellow Lab to keep us on our toes.

magicbus
Explorer
Explorer
Hard to argued with brilliance. ๐Ÿ˜›

Dave
Current: 2018 Winnebago Era A
Previous: Selene 49 Trawler
Previous: Country Coach Allure 36

8ntw8tn
Explorer
Explorer
We tried most of the methods related above for a few years. Then we decided,for several reasons,to just eliminate the problem. We now leave before it freezes and don't return until the last freeze is over. ๐Ÿ˜‰
'08 Chevy Silverado 3500 Duramax;
'10 Carriage Cameo F35FWS
Det 1 56th SOWg

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
When we travelled from Michigan to Florida each January we would leave the trailer winterized until we reached a point South where we could count on it not freezing. That was usually someplace in Georgia or North Florida on the second night.

We would take a couple of gallons jugs of water and keep them in the truck so they wouldn't freeze during the day and use for brushing teeth, making coffee, etc. We would use a bit of antifreeze for flushing the toilet for those midnight visits.

There were a couple of campgrounds that we knew were open on the way down and would usually stay at them. The water was shut off but their restrooms were usually open and heated. They were also usually almost empty so we could most often find a spot right next to or very near the restroom.

This worked very well unless the temps were VERY cold (below 0 deg F) when we would just take a hotel room for the night. We did this routine for about 17 or 18 years until a couple of years ago when we quit traveling.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

Flyfisherman128
Explorer
Explorer
We don't leave NY or winterize.. we just stay where we are ๐Ÿ˜ž

Retired48
Explorer
Explorer
Thank you all for the great information

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
Hi,

It is a class C, so the living quarters will be comfortable.

You may wish to read the winter camping thread sticky under the full time forum.

I use an inverter and various kinds of heaters to keep some areas from freezing.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

Bowti
Explorer
Explorer
rr2254545 wrote:
Hotel use for the first few nights, I check on Google earth to make sure I have plenty of room for the motor home with tow car


This is what we do too. It is so nice to walk into a warm motel room, instead of trying to set up a ice cold trailer with an even colder bed.
We stay in areas with dining places within walking distances and select motels with warm continental breakfasts to have after a nice hot shower to start our day.
We will have plenty of time to enjoy our trailer after we reach our destination.
2013 Keystone Cougar 28SGS Xlite
Shipping weight 7561 lbs
Carrying capacity 2439 lbs
Hitch Pin 1410 lbs
2008 Silverado 2500 Duramax 4X4 Crew Cab
Reese 16K Round Tube Slider
Custom 3 Receiver Hitch Scooter Carrier
2013 Honda PCX Scooter on the Carrier

rr2254545
Explorer
Explorer
Hotel use for the first few nights, I check on Google earth to make sure I have plenty of room for the motor home with tow car
2012 Winnebago Journey 36M Cummins 360
2014 Jeep Cherokee
492 Campgrounds,107K miles driven in our Winnebago motor homes and 2360 nights camping since we retired in July 2009, 41 National Parks

K_Charles
Explorer
Explorer
The same as above, sometimes when you stop for the first night you can put water in the tank if the weather is good.

magicbus
Explorer
Explorer
We do this every winter. It is usually 20 degrees when we leave New England so we stay winterized until nighttime temperatures are above freezing. We take a 2 gallon jug of fresh water for drinking and washing and leave a gallon of RV antifreeze in the bathroom for flushing. Usually by the second night we fill the fresh water tank and are good to go.

Dave
Current: 2018 Winnebago Era A
Previous: Selene 49 Trawler
Previous: Country Coach Allure 36

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
Watch the weather reports and donโ€™t dewinterize until you are sure temps will stay above 30F. Enjoy!
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad