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.

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.

The 2003 Coachmen Freedom 258db Is The Rig I Need

This past week while thinking about future plans, there is always one plan that consistantly shows up the most.  That plan is leaving this spring 2014, with plans of traveling probably until the spring of 2015 at a minimum. In that plan I would keep my house as a base camp, I would sell my H3 Hummer and my Mini Cooper S to reduce the cost of insurance and licenses. I would keep my 1994 Chevy 2500 pickup for local travel during the short times I would be back in Indiana. A few years ago I only had the 1994 Chevy Pickup as my only vehicle and it worked out great.

I also thought of some of the emails I had received and comments posted, after I had blogged about putting the rig up for sale after a month of ownership. I also thought back to the reasons I bought the Coachmen and why it was the perfect rig for me to start traveling in.  Everything I needed was contained, without towing anything. It runs great, has all that I need and seems quite large when comparing to tent camping or towing a smaller trailer.

During that time I wondered "what would you buy if it did sell unexpectedly" ? I had been looking at rigs for almost two years at the time I bought this one. So how would I improve what I already had, and really how much improvement would there be if I were to buy a bigger rig? I had already gone through a million questions over the past two years, and had come close to buying three different trailers and a Class A just in the past eight months. So really I had to ask myself, why am I selling a rig that gives me everything I had looked for?

There is plenty of room for the hounds and I when the weather turns bad. We have spent enough time where it is parked to know there is enough room for all of us after the sun goes down. All three hounds have already picked out their sleeping spots, with plenty of room to walk around.

So, how much better could it get?

I'm trying to simplify things instead of continuing to buy and buy and buy.  It's hard but I am making progress toward that goal.

I can leave sooner than this spring if I sell my H3 Hummer and my Mini Cooper.

The confirmed model year difference, the oil line repair within two weeks after purchase, doesn't change my plans nor my opinion about the rig. There is no damage inside, every thing works and it runs great.

So, the rig that I bought is the one I am keeping.

Winston's Vet Visit

Winston came out of the vet visit in good shape and some prednisone, 20mg for his back. He had dropped a couple of pounds since last year's check up and shots. He was told he is in great shape for a 9yr old basset. His back problem is just a stage of getting older, maybe tweaked it and is inflamed. The prednisone will calm it down a little bit and then some buffered aspirin after that on a daily basis.

We are hitting record lows tonight in southern Indiana, high 20's. It's times like these I wish I were in warmer country and traveling. The thoughts of Arizona and Borrego Springs Ca always come to the surface when it gets cold.

What do traveler's do to prevent freezing damage while they are traveling and can't winterize their rigs? You could be headed south and hit below freezing temps for an over night stay, with full or partially full tanks. Asking that question shows you how much of a rookie I am in the RV game.

As it gets colder, I realize it's nice to have a home base with heat and long hot showers available.