Winter Traveling

[Castranova]

My husband wants to turn in our flights and drive from Colorado to Texas with our RV in tow for Thanksgiving. What about ice? What about freezing temps at campgrounds? Not so sure this is a gr8 idea. Please tell me it's not.

 

[Mr Bojangles]

Hello Castranova:
Wow.....
I do not know exactly what to say...... but darn if I don't feel compelled to say something..., not good.

I have a wife who will not Travel at all with my small trailer. If she said to me :
"Let's travel when we have less chance running into bad weather"
Why I'd be happy as heck. And then, maybe, just maybe I would give thought to her concerns about The weather. Ha Ha.

But seriously, some compromise may be in order. (may work)
Hopefully someone will chime in and give some idea of the weather to be expected along proposed route in time frame (Thanksgiving) you have outlined. There is a chance that freezing rain or snow is possible.

I'll try to answer, nope, not answer, just give food for thought...
One approach might be as follows:
Have hubby give a commitment to you that you will decide (not him) when to stop travel and wait out weather.
That means that "not arriving in time" is okay and acceptable. Also, how much time you will allot for trip. You should have "lot's of lead way".

Now only you know how reliable his word is....

Everyone has different sense (and enjoyment) of "Adventure".
I hope you guys will reach a compromise that allows travel with trailer. I'm for using TRAILER.

Maybe someone will....., you know,  "See ya all down the road!" Good luck.

Mr. Bojangles

 

[Frizlefrak]

How much time do you have?

Through the Raton pass and the panhandle of Texas, you can hit blizzards....the kind where you hunker down for 2-3 days and wait it out.  Cooped up in an RV may not be ideal for some, others would be OK with it.

If it were up to me, I'd just fly for something like this.  Save the RVing for when you have nowhere to go and all day to get there.

 

[PancakeBill]

Turn in one flight, hub drives to destination and pick you up at airport.

 

[kjansen]

We have many people traveling by Rv leaving Minnesota after Christmas.  It all depends on road conditions.  If the highways are dry, they have no problems.  If you have to be there at a certain time, it could be tricky.

 

[Foto-n-T]

I do this route pretty much every year and usually just after Thanksgiving.  Last year we were in snow of some sort or another pretty much until just north of Brady Texas.

The difference in how we travel is that we could really care less when we get there so a weather delay isn't a big deal.  As much as I would abhor actually having to get into an aluminum tube to travel anywhere I'd be VERY inclined to NOT take the rig for a time sensitive trip in the winter.

I don't know where you are in Colorado but we ALWAYS avoid Raton Pass and head down across the panhandle of Oklahoma.  I do enough commercial driving in the mountains of Wyoming and Montana with tankers to really appreciate the flat terrain of Oklahoma versus mountain passes.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Not so sure this is a gr8 idea. Please tell me it's not.

I think the elephant in the room here is that you don't want to do it. This is where we separate the men from the boys.

After two years of full timing, I have learned that a Mexican standoff is best won by the bride. Every time. Hands down.  8)

Weather changes rapidly in that time period, as do road conditions, and being from northern Colorado, that should not come as shock. While I no longer will fly commercially, especially in high season, my wife will, and does, and we agree to disagree.

Yes, you can do it, you would have to be flexible, and time could not be a constraint.

Maybe Pancake Bill is right, too!

We will be traveling from Arizona through New Mexico and through Texas about that time, but we have no illusions about what we will find. We're prepared to take it as it comes. Not everyone has that luxury, or even wants it...

Travel is meant to be enjoyed, especially for holidays, and I hope you guys find your "happy place".

 

[RVRAC]

LOL. How is this different from flying during winter?  I fly out of O'Hare, Chicago, during winter and you can never be 100% sure that you will get on time or come back on time during the holidays.

 

[Castranova]

I am indebted for these responses and actually read them all out loud to my husband. He has decided to keep the airline tickets since it is a time-sensitive trip and being hunkered down in an RV for 3 days doesn't "suit his fancy." My Dad's B-day is Nov 22 and we have to be there by then to celebrate with him. Also, my brother who works for AA can't have Thanksgiving on the 24th, and has to have it Saturday which is his only day off. Too many time-constraints to "hope the weather is good." Thank you all and especially the Raton Pass suggestions. I wouldn't have known!  :

 

[Wendy]

I spent one Christmas stuck at DIA for 2 days in a blizzard. Also spent a day in the motorhome stuck in a rest stop in a blizzard off I25. Didn't like either one. But if I had to choose, I'd rather be stuck in my RV than stuck in DIA.

JMO
Wendy

 

[s2kskibum]

From where in Colorado to where in Texas? Pretty easy to plan ahead and avoid bad weather if you have a couple day window. Texas is only 7 hours away from Denver - not a very long haul... Dallas 15 hours. Rarely is there bad weather south of there, especially in November. Heck it could be 70 and sunny in Colorado!

