Wintering through – Lessons Learned

When we purchased Silver ‘Rita in September 2013, we made arrangements to store her for the winter. It was a smart move, as the winter or 2013-14 was quite brutal in Indiana. In April 2014 we brought her out of storage and began living in her. Remember- our original plans were to begin full-timing around May 2015 when Tom retired, but after we found just the right trailer, and after the house sold much more quickly than anticipated, we found ourselves accelerating the time table. We spent the summer and fall in and around Indianapolis and central Indiana, with trips to Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia, and Texas.   As winter 2014 approached we decided we were experienced enough “trailerites” that we’d try to survive the winter in the trailer. We returned in mid-January from Florida and prepared ourselves for several weeks of winter in an RV park on Indianapolis’ south side.

The park had heated/insulated water pipes for our water connections; we purchased a heated water hose for our fresh water connections. Tom put a light bulb for heat in the hose connection compartment. We put bubble wrap pads over the skylights and fan vents; we lined the windows with bubble wrap. We added extra weather stripping around the door, and on really cold nights we draped a heavy blanket. All of these actions really did help reduce heat loss. When the sun shone, we peeled back some of the bubble wrap to wipe down the condensation. Exhaust fans helped, but never completely stopped, condensation on single pane glass. Whenever the weather allowed we opened windows to get fresh air in for as long as possible.

We propped open the cabinet below the kitchen sink, and held the shower door open an inch or so with a bungee cord. The wardrobe door was likewise propped open, to help keep the pipes to the shower valve, and the water pump, from freezing.

We didn’t experience trouble with running water until the temps got down below 10 degrees. Although the compartment for the water inlet had a light bulb in it, the brass fitting on the hose connecting to the trailer water line did freeze up. Fortunately, the fresh water tank was full, ready to go, and in the heated area below the floor. The same was true with the gray and black holding tanks. While the tanks never froze, the valves didn’t like temps below 10 degrees either. Most of the time we could simply wait until the temperature came up before dumping, but if we really needed to dump and the valve was frozen, we would take a pot of heated water, and pour it into the drain hose backward toward the valve, hold the hose up so that the hot water pooled by the valve, until it thawed out – presto, problem solved! There were also some days when we would leave the gray valve open, allowing the warm water from showers and dishwater to flow directly into the sewer drain.

On a couple of really cold nights we had water freeze in the shower drain trap. Rock salt in the drain prevented that from recurring, and in the black tank as well. If salt didn’t work for the shower, RV antifreeze did the trick.

We have two 40 lb. propane tanks. A tank would usually last about a week when we were using the furnace regularly from January to late March. When one was empty Tom would take it out, strap it into the truck bed and get it filled. We became good friends with the propane man at Flying J! We had two small space heaters that we used quite a bit as well. The one in the bathroom made getting out of the shower much warmer in the morning.

We didn’t have a lot of heavy snow and thought that we’d get through the winter without having to buy a snow shovel-our old ones went into the garage sale offerings after we sold our house. But, with only a couple weeks of March left, we did get a deep enough snow that we had to get a shovel. Not so much for us, but for our dog Jasmine, our short-legged, blind mini dachshund-she couldn’t find a place to do her business so Tom shoveled a doggy doo area for her!

Toolin’ Down the Road

When we decided to spend retirement full-timing in our Airstream, not only did we have to downsize our household and personal possessions, but we had to reduce the number of tools we took with us.  Today Tom writes  about what went into deciding what tools to take with us when we hit the road……

Downsizing the garage tools, after a forty years of accumulating them, took some thought. Some of the tools were my Dad’s, some were my oldest brother’s, who had upgraded to high quality mechanic’s tools over the years. Others were ones I bought over the years, over several homes and two marriages, to tackle various jobs and projects. I took a long look at the pegboard covered walls of our garage, and thought carefully about a vagabond life, where something might break miles from the nearest hint of civilization, what my skills were, and what it would take to at least band-aid a problem to hobble down the road.

        

Some were obvious. A pole saw was not needed, nor was the crosscut and rip saws my Dad had used when building his first house, the one I grew up in. Not easy to let them go, as the memories would flood in, of how he taught me the basics of carpentry, plumbing, and electrical wiring. At least, those were the obvious lessons. Down deeper, Dad was teaching me how to be a father, showing patience as the young mind asked questions and the young hands ruined a pricey piece of lumber. Never the less, these would go into the sale. More practical tools were kept, such a set of socket wrenches, and a hand crank socket handle, which could lower the stabilizers faster than an electric drill. But the cordless drill was kept, and the Craftsman corded electric drill he gave me that first married Christmas so many years ago, went to the sale. The miter box went, the odd and ends screwdrivers went, but the newer, intact tip ones were saved. A couple of adjustable wrenches, large and small, came along for the ride, a nice hammer for the tool box, and a second one, with a bright orange handle, stayed in the boot drawer for tent stakes. Orange shows up nice in the gathering dusk, making it easier to find. Pliers, needle nose and regular, a mini hacksaw, the soldering iron, all came along. I soon had the collection shown on the picnic table, all of which fit into one small toolbox, which fits nicely in the “attic”. The attic is a lockable tool box on the truck, wherein lives a few other tools, along with the boards and blocks needed to level the trailer on just about any site. A four-way spinner lug wrench, a torque wrench, and a buck saw, reside here as well. Over a year of living full-time in the Silver ‘Rita, the choices made that day in the garage have held up well. I found it useful to have some duplicates inside the trailer, such as a set of screwdrivers, a pliers and a small adjustable wrench. There are screws, nuts and bolts inside which work loose, and need tightening, but may not be worth putting on shoes or a coat, to retrieve a tool box from the attic, but should be attended to before it develops to a big problem.

I just finished a job, of adjusting the shower handle hot water limiter adjustment, which needed various sized allen wrenches. Now, the shower gets nice and hot, not just lukewarm. Then, with that folding set of allen wrenches in hand, did another little chore on the Hensley hitch, to lube the pivot arms. Somewhere, somehow, I set the allen wrenches down instead of returning them to the tool box. Hopefully, someone has given them a new home, and, I will remember to buy a replacement before I am hundreds of miles from a store and immobilized by a set screw needing adjustment….