White Christmas? - Maybe........

[bugnot1]

We did get the 'White Christmas' - but just. I guess it measured 1" - so I can't claim much but 'white'. The ice went mostly east of us - we got just enough for a few slide-offs on Hwy 65 (going to Branson). Today was a perfect day to make a couple pans of lasagna - and I will freeze some for next week when I don't feel like cooking.

Moving will be finished (one way or another) by the end of the week. No more 'stick and brick' houses for me.......I want wheels under me - . This week will be totally consumed storing and selling "stuff" we don't need. Did we ever need it? Doubtful! What was I thinking??????? In this economy no one has money to buy antiques - and the question becomes, do I just cut my losses now, or do I store them waiting for the economy to brighten???? And if I store all the "stuff" - will there be a market for those pieces later??? Kids don't seem to have the same love of antiques that I did.

jan

[Aviator]

It was a white Christmas here in Atlanta. We just had to wait until dark. The children are thrilled. They don't remember any of the white Christmas' we had in Chicago before moving here.

[maxandgeorgia]

Missouri...(shaking of head!)...one inch to the south of us in Springfield and 7 inches in our back yard here in middle Missouri. Definitely a white Christmas for us. The snow came on Friday, Christmas Eve, so between grandkids making snowmen and sledding, and dogs making snow puppies while rolling the fluff, the Christmas morning snow was well stiirred and not exactly picture perfect. We love it though, and 60 degrees is forecast later in the week so we know we're not stuck til Spring with the mess. We hope your Christmas was merry and your New Year will be blessed. ~G

[Queen]

There is this strange blinding orb in the sky, I think I remember seeing it once, a long time ago. It's making the navy blue throw on my lap very warm and comfy.

Should I be scared or is this glowing orb benevolent???

[bdlWidget]

Greetings from my Mom's driveway in Connecticut, snug in the 29' Excellea with a blizzard on its way.

Here's our Christmas story. Adrienne and I are based in St Louis currently, and the AS was tucked away in its parking lot for the winter (no room for it in the #$@# city where we 'live'), but I was hoping to make a dash to the Northeast for the holidays, weather permitting. A week before departure St Louis took a little snow and ice, and it was looking like I would head out without the trailer, if at all. Last Friday, the 17th, the weather in St Louis cleared nicely, and the 'Road Trip Planner' on Weather Underground showed suns the whole way through Ohio and Pennsylvania (with high temps of 20 degrees F or lower), so I hitched up and headed into the city to finish packing. Fortunately there's a gated lot next to Adrienne's condo where we can pack up, so on Saturday morning we loaded up the cat, the dogs, the parrot, the cockatiel and the conure, along with clothes, food, show shovels, tire chains for truck and trailer, a 2kW Honeywell generator that I bought the week before, and the usual tools, fluids, etc.

Oh, right, about the generator. You see, we travel with birds, and my pickup, though having a back seat, gets a bit cramped with two bird cages, two dogs and two adults. In warmer months the birds ride back in the trailer, along with the cat, but clearly we needed a mobile heating solution if they were to ride back there when the outside temperature is well below freezing. My pickup has a hard fiberglass tonneau cover on it, so I rigged up an extension cord from the tailgate area to the front of the trailer, making use of the hole under the floor where the wire bundle heads up to the Unitrol, etc., and we set up the generator at the very back of the truck, with the tonneau popped up about 10" or so. I used a scrap 2" thick foam wall board as a separator between the generator compartment and the rest of the stuff in the pickup bed, to minimize problems with exhaust, fire, etc. (oh, yes, we stashed extinugishers in several handy places in the cab, bed and trailer). In the trailer, the birds rode along on the front couch, which I folded down and covered with a large plywood square, upon which I mounted a 1500-watt electric space heater. The heater has 2 power settings, and I found that most of the time I could cut it to 750 watts, because the insulating birdcage tent kept the temperature of the bird enclosure at a toasty 75 degrees F when the rest of the trailer was below freezing. Occasionally at rest stops I fired up the heater to bring the trailer interior temp above freezing. The cat had the option of joining the birds in the enclosure (he's well-fed, and they all get along fine), but opted to shiver under the bed in the back of the trailer, which is one of his favorite spots. The Honeywell generator (Craigslist, $280 used) worked great, I have zero complaints about it. It started easily, even when the temp was well below freezing, and used about a half-gallon per hour on the economy setting, with the heater at 750 Watts. We spent the night Saturday at a rest stop on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, running the propane furnace off of the 12 volt system batteries while the bird enclosure was heated by the generator/heater setup. It's nice having two sources of heat, just in case of trouble with one of them.

