JimJohnson
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Re: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
IB853347201 wrote: Many KOA's open all year once you get south to I80. Not sure what the issue is? Agreed. The number of year-round opportunities start to expand greatly once you get as far south as I-80. Ask somebody in NW Ontario how many hours they would be driving south before they get to I-80. I know we cross I-80 on our route to Texas after nearly 11 hours on the road from our home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.566Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
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) I am not knocking the following, but they belong in a different thread: We are (or at least I am) not talking about setting up camp in winter conditions. We want to get past the cold part of the country as quickly as possible. Daylight hours are really short, especially for the south migration. We just want to be off the road (with AC power and without a generator rumbling near our bed) when it is dark. Solar power doesn't get you much under those conditions; your tow vehicle-motorhome will be charging the house batteries as you drive pretty much all the daylight hours. There ARE campgrounds that are open - usually with limitations - during the migratory season. Just not enough of them. Thank you afidel for mentioning Wisconsin's Black River State Forest. There are 3 campgrounds, two of which are strictly for primitive camping. Castle Mound is touted as 'modern', but the only at-site hookup is electric (and I strongly suspect 15A), and even there, only at half the sites. It is still a long first day haul to get there from home and a bit off our usual route, but I've kept it on the back burner as a possible stop ... unfortunately there isn't much information about the campground conditions in early winter. Castle Mound has only so-so accessibility reviews from RV owners for the summer, and no indication as to how many of the sites with electric are available in the winter. Still, it is worth a phone call.564Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
valhalla360 wrote: Honestly, you best bet is to have the RV prepared for the conditions and get south fairly quickly if you are going to delay the departure late into the fall/winter. No argument. I wish we could leave in October. However we have family obligations that prevent that. And just within our winter RV park we have a number of friends who can't leave their northern homes earlier and have similar complaints about that long gap to get below the early freeze zone. North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Saskatchewan and Ontario. That is one small RV Park in rural Texas. I cannot imagine our group is unique.566Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
shelbyfv wrote: Maybe check this out for an overnight with electric. Loves RV Stop Good to know. Won't do me much good (open map, find that peninsula in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior. Then draw a straight line down to Kansas City. That would be my first/last day's drive to use a Love's. And honestly, there isn't much in-between. I know of one place in NE Iowa (still a long haul) that officially closes, but the manager (and only the manager) will authorize an overnight stop during the unofficial season. More places in the north tier like the linked Love's would work nicely.566Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
Gdetrailer wrote: Costs campgrounds the same money to keep an open but crippled campground open just for electric hookups. Just because water, sewage and restrooms are closed doesn't mean it is cheaper to run. May even cost more in the winter since it would require additional manpower to plow open, salt, maintain campground roads and campsites. The chance of a plow vehicle of totaling campground infrastructure goes up drastically.. Heavy snow drifts can obscure water and electric pedestals making it a minefield of things that can get damaged. Campgrounds must also consider safety on not only their employees but you the "guest". Not every road leading to a campground may be safe to use during off season. You have something wrong if you run out of battery overnight running a propane furnace plus having a propane fridge. A 30K BTU RV furnace fan uses 10A at 12V, assuming 50/50 run time (30 minutes on per hr) and 10 hrs (for overnight) and that is 100 Ahr of battery capacity needed.. Two group 27 batteries in parallel (70Ahr each or 140Ahr combined) or one pair of 6V GC2 batteries wired in series for 12V at 210Ahr will easily be plenty of battery. For the record, I used a single group27 combo marine/starting battery for yrs in a smaller 20Ft TT and never ran out of battery overnight using the furnace (13K BTU with 8A fan draw). During the day while traveling, your battery will be recharged by your vehicle (the amount of charge may vary some due to differences in RVs and wiring to the battery). Addition of some solar panels on your RV and/or a small portable gen can easily handle the rest of the charging when needed. As far as propane, generally