November 11, 2013

Winterized

Recently the temps have been dropping at night to 30 degrees and I no longer wanted to push my luck, with forecasts of 18-25 degrees overnight lows this week before jumping back up to low 40's after that. Typical Indiana weather.

As I read about winterizing and watching YouTube videos this past month, I kept thinking it wasn't that hard of a process. I drove to Bloomington this morning and picked up a pump winterizing kit at a local RV parts and repair shop I found a few weeks ago. That place saved me 150 miles of driving to Camping World in Indy.  I didn't need the whole kit, just the plastic tube and connector to the Antifreeze Connection in the upper right.


I made a few mistakes at first. I didn't drain the fresh water tank because I couldn't find the low point drain valves. Mine were not where all the YouTube videos showed them. I also didn't change the shut off valves on the water heater tank.  Next I had drained my water heater  and adjusted the valves on the Water Works panel that Coachmen has to "make it easier" to winterize with out all the manuals, still I had problems. In my first attempt I had used about a gallon of antifreeze but didn't have any come out of the faucets. I had a pretty good idea where the antifreeze was going but I did not see any coming out of the water heater drain, so I was confused.

I called Coachmen customer service and they took time out of their busy day to find my specific rv model in their computer and then directed me where my low point fresh water valves were. both my fresh water tank and hot water tank is under the bed. Draining the fresh water tank probably took longer than the whole winterizing process.

After that drained I started the process over for feeding the antifreeze into the water system and had the pink stuff running out of the faucets, shower head and toilet. I also pushed the center button of the city water connection outside and had some pink stuff shoot out like it was suppose to.  Just for my own piece of mind I put a little antifreeze in all the sink traps and the toilet.

Since the RV would be sitting on grass for the winter, I bought some leveling blocks and after a few tries got that beast on the blocks centered and off the grass. That yard would become very saturated after the snow and ice melts this winter so the blocks should help keeping the tires off the ground.

Just as I finished and picked up all the tools, empty containers, hoses etc....it started raining....perfect timing. The biggest challenge of the day was getting the bloodhound into the house, she doesn't care that it rains and besides that she was on a scent in the back field and was oblivious to my yelling her name.

So I believe I'm good for the mid-teen temps this winter and single digits.

It took a while but I am glad I figured that out for my own experience. Although I hope this will be the last and only winter I am doing the winterizing process. I still plan to go out on weekend trips but during the winter I will take my own water and revert to my tent camping ways and leave the rv winterized.

November 10, 2013

Not A Lot to Blog About

I thought I should write up a little update for my readers to let them know I have not disappeared from blog land, nor have I changed my mind about anything in my plans or my rig. It has been great weather here in the tropics of southern Indiana this fall and you would think i would have time on weekends to pack up and hit the road for a weekend of camping.....but....like any homeowner knows there seems to be something every weekend that needs to be done around the house.  That is the way it has been the past few weeks.

As the hounds show, not a lot to write about...

Winston - Heidi - Sadie
This weekend is finally dry enough to do a possible last yard mowing of the year and a full day of getting rid of leaves. When you have a lot of trees, there's a lot of leaves to get rid of in some form and that takes time. It is also where I will be right after this blog post.

I have gone back and forth on what to do with my Mini Cooper and H3 while traveling. Most of the time I would like to keep them but I am not sure I want them sitting for a year. When I leave in May or earlier I will probably be gone for a full year for the simple reason, I don't want to return to the house just to sit through a Midwestern winter in 2014. So that puts me on the road for a full year. Selling them would probably be the best option.

So I have changed my plan just a little. I will try to sell both vehicles and if I still have them the week before I leave, then I will make arrangements to store them long term. That way it's a win win either way.

So, there is not much excitement to report on, just normal living as a homeowner that wishes they were on the road. The pictures boondocking at the Q or anywhere west for that matter keeps the inner fire alive.

My blog posting will probably be every 2-3 weeks from now on.