Your winter destination

We usually get to our upstate NY cottage a few days before Thanksgiving to spend the holidays with our kids and grandkids and take care of medical appointments. Then we head south in early January, taking about a week to get to Florida.

We will be heading out for San Benito, Texas first week of November. Stay at fun n Sun for 4-6 months.

We like to get going in early November, any later we would have to winterize the RV then de-winterize a few days later. At home we run the furnace to keep the RV to keep the pipes warm if the outside temps drop below freezing.

I don't like having to winterize twice each year, we have to in early April when we return to avoid freeze ups

You might want to check the average temperatures for the months you plan to stay south for the locations of interest. That's why Florida, Texas and Arizona are the most popular destinations.
Lots of snowbirders leave home in October and return the end of March.
Waiting until December can create anxiety with regard to the weather on the way down.

Thinking south Texas, Mississippi, or Alabama, or spending time in all three.

Great idea for first timers. Check out multiple locations, there will be plenty of time to get in the rut of returning to the same spot every year.

As far as timing, I always say that I winterize my rig by taking it one thousand miles south. October is a great month to travel. (So are the other eleven)

We usually head south to Florida at the end of January and return about the first week in March. Wish it could be longer, but DW misses the adult kids too much. Because we are home for much of the winter, and returning to sub-freezing temps. we do not de-winterize in the south. We just take gallon jugs of water with us for cooking and drinking. We use campground water in the empty gallon jugs to flush the toilet and other non-consumption uses. As noted by another, I don't like to winterize/de-winterize more than once per season.

... we live just west of Minneapolis... we will head south, destination not yet decided, the first or second week in December...

To avoid snow you need to leave about the middle of October. After that you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. As you know you'll have to be winterized and won't be able to un-winterize till somewhere in southern Missouri.

...for about 3 months. Thinking south Texas, Mississippi, or Alabama, or spending time in all three.

Thinking you're going to find it a little cold in Mississippi and Alabama. There are many snowbirds that do go there (south of I10) for those months, but be prepared for frozen water hoses. For Texas you'll need to be south of Dallas/Ft. Worth. Even in Hill country you'll get frozen water hoses. A couple of hundred miles further south and you'll be fine.

My general rule of thumb is for the months of Jan/Feb you need to be somewhere between I10 and the boarder or salt water.

Good luck on your first snowbird adventure.

We leave Minnesota for Mission Texas in mid October and return in mid May.

I can not get DW to go before Christmas so we leave the first day in January that the weather reports look good for travel. We plan to be back in Ontario middle June to do taxes. That means I have to winterize and de-winterize a number of times. Most years I have do it again in April because we do not have electricity where we store our RV. We have been doing this for many years going to Florida Texas or AZ. We go south as fast as we safely can in January but follow the warm weather north in the spring. Enjoy your time in the south check out lots of places.

October. Less wind, and almost no chance of snow. I don't do snow.