winter full time in montana

[mtmagpie]

ok so i was in here this summer and forgot my passwords etc. when moved ha.. so here i am back again, we total remodeled out overlander, still doing some more construction as live in it, full time living here ... today is 20 below zero... and we are staying warm with our suburban furnace though it is loud. we have the precision temp hot water heater so all time water, plenty and works well, we got the winterizing kit with it... but we also put a light bulb outside near its opening for extra winter protect. sort of wish we forked over the extra and got the precision w/heater that also had in floor heat also but we didn't ... we put 3 layers of foil bubble insulation in walls with new skins, bamboo flooring stainless kitchen randy built in the wheel wells with aluminum stud framing and fiberglass insulation, we skirted with aluminum total new insulation under floor. we are doing well and love it, have an akita that shares our space so we built a fence for her outside i will try to send some picts. it would have been easier had we gotten all the construction done while not in but we are in it now ... building house perhaps in fall so we plan to stay put here for a long time. i think i would't mind just having this but we'll see in time, been in it since oct. now

[Lee Pace]

Good for you guys! Montana is so beautiful, hope to be there in the spring.
Keep posting and let us know how it's going.






Gloria Pace
72 Sovereign
WBCCI 7287
Greenville, Tx

[ArtStream]

Hi mtMagpie!

I'm a visual kinda guy, so how bout some toasty fotos of your aluminum igloo

Michael

[mtmagpie]

hope these came through ok, new computer

[nohillgrish]

mtmagpie,
Looks, and sounds, like you have a pretty good handle on this winter camping business. Next to your 20 below, my 5 below sounds piddly. Head'in up Montana way this summer around the Bozeman-Great Falls area. Can't find Colstrip in my handy dandy RoadMaster Atlas. Will do a little Google earth, but is it anywhere near Bozeman-Great Falls?. If so, is there anything I "must see"?

[mtmagpie]

one of favorites around the bozeman area are the lewis and clark caverns..along with yellowstone park of course and glacier if you get up to n.w. corner. as for colstrip ha.. is just a coal mine/power plant town east of billings. husband has about 6 years left to retire from here then we can get this airstream on the road. this wk we finish the ceiling and ceiling lights which am looking forward to and then we have the bathroom sink/cabinets to finish up as well now. the final bit will be the aluminum in living room area, didn't put the plastic end cap up again, instead we are going to do pie shape alum pieces to finish that sofa end. .. it should be a bit tricky but am sure we can get it accomplished.

[craftsman]

You do have fine taste in toasters. Looks like a Dualit two slice. I use the same toaster in my Airstream and a four slice in the house. Hope your winter is a good one. You're proof that it can be done.

[mtmagpie]

i love my toaster, makes me smile every morning... had a 4,000 sq ft home now to this 180 ?sq ft. but we got messed up with the mortgage stuff, sold the house and left my design job to be with husband here full time rather then him commuting... i think i made the best choice and we will recover this winter and i have the fun of airstream design now rather then house ha. funny thing in big house we lived in only two rooms anyway.. the house we build next will be much smaller then the other one.

[ZoominC6]

Howdy out there in Rosebud County, Montana! We found ya on Yahoo/maps and it certainly looks sparcely populated. Stay warm and take good care of each other. Welcome.

[Antique Pedaler]

Having lived in Miles City for 7+ years and spent many cold nights in Colstrip I would have to say your winterizing the Airstream sufficiently to withstand the weather is quite an accomplishment.

[jdalrymple]

I admire both your endurance and courage in the face of change. Stay warm and comfortable.

[Bettymsb]

Now you need to treat yourself to a nice warm Hotsprings at Chico And fine
dining as well.......OOOHHHH I wish we were there now as it will be -2 here
in Sun Valley tonight. Your trailer looks neat! Good job! Regards & Happy Trails come spring, Betty

[mtmagpie]

thanks Betty, that sounds very nice perhaps we'll try to do that... when the construction is finished inside. we just got our bathroom sink in, so plumbing all done, it was marvelous to go from washing in buckets of boiling water to having the tub and sinks all in and working well. love the tankless water heater. for some reason my picts aren't fitting so i can't add more .. have a great blue rubber sink in bathroom .. yes rubber ha.. light weight and so cute. was by a designer in denmark thru unica home but the blue is now discontinued though they have white still avail. husband said needed to keep weight down, was pricey but is sooo cute!

[BrockLives]

How awesome! I love reading about Airstream winters. How is everything on the inside? With your new insulation job, are you running into many problems?

[flyfisher]

Originally Posted by nohillgrish

mtmagpie,
Looks, and sounds, like you have a pretty good handle on this winter camping business. Next to your 20 below, my 5 below sounds piddly. Head'in up Montana way this summer around the Bozeman-Great Falls area. Can't find Colstrip in my handy dandy RoadMaster Atlas. Will do a little Google earth, but is it anywhere near Bozeman-Great Falls?. If so, is there anything I "must see"?

No wonder you couldn't find it in your atlas. You shoulda been lookin for Cold-strip , not Colstrip.

My wife makes me leave Montana in October, and our unit goes into storage just west of Bozeman for the winter, but now I can tell her that if we'd stay, there'd be 2 families in trailers in MT during the winter.

Where we are in Paradise Valley though, if the cold won't kill ya, the wind shur as Help will.

[mtmagpie]

the worst would have to be that the windows fog up when take bath and cook, that should be better when we get the range hood working, i thought when get time that we should perhaps cut some plexiglass and sandwich with longer screws between the screens and windows to form a bit of thermal type window, didn't want to do plastic it will also be better when the rest of interior aluminum is up, tried to enter more picts but guess am at my size limit so no more room. if anyone wants more picts can email me and i could send some that way. the worst of cold is over i think 30 degrees is really nice...

[crowbar68]

awesome, i spent last winter in my a.s. in west virginia and had a great time. no 20 below though. that suburban furnace definetly will keep you toasty. i wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

wishing you well

crowbar

[mtmagpie]

no problems occured we made it thru the winter alive well and happy. building house this fall/spring and will rather miss our airstream living... spring is here and all is well... insulation worked very well... nothing froze up, suburban furnace did well though was loud... tankless water heater held with us w/out issues.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by mtmagpie

no problems occured we made it thru the winter alive well and happy. building house this fall/spring and will rather miss our airstream living... spring is here and all is well... insulation worked very well... nothing froze up, suburban furnace did well though was loud... tankless water heater held with us w/out issues.

Very cool,
Glad you made it through the winter. Its still winter here in western Montana. Snow over the weekend and more today.

[innjtown]

How hard was it to winterize your Airstream? You mentioned you put foil bubble wrap in the walls, was that easy to do? Also, how did you install your Suburban heater? I'm guessing you replaced an existing one with a better one?