I don't want to but I am going to.

[dkrug]

So our house sold much quicker than we expected. We thought we had lots of time. We are planning on building on the property were we store the trailer. It has no well or electricity so we just boondock there. We need to be out of the house very soon. My husband always goes to South Dakota pheasant hunting the last week in October which means I will be living in the trailer, boondocking for a bit. We are trying to get a well and power, but stuff takes time. A motel is difficult with two dogs, a parrot and two cats. At least hubby will have the third dog with him hunting.
What is the longest anyone has camped without having to refill water or propane or charge batteries? It will probably be cold and I will need the furnace to keep the bird warm.
And please, no laughing.

[reinergirl]

Do you have solar, or a generator? Are you planning on wintering in it? How many batteries? All these will determine how long.... I"m not laughing but I am snickering... a little

You might want to consider finding someone willing to take your parrot for a while. Or making its cage into an incubator by wrapping Saran Wrap around it and putting a heating blanket on one side when it gets colder. Wide temperature swings are not great for parrots!

[Foiled Again]

Do the simple stuff - get a couple of 100 lb propane tanks that will sit on the ground, or a 250 lb tank. You'll need longer lines either way. Call a regular propane delivery company to arrange for both. Check for big air leaks. My door leaked around the bottom, but all I had to do to fix it was drill out the inside rivets around the bottom, have a friend push in on the bottom of the door, re-rivet and add three new rivets. Just pulled the bottom of the door in maybe less than 1/8th inch, but made a huge difference. You may want to skirt the trailer. Some people advise hay bales, but MICE would yuck me out. Bendable stryrofoam panels cut to fit under the rim of the trailer should help keep the floor warmer.

If you're building a house, well a septic system is going to have to go in, so put it in first and drain the black and gray tanks into it. In very cold weather this will probably be something you do once a week or so rather than letting ice build up in the discharge line.

You could get a water reservoir tank - 300 to 500 gallons, but it would likely freeze or require a heater to keep enough thawed for you to access it. It might be better to just get Jerry cans and fill your white tank periodically.

If you don't have electricity, I see a generator as a must - you could have a week of snow so solar isn't good enough. You COULD get something as small as a Honda 1000, and use it to run a battery charger and manually charge the batteries... I would go for a 2000 so you'd have enough juice to make toast and run a small space heater if you needed to.

Assuming batteries are in excellent shape, you might go as long as 10 - 12 days.

I'd board the parrot at a vet's office.

Paula

[Lily&Me]

Ok, now. You live in Michigan.

You cannot realistically plan to boondock up there thru the winter months and live to tell the tale. You are likely to find yourself in a serious and life-threatening emergency.

it's going to take time to drill a well, get propane set up and electricity in, and you may well have snow up there before that happens.

Rent a house or find a campground for the winter, get your necessities in place on the property and set up the trailer next summer.

Good luck.


Maggie

[jdalrymple]

Yes, have him tow the trailer to Florida or Texas before he goes hunting.

That would be the most comfortable.


Regards,

JD

[dkrug]

It will be an adventure. We hope not to have to have to live in it for more than a month. I am mostly worried about the time Don is gone. We have generators and I have already threatened to hook up and be headed south if it gets too cold. Trouble is, he is taking the tow vehicle to South Dakota with him.
Basically, I better learn how to use the generator. (I am half afraid to plug a toaster in)

[Msmoto]

Boondocking in Michigan…. reminded me of something from 2010…Laramie, Wyoming…

Airstream_2009_Int_27FB_Snow_04.2010-4 by Fantinesvoice.com, on Flickr

OK, the point is, adequate support services are a must. Heating in subfreezing weather will use lots of fuel, no matter whether electric or propane or gasoline for generator. In my current trailer, 30 Serenity, about 6 days will fill the gray water tank…..must be drained in appropriate sewer dump.

My suggestion would be to take the trailer to a campground, maybe in the more southern part of the USA….one of the beaches of the Carolinas is nice, and be in a full hook up so the issues will not be life threatening as mentioned. Especially, if you are not an experienced camper and fully understand how to run all the systems in your Airstream, you need to be with others who do know how to get help.

Hope this is useful information….

[Bill M.]

My suggestion is to find a campground with power for the time you are living in the trailer. Still will need a big propane tank. I know that in wet, chilly weather we have to run the generator almost everyday. Can run out a bottle of propane heating in week or so and that is with limited use. I would not want to take a chance with the parrot. The rest of you will likely be okay, but the bird is temperature sensitive. Be nice to have water and sewer too. Look at it as a bonus for selling the house early.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by dkrug

It will be an adventure. We hope not to have to have to live in it for more than a month. I am mostly worried about the time Don is gone. We have generators and I have already threatened to hook up and be headed south if it gets too cold. Trouble is, he is taking the tow vehicle to South Dakota with him.
Basically, I better learn how to use the generator. (I am half afraid to plug a toaster in)

The other option might be to see if there is friend or family locally that could let you park at their place, plug in to electricity and use their shower.

Would stretch out a tank of water and probably not require dumping until the husband is back from his hunting trip.


Maggie

[mccrosti]

Maggie is right. Find a friend and hookup for the winter. These ole tin cans get cold quick.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[kposey]

First - hide keys to tow vehicle.

Second - after hubby leaves for S. Dakota, hook the Airstream to tow vehicle.

Third - load parrot and dogs and head south.

Fourth - come back when he has the well, electric and septic operational!

[rosewoodtx]

Deb - come on down to Roadrunner in Johnson City, it's just a little early for the Hill Country Spring Rally!!!

Bruce and I had a similar situation. Our house sold in one week and we had no place to go with 10 cats. Found some property to buy and the owner was nice enough to allow us to camp there, even before closing. Of course, this was Texas, no chance of freezing but we did have a "blue norther" come through Oct. 1 with all our "winter" clothes packed in the storage buildings with the furniture. We kept out 1 week's worth of clothing with a weekly trip to the Laundromat on Sundays. Our "3 week" living in a trailer turned into 3 months.

Good luck. P.S. I'm with hiding the keys to the tow vehicle!

[dkrug]

Thanks for all the tips, tricks and suggestions. It is coming together. We want a whole house back up generator, so that and a huge propane tank will be installed in the next few days. The well is getting put in next week. We are having a small part of the shed where we store the Airstream made into a small apartment. Hopefully, we won't be in the AS for more than a few weeks. I am actually looking forward to a week camping alone and enjoying the quiet time. This moving stuff can cause people to get a bit "touchy".
One huge relief was that the Spartan made the move with zero problems.