Forum Discussion

guywood67's avatar
guywood67
Explorer
Aug 16, 2018

Where to stay for the Winter

Hello all, my wife and I have lived in our 5th wheel now for a year and my job is converting so I can go full time remote.

In the next few months is when we will be looking to start on the road full time. Since I will still be working full time, we need to stay in areas where we can get fast internet via our cell phones. Currently we have a T-mobile plan with unlimited internet and I will probably be looking at getting a Verizon account as a backup.

The type of areas we like are with mountains and trees and initially we probably will be staying in RV parks where we can get the monthly rate. Eventually, once we do some upgrades, we will be looking at doing more boon docking.

What suggestions would you have for areas in Arizona, New Mexico or Texas for the winter time?

17 Replies

  • As everyone said all the states you said if you want trees it will be to cold in winter and the other areas will be to hot in summer and have to decide your time in those states
  • We've wintered the last 2 years, and will this year,min the Tucson area. You're not in the mountains, but they're 30 minutes away. The desert has a beauty of its own that we have enjoyed, but we also enjoy that from Nov - Mar the temps are typically upper 70 degree days and dropping into the 50's at night. We stay at a resort near the outskirts of the city, so we're out of traffic, but have all the benefits of a larger city when we want it.

    The rest of the year we're on the road sightseeing. Good luck.
  • There's nothing like sitting in the socal/Yuma/Quartzsite desert with full sun, 70 degrees and a 1000 watts of panels looking at the sun.

    The worst thing that happens is wind storm but I'll take that over snow and ice. I've also spent time in North Central Florida and it's fine during most days but did hit the 30's at night. The difference with being in FL, ga, s tx, s az is that you can have poor weather for a particular area compared to other years but none of them go into deep freeze with frost in the ground.

    When it gets real cold, being in an RV is like being in a slab house in North Wisconsin. I've been in the Houston area and seen a barely visible dusting of snow and some days of ice on cars but the majority of the time it's a light jacket or tee shirt weather.

    You don't want mountains even in places like Flagstaff. It sits at about 7000 ft. We go to Flagstaff around the beginning or mid November until it starts hitting the 40s at night. We then move down to cottonwood then Congress then Quartzsite.

    Cell signals and ota television can vary. We use a satellite for television and have Verizon cell. Out west the cell signal can be blocked by sitting behind rather small mountains of less than 1500 ft or so.
    We are also tree people and at first it was strange being out in the wide open but you can't beat it when pulling an RV. A lot of places in those warmer areas don't have a lot of trees. Some areas have more like scrub trees and large bushes.

    I can't tell you about RV parks because we just about always boondock. There are also private owners in places like the Yuma foothills that rent out their small lots. Some are just a bare lot and some might have a small building with a washer and dryer etc.
  • Texas cold and windy in the Winter. Cooler than FL or AZ but many excellent places to stay unless you want a HOT Winter.
  • So you're talking of the upcoming winter months? New Mexico is cold. Texas is cold and windy... and crowded in the Rio Grande Valley.

    So that leave Arizona... our favorite. In winter the warmest places would be Tucson, Phoenix or the Colorado River areas from Havasu City down to Yuma. We like the Tucson area. South of Tucson by 45 min- 1 hr. is a nice RV park in Amado called De Anza. It is close to the Santa Rita Mtns. for hiking and Green Valley/Sahuarita for stores... groceries, WalMart, etc.
  • What do you like to do?
    We spend the winter in Mesa, AZ and get to take in concerts, plays, arts festivals, great shopping, very good restaurants, out in the desert in 15 minutes, etc.

    Barb
  • Not in the mountains. The higher the elevation, the colder it is. We spent 1 winter in Rockport TX at the ooast. It was extremely nice, but very humid. This past winter was cold and rainy there. The RGV in TX (way down by the border) is usually nice, but they got in on the cold snap this past winter too. We were in Yuma AZ and it was nice , even hot sometimes, but it also gets cold at night. Sometimes down into the 40's. When it's desert dry - 40 is cold, and it's often windy. N Mexico is cold in the winter as most of the state is over 2,000 ft elevation ( a lot of high desert) and many areas get snow. Windy here a lot too. We have yet to find the great spot. We are waiting for the 2019 winter forecast that comes out beginning of Sept. Sitting in NM now and will either head to AZ or TX depending on what that forecast says. It's a crapshoot.