should be able to get 4-5 days of running your furnace during extreme cold temps with two 30lb cylinders assuming 24/7 operation. When traveling out of season, it is best to be well prepared to handle most normal and emergency situations. Plan, plan, plan. Plan for enough battery capacity for several days, plan for some solar to fill in, plan with a small gen as a final backup plan. Do a good job planning and there is zero need for campgrounds between your starting point and your destination. Depending on open campgrounds out of season is a recipe for disaster. What you say makes a lot of sense - if most of the campground's sites remain open. What I have found (but due to demand you have to book many months in advance) are campgrounds that fully close most of the sites. The remaining sites are generally close to the office and very likely only provide electric. Staffing is generally the owner(s) and MAYBE one person for part-time phone coverage. Minimal plowing, minimal maintenance - they would keep the office accessible regardless if open or closed. Showers as well as other park amenities are closed. You might be able to get water jugs filled from inside the office. As I said, the few campgrounds that offer this do a brisk business with their limited sites. I wish more campgrounds offered this service.366Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
Old Days wrote: I would install 500 watts of solar and 300 amp hours of battery then you will not need a electric hook up. A DC to DC charger is also nice. Might work for larger rigs - a 21' doesn't have the roof nor storage space for the cells, electronics & battery, and all that would also consume a fair % of weight capacity. However, here is the deal... solar is a glorified battery charger that only works during the day - the same time I am on the road and charging the battery from the tow vehicle. Also, the travel seasons for this thread have the weakest potential solar power efficiency. Not only is the sun far south, but it is usually densely clouded in the northern tier, and can be outright snowing.358Views0likes0CommentsRe: a plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
CA Traveler wrote: Many RVs with propane can stop overnight w/o electric in spite of poor RV insulation... Others might just leave the RV in FL or TX. Propane furnaces offen draw a lot of 12v power for both the ignition system and the fan. I am leery about waking up in the middle of the night to find we have a dead house battery. Plus when on electric the refrigerator will shift from propane to that power source. Funny you should mention leaving the full-size RV trailer in the warmer climate - that is exactly what we do. However, hotels were always a pain when travelling with a dog and two cats, and have become even more difficult to find and reserve. We tow a 21' self-contained camper as a 'rolling hotel room' between the two destinations. Further, we use the camper for 'weekend trips' at both north and south locations.359Views0likes0Commentsa plea for more cool weather sites for migratory travelers
We live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula - beautiful place to be between June through October, but unless you are a winter enthusiast (or deer hunter), not the nicest RV destination between November and early May. We have essentially permanent reservations at a Texas Hill Country RV park during those less than ideal times. The problem is GETTING to our destination in the fall and the return in the spring. Semi-annually it is a battle to find campgrounds from roughly northern Kansas northward. We are migrating, need one-night stays, and apparently so are a lot of other RV owners. The winter migration season runs from late October through the end of year holidays (many retired RVers want to do Christmas with family before leaving). I get it, campgrounds want to turn off the water before freeze conditions happen, and leave it off until assured freeze conditions are over. But is it necessary to fully close the entire park? Many times my most crucial need is a parking spot for the night with electric power. That last part eliminates Walmarts, casinos, etc. for overnight parking. To northern tier private campground owners- if you live at or near your campground, I know you won't fill your campground in the migratory seasons, but could you consider a modification to your policies and website announcing limited sites and amenities. It will add a bit more revenue for little more expense. We migratory season RVers tend to be experienced and reasonable travelers.8.6KViews0likes40CommentsRe: jackknife sofa removal
2oldman wrote: I removed the bed first. Pretty heavy. I haven't personally removed our jack knife sofa, but our RV repair guy recently did to replace the slide-out floor under it. The frame is likely bolted to both the floor and the wall. That's likely not a big deal to move. But unless your first name is Samson, I agree that taking the jack knifed bed out in sections is going to be much easer than trying to wrestle the whole thing through the RV entrance door.1.7KViews0likes0Comments
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