January departure questions....

Thanks to all.

Dutch, my situation is a bit different as the 5th wheel will be in winter storage when we leave. You have some advantages with a motor home. Thanks for the winterizing tip.

Hey rr2254545, don't know what route your using but would be interested in learning how you find hotels with parking for your rig.

We usually leave W. PA the last week of Jan. The rig is winterized and stays winterized through our entire trip, which usually ends in March. We don't de-winterize until May at home. We carry bottled water for our coach needs (coffee and cooking), and will use campground water when south for other needs. We use rest stops for BR needs as much as possible on the way south, but if we need to use the toilet in the RV, we add RV anti-freeze to the flush. Once south, we do not hook-up to water, but use campground water in bottles to flush the toilet, and obviously dump before heading north.

For the actual trip, consider not making reservations for the first few days of your trip. You may need flexibility on your leaving date due to the weather. Last year we had to delay leaving for two days because of weather, not at home, but in the states we would be traveling through. So, have approximate dates planned, but go when the weather is OK. You don't want to drive in ice or snow if it can be avoided.

Finally, remember that you can still get freezing temps and infrequent snow even in Florida, usually north of I4. A couple of winters ago, we had 34 degree overnight temps. in the Orlando area.

We leave upstate NY in January, and we have our motorhome furnace on and the coach warmed up a couple of days before we leave. That helps melt any residual snow/ice off of the roof if needed. If we have more than a couple of inch snowfall, I shovel or sweep the roof. When we winterize I blow out the lines, only using RV antifreeze in the drains, so we fill the fresh tank the day before we leave and use the coach normally on the trip south. Since we typically only move out of the motorhome into our Adirondack cottage if the weather turns extra cold in December, some years we just turn down the heat in the coach for the week or two we're not in it, and don't winterize at all. The point though, is that we manage quite nicely in sub-freezing weather when we leave for the south, and have never felt the need to use hotels along the way.

Done this for years - just keep an eye on the weather and go when you can, I am a little further north so we stay in a hotel 2-3 days ( I only drive 250 a day)
Then I dewinterize and stock up on food for the motor home. We go with the refrigerator loaded its the canned good I would worry about freezing


One year we arrived in Destin Florida and still had snow/ice on the roof - it took 5 days for it all to melt.