 

[Foto-n-T]

It's not just the possibility of "getting stuck" waiting out a blizzard.  Many of us have "pushed on" when we really shouldn't have, most of us get away with it but on the other hand the consequences of pushing on can be extreme.  Since I drive for a living I think I'm pretty good at driving in that nasty white stuff but I've been humbled before dragging my 5th wheel TWICE!!  There's absolutely nothing like having your rig "change lanes" on you going down the road/interstate when you hit ice and although I didn't wind up in the ditch I did cut a few buttons off my seat with my cheeks before I got it under control again.  Pickups and campers DO NOT have the same handling characteristics or stability as a semi and it doesn't really matter how good you are at driving in weather, they just don't have enough weight on the tires to give you much help when things start going sideways.

It seems that every year when we get ready for our winter migration we wind up making at least part of the trip in the worst weather, it sucks.  This year mainly for financial reasons we migrated at the end of September and I must say it was pleasant to not have to be concerned about anything other than air-conditioning.  Tell hubby to enjoy the flight and that descretion is the better part of valor.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Foto-n-T is right. Pickups and trailers just don't do like the larger brothers on the road.

Like yesterday we got our first snow and I was in the process of quick winterizing of the RV. Blowing out the water lines, flushing the grey and black tanks out. So if you planing on coming north through Idaho I would reconsider it.

http://511.idaho.gov/

Fire up the map and then fire up the cameras and check out New Meadows, ID area. We are getting the white stuff.

 

[warsw]

My wife and I tow our RV in the winter all the time. I love winter camping. You just need to be prepared. Watch the weather, don't be in a hurry and make sure both your tow vehicle and trailer are set up for winter travel. Living in Central Oregon we get used to the winter weather. We had our first snowfall yesterday. After some time you learn how to set up for winter travel. I do admit that winter travel has its risk but it also has its rewards (Much less traffic and way fewer people).

 

[Castranova]

We are going to give it a whirl this weekend in good old WYO, but that's as far as we're gonna take our rig in the Winter this year. You guys convinced us to play it safe. NO one wants to rip a few buttons off of their seat trying to stay on the road!  :-\ We were "thinking" about from Fort Collins to Fort Worth in November but we already have the tickets and got the flights for under 300 for both. Not too shabby. 

 

[Rancher Will]

Karen nd Al, do what ever you are comfortable with. That is what we do.

I notice that you live near Fort Collins so you have some idea of weather in Colorado. You can also always get weather reports, forecasts and road reports on an hourly basis to plan your trips.

We live in the Mountains a couple of hours West of you and we travel with our RV, as we have done for over 50 years, in every season of the year. We have, many times, traveled from one of our ranches through or past your town. From our North Ranch, through Laramie, then down US 287 past you, and on US 287 on to Amarillo, and into Fort Worth, etc.,  we have traveled every month of the year. In the Winter, and even in Summer, when we are on that route, as any route to anywhere, we always check the weather before we start each day and almost always avoid bad storms. If you park during, or just before a storm, we, and you, can travel anywhere anytime. Just don't travel when visibility is bad. If you learn about a coming storm, just plan when to start for the day, and plan when to stop to wait out the storm.

There have been a few times, usually in summer when we run into an unexpected bad rain storm, when we just pulled into a parking place, RV Park, Truck Stop, WalMart, etc., and waited out the storm, usually only a few hours and sometime over night. We have waited in the Winter too, when an unexpected snow storm caught us, the last time in Limon, Colorado last spring on our way back from Missouri. We just waited out that storm, over night, and then continued, from  Limon where we had stayed over night at the TA Truck Stop. There were snow drifts over four or five feet high along I-70 over night almost into Denver. By 10 AM that morning after the storm, when the Highway was again open, we drove on. We had no trouble driving on into and through Denver by 1:00 pm. This is typical when we do have to wait out a storm.

If you are comfortable doing so you will find that there is really no reason to not travel in Winter. But again, do what you find comfortable.

 

[Castranova]

Thanks for the encouragement, Rancher Will. We also have a ranch, North of Fort Fun! We actually allow people to stay on it and have an arena for horse-boarding too. We normally only allow a two night visit as we're tired by Friday and have to get back to work on Monday!
One summer, we had a guy stay who had a large motor home and pulled his "pet" horse around. He never rode the horse, just pet and brushed it the whole time. It was like a big dog to him! He stayed for a few nights and then went on to another ranch. I would think that traveling with a dog would've been much easier!  ???
I heard the snow is coming tomorrow, so I pumped the anti-freeze through the RV yesterday, just in case. Only took 10 minutes to empty the tank and winterize it.