Traveling in Iowa and Kansas in January

I grew up there. Stay away. I remember shovelling snow every morning before school so my mother could get the car out of the drive. If you are going for a short stay get a hotel. My son once needed to live away from home for his job in north eastern Missouri. He moved his rv and completely skirted it. help prevent freeze ups but thats not something you would want to do for a short stay. Arizona is nice that time of year.

If the cold weather and snow/ice is not enough to deal with, you will be getting all sorts of road salt sprayed all over and under your RV. Then the rust and corrosion starts.

Ames is close to Hubbard. My daughter took classes at the college there in (horses). She decided to use her military education saving that way. She still loves horses.

gja1000 wrote:
Would you recommend a trip to Iowa/Kansas in January

NO. Can't imagine why anyone would even consider that.....in an RV, that is.

Last winter parts of Iowa had something like 4 feet of snow over a 6 week period. And the temps can stay near 0F for days at a time.

NOT A GOOD PLAN.

Rent an AWD car and share a cheap motel room. Lots safer and easier than trying to RV in those conditions.

Thanks guys! I will heed your advice. The reason for the trip to go to to a basketball game in Ames Jan. 1 and then to Lawrence KS for a game on the 4th. I am not in favor of it but a friend on mine wants to go. I think I'll pass.

My daughter and her husband (both) got out of the Navy and moved in with us for a while (Indiana). In January of that year, they moved to Iowa. They rented a U-haul trailer and he towed the trailer with pick-up truck. She drove the car behind with the baby.

Near St.Louis he wrecked the truck on the snow and ice. We jumped into high gear, met them there and they were able to get another another U-haul, got all their stuff moved from one to the other (the U-haul was destroyed too), and we transported their stuff on to Hubbard Iowa.

The weather was unbelievable horrible! We were driving through 20 degree below zero weather in a blizzard. Wind and the coldest I'd ever experienced in my life. We made it to their apartment. Helped unload the U-haul and literally froze ourselves, almost, beyond repair. It was the coldest, dangest, nastiest, snowiest, drifted, near impassible drive I ever made in my life!

Next morning we unhitched. He made arrangements to get the trailer back to U-haul, we headed home ... and said ... NEVER again in January.

Fast forward a couple years later. We decided to visit them again (in February). And I'll be danged if we didn't have a repeat with weather conditions! It was horrible!

That's when we said, we'd NEVER, NEVER, NEVER to to Iowa again after Thanksgiving and before April! And we haven't!

They now live in Kansas City, Mo. It ain't much better there either, and we STILL will not do the drive down I-70 from Indianapolis to Kansas City between December and April!

Take the advise from those how have responded to you so far! DO NOT go to Iowa in January - February! There is no way you'll be able to camp anywhere!

Temps in Iowa can be well below zero in January. 20 below is not uncommon.

Would you recommend such a trip at such a time? The answer is NO!

What is there to do in Iowa, in January?

I drove through and overnighted at an Iowa Walmart last January. It was well below zero F. I had my generator running non stop for tank and plumbing heating as well as the propane furnace.

If you're not equipped for sub zero camping, my advice is a warmer destination.

One way to keep water lines from freezing is to circulate water from the hot water tank. Either back into the fresh tank or just as a closed loop. It works well and only needs a few inexpensive parts and some basic plumbing knowledge.