Water Pump - Advice Needed for Winter Travel

rk911 wrote:
we're very experienced RV travelers having started back in 1986 but

we've never traveled in winter

. that's about to change next January.

we'll be leaving our home

in our 2016 Itasca Suncruiser 38Q in mid January and heading towards Florida.

after leaving here I am planning that

we will be in freezing overnight weather for 1-3 nights

depending on the time of day we leave home, driving conditions, etc.

I'm originally from the same area you are from.

NO. Do NOT unwinterize the MH.

It did take me two trips to Florida leaving during the cold weather to completely figure out how to do it!

1. Leave MH winterized.

2. Bring jugs of water for drinking, washing hands and making coffee. You can always stop and get more along the way if needed. They sell water at all the gas stations.

3. Yes ALL the CG's in our area are completely closed for the winter I didn't even think about that my first trip down. Luckily I didn't need one until I was on the interstate where they were open.

4.I found out that all the CG's along the interstate ARE open. There are many of them on the route you will be on. You can just pull in any of them without even having to make a reservation and you will get a site and have electric and sewer but no water.

5. They do not shut off the water to the bathrooms and showers as those buildings are heated. So you can wash up and shower at a CG every night along your trip.

6.For me, because I do NOT like to use gas station bathrooms so I bought a thetford porta-pottie. And before you turn your nose up on this, it looks just like the RV toilet and is as tall as your RV toilet. Will fit right next to in your bathroom. In case you need to use it between CG's. I just felt better knowing it was there.

It has a cassette holding tank under it which you remove to dump. there is ABSOLUTELY no smell what so ever and when you dump it it has a swivel arm so you don't have to look at it either!

7. If you find you are using the toilet a lot while on the road. You just take the cassette, which just looks like a suitcase into the rest stop or gas station bathroom and dump it in the toilet.

That all said......
The biggest thing I learned is.
NO Kentucky is NOT far south enough to unwinterize the MH!!! :W

I was so excited to be so far south and the weather was so much nicer than up North I pulled into the CG and unwinterized and hooked up to the water with my inline filter in place.

Temps dropped that night and in the morning all I saw was blue plastic pieces all over from the filter freezing and blown apart!
My first clue should have been that the CG water hookup was wrapped in heat tape. :S

After that first trip my MH did not get unwinterized until I was firmly planted in a CG in Florida!

You can pick up a thetford porta-pottie at any Walmart. For around $50.


Hope some of this helps and enjoy your trip down.:C