Of course the water and waste tanks were completely dry for the trip, but once we arrived in Connecticut, the weather warmed up just a bit (30's most days, some 40's, down to teens at night), so we're using the water system, but minimally. I've hooked to electric service in my mom's garage, and between the propane furnace, and electric heater, it's nice and toasty in the trailer. The first 30# tank lasted from Saturday through Thursday, not too bad, maybe 5 lbs per day...although I'm not metering the electricity coming out of mom's utility bill!

So now that the Christmas feast has come and gone, a blizzard is threatening the Northeast, and we're expecting up to 18" of snow. I doubt we'll get that much, maybe 12" if we're (un)lucky. We have maybe 2" so far, and the AS is looking a bit like an igloo. I expect they'll have the streets plowed well before we leave on Friday (New Year's Eve day). We intend to head towards Maryland to visit some friends, and although they're expecting a foot of snow today as well, it's supposed to hit 50 degrees on Friday, with a lot of rain. Hopefully we'll have clear sailing back to St Louis over the New Year's weekend. I haven't needed those tire chains yet, and I really hope I don't. They're just for emergencies, I don't intend to drive on slick roads.

Next winter, I intend to be in the Florida Keys...fingers crossed.

-Mike

[Levon]

It doesn't happen often, but when it does snow in Ga. it's a sight to behold. Airstream work will have to be put on hold. I'm going hunting....Vintage Style (1750's Period).

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Levon

[jm2]

well, Levon, it's now white here in NJ, too. started up in this corner of the state around 11 am, today.

good thing the Can Opener is next week!

best,

[Foiled Again]

I've scraped the truck off twice and there's another 6 inches on it. We have a 24 inch drift in front of the door.

I have a diesel truck that will probably last another 300 to 400 thousand miles. Today, if it got hit by a semi and totalled I'd happily replace it with a 4 wheel drive model - and a short bed instead of the long bed.

I traded in a 2003 Suburban 2500 gasser on the Silverado 2500 gasser, got the big quad cab and the long bed, but had almost never used 4 wheel drive on the Burb so thought I'd get better mileage with a 2 wheel drive vehicle.

Today it's a BAD choice.

The governor has declared a state of emergency.

11 inches with drifts above 2 feet.

Paula

[Chip Arnold]

We've got about 9" outside now. 1,800 ft elev. in the N. Ga. mtns. Snug and dry in the '76 Soveriegn. Temp is down to 20 but last week it dropped to single digits a couple of times. With a heat lamp in the rear plumbing compartment and using the central furnace for heat, the water system has been fine. the connecting hose is insulated and has an electric heat tape on it. if power goes out, i'll drain and blow out the water system and heat with the free standing gas heater. Very happy and content in my 31' aluminum tube.

[Lily&Me]

A little too white on the east coast---my baby girl is stranded at the airport, can't get home to Brooklyn.

The upside to all this snow is that children and families in areas that seldom get snow are having a blast playing in it!


Maggie

[maxandgeorgia]

Middle Missouri woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. Temps fell to 6 degrees, hoarfrost covers every tree branch and grass twig. No sun, but bright light hghlighting the frost has turned our world celestial. An occasional bird landing on a frost covered branch sends a dust of show showers glittering into the air. Nothing else to do but sit and wonder at it all. ~G