Freezing temps and staying in 5th wheel

You can always go to Motel 6 the light will be on but your rig is good to go just carry some bottled water and pink stuff to flush the toilet.

We've done it many times traveling from Maine to Mexico in February. Don't use the toilet until you get far enough south to prevent freezing.
If it is in the teens or colder it will take quite a while for the trailer to warm up if you stop to sleep in it, and leaving the furnace running while moving never seemed to help us very much.

I just drove down from the Buffalo, NY area. Camper winterized. We do use toilet but flush with antifreeze (did this last winter as well - worked fine). We bring bottled water for drinking.

We did fire up the furnace to take the chill off the camper but brought polar fleece blankets for sleeping. They kept us quite toasty.

We travel with 1 Dog and 2 Cats.

We dry camped at Cabela's and Walmart on the way down.

Have a safe trip!

Temperatures as reported on 12/10/2016 at 08:00 at the following airports:

Chihuahua + 1.0 c
Torreon + 7.0 c
Durango 0.0 c
Mexicali + 8.0 c
Culiacan +15.0 c
Mazatlan +13.0 c
La Paz +10.0 c
Los Cabos +17.0 c
Merida +22.0 c
Cancun +23.0 c

Temperatures are in Celsius, no real freezing problems South of the border, although it is cold and chilly in Mexico City and overcast, there are storms on the gulf coast and rain predicted for areas from Tampico to Yucatan.

navegator

Similar situation for us (sort of)
We pulled into a campground in Redding, CA. It was 117 degrees F.
We got back into the truck and drove to a motel. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and be smart.

portliz wrote:
We are leaving from Ontario to head south on Dec.15. The temps are taking a nose dive. We have 2 dogs. The rig is winterized. We have a campground open all year where we normally stay the first night. Temps will be -11 C during day
and -15 at night. Are we crazy to stay in the rig? We have the furnace, 2 ceramic heaters, electric blanket and 50 amp service.

A lot depends on your unit and if it's set up for colder weather (well insulated,insulated tanks and water/sewer lines protected). Last month in Carlsbad New Mexico it got down to -6C with a stiff wind overnight and we burned up lots of propane but we were comfortable, the temps went above freezing during the day. The RV was not winterized, we ran off FW tank water overnight and stowed the water hose.

We've also "hoteled it" in the past on first days out of Ontario, but it's a hassle with pets.

Sorry don't know how this got in this thread. My guess big thumbs small keyboard. Reposted in snowbirds. Thanks for the reply. Moderator feel free to close this one.

Lot of travelers are heading to Mexico, and having to start in cold weather conditions. We have done it several times. Even coming home in months that one might think are moderate in weather, can surprise. Casinos often have RV Parks that are operating, so making use of their AC power is very helpful. Buy a supply of Plummer's Antifreeze and add it to your holding tanks, but you possibly can keep your fresh water tank as such, and by keeping cupboard doors open that contain water pipes, when you haven't winterized, and if you get caught by unusual cold weather somewhere, can help. By doing these we have been fine camping in foul blizzard weather in Alberta for days, unable to leave because of road conditions, but with access to AC, and with outside temperatures reaching down to 12 degrees F. Nothing froze in our 30 foot motor home, which we have never winterized. Several thermometers are helpful, as well.

IMHO, a heated mattress pad provides a lot more comfort than an electric blanket. Good luck, /CC

I think traveling with your 5th wheel would be substantially different than with a motor home. All I could say would be to drive Casino to casino, and take a room until temperatures allow you to de-winterize. If you could have a heat source in the trailer, that could change things. We also use Reflextex over our windows when the cold weather hits.