JimJohnson wrote:
Lots of good discussion here.
I do want to steer this thread back to a couple key points if I may.
We are talking about overnight stops at places with electricity in the northern tier, during the two migratory seasons. Which to my observation, the move south ends by the beginning of January. And the move north starts around late March. (snow happens in our home town as early as Halloween, but gets falling in earnest by New Year, and 20 to near 30 feet by April is not unheard of; temps in the northern plains can drop to -40F (or C). Nobody with brains tries to go south by that point)
Migration "ends" in January?
You are way too late to the game.
Most Northern snowbirds are smart enough to know to leave town well before the snow and ice falls
My parents for nearly 10 yrs snowbirded in Florida, they would typically leave PA just before or slightly after Oct31. Leaving later than that can result in you enduring some very bad weather conditions from North West PA all the way down in to North Carolina. South Carolina and even Georgia have been known to occasionally get quick blasts of snow and they are not really setup to deal with that so even a inch or two can shut down roads.
My parents made that mistake several times leaving just before Thanksgiving or just after.. Both times the result was the Interstate roads were closed due to unpassable roads to ALL traffic and ALL traffic was routed off the Interstate. Both times they ended up in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere for several days.
The first time, my parents were not prepared for this type of disaster, only had a Group24 battery for the 5th wheel and left the truck connected (charge line was hot all the time). Woke up to a dead trailer AND truck battery and no way to start the truck. Had to wait in freezing temps for many hrs until AAA could show up and give a jump.
The second time, they wisely found a gas station which allowed them to plug an extension cord overnight.. Still unprepared but a bit wiser.
Winter shows up way before January in many northern states and can be very unpredictable so the wisest thing to do is to stick some extra battery capacity into your rig, supplement with some solar panels on the roof and even carry a small generator.. Be prepared for several days of being delayed and staying put.
Worst plan is to ignore the weather, throw caution to the wind and hope there is a live electric plug somewhere you can use.. Depending on a bunch of campgrounds being open and easily accessed in winter time is a foolhardy plan.
You have a "self contained" mobile home but yet you are not willing to make it "self sustaining" and cut the cord.
An extra battery to what you have will go a long way in giving you enough power to run a furnace overnight without the need for commercial power.
