Where to put the RV when on vacation

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Laura & Charles

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Jun 10, 2016
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Could be anywhere. Originally from Ohio. Go Bucks!
We've been full-timing for six months now. Have learned a ton about our coach, our lifestyle, and ourselves.  We both still work full-time and have office space set up in the rig.
We're going to be heading back to Ohio for two to three three weeks over the holidays to visit with family and friends, take care of seeing our doctors, getting new glasses, etc.,  but are driving the toad and leaving the MH in warmer climes. And next spring we'll be flying to San Diego for a wedding and family reunion.
My question is, what to do with the coach when we're going to be away for an extended time? Do you just leave it in a campground plugged in? Seems there might be a more economical option. I've heard that long-term parking at airports is an option. But we want to make sure the reefer stays cold.  How long will the house batteries keep our freezer frozen?  (It has fan (fans?) behind it. House has a pair of six volt, deep cycle, 232 Ah batteries that were new January '15. Small solar panel charger on roof).  Is it reasonable to expect them to keep the reefer going for three weeks?  Or should we just leave the rig in a CG and plugged into shore power?
Thanks!
 
Thanks Tom.  That's what I suspected.  Couple of follow up questions:
1. Any idea how long we can reasonably expect the reefer to stay cold on just house batteries?
2. If we decide to empty the fridge and freezer (so take the reefer piece out of original post), what do you full-timers do with your rigs when you're going to be away for extended time?  We move every three or four weeks and have no season-long 'base'.  That makes leaving it in a CG seem a bit silly.  But we want to make sure it's in a safe/secure place.  (Seems even sillier to leave it vulnerable just save a few bucks.)
 
I can't imagine spending all that money to stay in an RV park just to keep the freezer cold. Throw it all away and park it in a long term parking lot like you find at an airport. If you run it just on battery it will only keep things cold for a day at the most. If you use propane it would last a week maybe. I live in an RV park so when I leave for a vacation I find a cat sitter. Someone feeds the cats and make sure everything is fine with the RV. It is like having a baby sitter.
 
Some CGs have areas for storage.  You might want to see about that.  Just make sure they are not going to close for the winter where you can't get it back til spring?
 
Bring it to MI and you can park in at my place and you won't have to
have it plugged in to keep the freezer cold.  ;D

It was about 25 degrees this morning.

And by the time the holidays get here that may very well be the high for the days.

 
I have several times left my motorhome in long-term airport parking with the refrigerator running on propane.  The last time was in Salt Lake City and I was really nervous because the temps were in the 90s the entire 6 days, but I got back to it and the batteries showed hardly any drainage.  Stuff in freezer was still frozen.  I had made sure I had full propane tank and batteries were charged.  Also, left roof vents open for ventilation.  Cost was $9 per day, same as a car.

However, my refrigerator is the typical 8.5 cubic feet and does not have any fans on it.  I have to go back to Ohio again after New Years and will do the same thing again at Tampa Airport, which by the way, has great economy long-term parking. 

If I left it for any longer, I would probably get a weekly or monthly rate at a commercial campground. It would just make me feel better not to have to worry about everything baking.

One last thing: medications of nearly any kind do not do well in very hot conditions, so you need to put them in a cooler with some cold packs if you are going to be gone more than a couple of days.  The refrigerator is too cold to store them, unfortunately.
 
I am about to leave my rig and cargo trailer in a self storage place in Orlando area. Only $89 a month and they have a special that's 50% off first month. I am leaving it until mid-January (post holidays). Next door there is an airport parking lot with shuttles to the airport, so I will hop on one of those to get to airport when I leave. I will toss all my perishable food before I go and drain as much water as I can and  clean out tanks well and add some RV antifreeze to them just in case FL gets a weird super cold front through here. Not a full winterization though.

I am staying in a campground now that has storage for only $75 a month, but it's on grass and there are ants around FL that like to crawl up into the rig from the stabilizers or jacks and are a bit of a nightmare. So I am hoping asphalt will be a better solution. Thinking of buying a big ass bag of diatomaceous earth to scatter under the rig just in case.

 
JudyJB said:
I have several times left my motorhome in long-term airport parking with the refrigerator running on propane.  The last time was in Salt Lake City and I was really nervous because the temps were in the 90s the entire 6 days, but I got back to it and the batteries showed hardly any drainage.  Stuff in freezer was still frozen.  I had made sure I had full propane tank and batteries were charged.  Also, left roof vents open for ventilation.  Cost was $9 per day, same as a car.

However, my refrigerator is the typical 8.5 cubic feet and does not have any fans on it.  I have to go back to Ohio again after New Years and will do the same thing again at Tampa Airport, which by the way, has great economy long-term parking. 

If I left it for any longer, I would probably get a weekly or monthly rate at a commercial campground. It would just make me feel better not to have to worry about everything baking.

One last thing: medications of nearly any kind do not do well in very hot conditions, so you need to put them in a cooler with some cold packs if you are going to be gone more than a couple of days.  The refrigerator is too cold to store them, unfortunately.
Judy - Too bad you aren't flying out of Orlando. I live right next to the airport and I would be happy to go over every few days and check on things.
 

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