You Can't Get Lost - Day 2

 You Can’t Get Lost – Day 2

Well, after last night’s escapades, it was nice to get plugged in and warmed up a bit.  Cold weather camping requires a little bit different viewpoint than summer camping.  You know it's going to be cold, so you can’t fight it, you have to roll with it.   Like last night, it hit -7 degrees at about 5:30.  Here are some considerations for cold weather camping.  

First, a motorhome, or any RV does not have the same insulation as a typical house.  (Well, Erik’s bathroom in the “new house” didn’t have any insulation in the walls, but that’s a different story.)  My walls are 1-1/2” thick Styrofoam (or something close to it, think coffee cup house).  The floor is 1” thick plywood with a layer of linoleum on it.  I have two slideouts, and the imperfect seals that go with that.  So basically, there is only so much energy you want to put into keeping it warm.  So, I’ve got my two electric heaters and propane furnace set to about 57-58 degrees, with about a four-degree temperature swing.  To help that along, I pull the slides in so I’m heating less volume of air and the seals are much better when the slides are in.  Also, the windows are single pane glass with an R-Value somewhat south of 1, which is true of 99% of all RV’s.   I put in an insulation layer with reflective film on both sides and then close the pull-down shades.  They are actually the foldup sunshades that you put in the windshield to keep the car cooler in the summer that I’ve cut out to fit the windows tightly.  Also, I put up a quilt blanket that goes floor to ceiling and side to side between the cab and interior.  Not only is it a thermal blanket, it does supply a little more privacy when you are in a campground. 

Second, water.  I said I was running dry.  When you winterize an RV, (yes Pete, some people need to winterize) you blow out all the water from the lines and then put in what is referred to as antifreeze.  It’s not the same as the antifreeze in your car, which happens to be toxic and not good to put in a drinking water system.  Instead, it’s a salt water solution which freezes at about 0  degrees F.  But while water expands by 9% when it freezes, this solution does not, so even if it freezes, it won’t hurt anything.  But that also means is that you can’t have water in your tanks, so you have to without.  I’ve got several  gallon jugs of water which is more than enough for what I need (I hope) for drinking and cooking and for my tea in the morning.  But you don’t want to get water into your gray water (kitchen and bathroom sinks and shower) and black water (toilet) tanks, especially the latter, where you can get into problems with the infamous poop-sicle in freezing weather (just like the ice stalagmite that I showed a picture of yesterday).  Here, an empty milk jug and (from Sally’s bedside commode) a plastic bucket liner are very handy.  (Again, a shout out to Erik’s bathroom [or lack therof] in recent memory.  Mike and Pete, do you remember mom’s  “Texas-T-Pot”?  It was basically a light blue enamel, metal pot about the size of a dog dish with a handle on it like a tea cup.  I remember using it when we traveled and when it was convenient not to have to get up and go use the outhouse.)

Third, refrigerator.  Most RVs have an evaporative refrigerator that heats and cools an ammonia fluid in the cooling lines.  Interestingly, when it is cold out, this system doesn’t work well and in severe cases, the ammonia can crystalize and plug up the lines.  There are new 12 Volt refrigerators that work just like house units which work fine in cold weather, and they are designed to use with batteries and are very energy efficient. 

Four – The Bed.  RV manufacturers are known for seeking out the lowest quality beds they can find to put into RV’s.  Eventually, almost everyone purchases a foam mattress to replace the old one.  We did it about four years ago.  That, of course, is a great insulator from the cold below.  But I went a step further and got a heated mattress pad.  Several benefits over an electric blanket.  Both work the same and give off heat in both directions.  With an electric blanket, half the heat goes down (somewhat) and the other have goes up and away from what you are trying to heat, mainly you.  The heat that goes down with the mattress pad hits the foam insulating mattress and warms that up.  It also makes the memory foam a little softer and so more soft cushion.  The heat going up goes to you and the envelope around you, so you lock in that heat.  The benefit to it is you get about twice as much beneficial heat for the same amount of energy input, or you can use half as much and get the same benefit.  Its efficient enough that I can heat the bed to sweat house temperatures (Sally’s preference) off of the battery and not have to run the generator at night when we are boondocking.  And that’s a real benefit. 

So, just some considerations account for the weather.  The other alternative is to go to Las Vegas and Phoenix and not have to worry about it (as much). 

So, today to Fruita, CO to mooch off of (or stay with) Jere and Tom for a couple of days and then onward to Lost Wages.  (And it’s time to evacuate the campground, even though I am the only person here….)

Later,

Thom

I had a good drive from Maybell to Fruita and Jere and Tom’s house.  The landscape was covered with snow the entire distance, and the mountains are uplifted and layered, so that you can see a lot of definition and contrast even from miles away.  The palette of colors is muted to whites and grays so it has some aspects of an impressionist painting, but with great detail, in part because the air is so clear.  This was especially true for the 60-mile section of US Highway 40 from Maybell to Dinosaur, CO.  This goes past the south entrance to Dinosaur National Monument, which I would have enjoyed visiting, but there’s not enough time….  Again, I saw a number of deer along the road, but the real excitement was a flock of five to seven bald eagles flying out of an arroyo, including two or three fledglings.  Tom said they were probably on some road kill, and that would make sense. 

The hundred mile section from Dinosaur to Fruita is highlighted by Douglas Pass.  Its long, steep and twisty, and the 25 mph speed limit was pretty comfortable.  Of all the well-known passes in Colorado,  this is one of the most tortuous I remember.  Again, very beautiful, but I wouldn’t want to drive it during a snow storm. 

Jere and Tom are doing well.  They have been working on a remodeling/new construction on their house since October.  Their house is really comfortable to be in, but has required a lot of repair work, for example, 25 screw jacks under the bedroom wing of the house to repair some settlement.  The main project is a remodel of their kitchen and the addition of a master bedroom and bath.  Its taken four months to get the rafters fabricated.  The work started in October/November, and they hope to have it finished by Memorial Day.  I can only wish them luck. 

Tom Sous Vide’d Italian sausages and browned them on the Traeger.  I brought my immersion heater with me, and figured I would fix some meat and veggies while attending the basketball games. 

OK, way late again.  Good night, dear friends.  Time for my electric mattress pad.

Oh, and by the way, I’ve been having difficulty cutting and pasting all these email addresses, so I’m thinking of starting a private blog.  (I don’t like telling strangers that I’m out of the house.)  Everyone on the email  list would be given an invite to join.  I’ll decide later. 

t

Img_2870 - The hard fought for electrical connection and empty campground.

Img_2873 - The empty campground, with the red One-Way sign showing where the road should have been plowed. 

Img_2878 - Its hard to take a picture of the landscape through a windshield.  Maybe you can recognize the muted colors.  (Also note the beautiful open road with no traffic while I quickly shot the picture without aiming it.  No dunning comments allowed.)