WINTERING in Aruba... Dream come true.

[Ray Eklund]

Of course this is a dream.

Wintering in an Airstream in Aruba would be like a hot dog wintering in my grill in the winter with all burners lit. Even in the Winter, Aruba is hot and humid. Leave the Airstream at home. Although in this dream, I was enjoying the humidity and sunshine.

My trailer is stored in our garage at home. It is kept at 46 degrees. We leave the trailer's door open to ventilate and keep it... warm. We have been loading it for the last five days. After an hour... your fingers begin to get a bit numb. This is with the trailer in doors, no wind and 46 degrees.

I have been off the grid when a cold wave drops into the Southwest. You have to grin and understand that some travel trailer owners can adapt and have worked out how to keep comfortable north of 35 degrees latitude and not on the Pacific or Atlantic Coasts.

Have you heard of any Waterbirds heading north in the Winter to enjoy the frost and frigid weather. No. Snowbirds know better. When I am driving anywhere along Interstate 25 on the Front Range of Colorado... ALL trailers in tow are heading, SOUTH. All have northern latitude license plates. Interview some of these people if you want really get the best optimistic view of Wintering up North. There are MORE Canadians staying in Las Vegas RV Parks than US Citizens. Mostly British Columbia and Saskatchewan plates. They know. Go to Las Vegas and interview these people. They WANT you to go to Canada and work there during the winter. Someone has to be left there to keep the lights ON.

Yes. I haven't. No, I have not been sipping Cider through a Straw, but I will be in a week or so.

Those of you who are dreaming of a White Christmas in January will have it and it will be inside your trailer. Come to Denver. Park for a week at a RV Park if you can find one that is OPEN. They even shut down RV Parks east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Why? The weather sucks and nobody who tried it once, comes back.

Park a Week. Plug in to 30amp, 50amp... 1000amp. Bring 250 pounds of propane tanks. Then step outside... blue skies, sun is out and... 15 degrees.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from Winter Camping. Just understand that Snowbirds get to the southern USA and you will have a very hard time to get rid of them. They are like Starlings. They eat, drink and... on your windshield. My mission to to keep potential Waterbirds from messing up our Arctic Cold Fronts and legislate them out. Get north of Oklahoma in a trailer, you will probably not survive. Bring your snacks. Smoked armadillo. You will not cut it... as we natives in these areas can not.

Please. Post your dream. I am sure someone will step in and tell you... go... go ahead and do it. We did it. Of course, they are having the laugh on you. Bring your inner tubes. Skis. Snow boards. But also bring medication for frost bite, dehydration and a living relatives contact information.

Do not listen to the grey hairs on this Forum. They also are from northern climates from their home addresses... but are in Tucson and Orlando... laughing at you. That Snowbird that just took your trailer's parking spot... they could have encouraged you on this Forum to GO North Young Man TO International Falls, Minnesota. Lots of vacant trailer parks here. They live there... full time once the glaciers recede...

I wintered in the Canal Zone as a kid. Santa was smoked. It is hot, the grass is dead and your snow board is worthless down there. So... I said it. What have you to say... and if it is not from a dream... you are far too serious about sticking it out in Minot, North Dakota among the Rich and Frozen. Frost bite can do that to you.

[terryV]

Many of the things I did many years ago, I will never do again. Those wild and crazy times will not be revisited, mainly because I'm not that wild and crazy person that I once was.

It's not that those days were not lots of fun, because they were a blast. However, they took a toll that I have no desire to pay at this late stage in my life. I do have the memories, tho, and they are indeed, great memories.

If you have no such memories, then it sucks to be you.

[Ray Eklund]

The thought of Full Timing in areas that have three or four seasons has to be on the bottom of my list of things I want to do on my "bucket list".

Much like buying the new 500+ horsepower Corvette convertible to drive in Colorado to go shopping, hauling lumber, sheet rock, tow our trailer and driving up to the Ski Resorts in the mountains when the urge hits.

Right now in Colorado, you would be one unhappy "camper". On the Front Range it has been cold and wet for much of the Spring. The mountains, snow and cold and skiers at Arapahoe Basin until July. This is mid May. Wyoming... we are not going there until mid July to August. Our list of places to boondocks are in the Southwest.

This February we camped at Tucson and Quartzite, AZ for the Rock Shows. Then spent several weeks at Lake Meade RV Park in southern Nevada to wait for a window of dry weather to get to Albuquerque, NM and then the home stretch to Castle Rock, CO. Nothing like waiting for in between Winter Storms to get home. Actually spent a week outside of Truth or Consequences, NM to catch Raton Pass, NM to be... dry.

I am amazed at the number of individuals who think their Airstream is an All Weather Home on Wheels. An Airstream in Minnesota's Winter is like me wearing shorts and a tee shirt, without a hat in Minnesota during a blizzard. Either way, you will freeze some parts of your outer extremities.

Since it is now raining, again here, my yard work has come to another abrupt end. It is bad enough being an outdoor person at HOME, than be a captive in a trailer wearing four layers of clothes to keep warm.

When they say "Frost on the Pumpkin"... make it not your Pumpkin. Even a pumpkin makes a lot of sense preparing for the Winter. People... need to watch the pumpkin.

[Ray Eklund]

We wintered in Boulder City, Nevada this... guess... WINTER. Since March is the snowiest month for Colorado, we wanted to be back in Castle Rock to enjoy a couple feet of the heavy Spring Snow. So far, very disappointed, although it is only mid March and the last recorded snow was in June in Denver... so hope remains.

Somehow when someone pays $15,000 to $100,000 for a trailer... is must be an all season domicile.

Well, maybe for a couple days before things begin to freeze up and shut down. Winters are for those living on a permanent foundation, no tires and plenty of BTU's. Not a RV, trailer or an Airstream.

Less than two hours north of Las Vegas, Nevada the elevation goes from 2,300 feet to over 5,800 feet in the flat country. Winter here has snow, cold and wind. We just get the wind, or what is left over from Pioche or Reno. Forgot what miserable camping is... only two hours north of Las Vegas to remember every detail.

No matter how often these thoughts are expressed on the Forum... Wintering in Michigan comes up again and again. Maybe Minot, North Dakota. Glacier Park, Montana may as well be another Winter destination.

Although I have been to Glacier Park in the Summer and shoveled snow into our ice chest for no cost.

For those willing to Winter "inland" from the coasts... Latitude, Elevation, Attitude and Longitude are very important. Latitude, Longitude and Elevation will take care of your Attitude after a couple evenings.

-Elevation. Above 6,000 feet any time of the year can be a Winter experience.
-Longitude. Above 6,000 feet any time of the year can be a Winter experience.
-Latitude. Above 800 feet any time of the year can be a Winter experience.
-Attitude. Go for it. Then review the Elevation, Longitude and Latitude comments. Post your comments on this Thread. Use my name if necessary.

Summering... in southern Nevada below 2,000 feet has its own Hell to deal with. Been there, done that. Once in a trailer. This time in a home intended to keep the residents, comfortable. No comparison.

Wintering and Summering are well understood by birds. Even though they have small brains compared to a human being... they get a few things right. They move with the seasons. I have heard some humans beings referred to as having "bird brains". At times, we wish that were true in some cases... especially for those who Winter in Breckenridge, Colorado at the ski lodge parking lot.

Google temperature ranges before sunrise and at 3PM where you want to spend 12 months a year. Use your bird brain and then have your wife tell you what she thinks, if you have the time. This is where "attitude" becomes important.

This is just some entertainment for myself. I have spent the last week installing pavers from our driveway to front entrance to our home on a foundation. Removed a bad thermal window that discolored from... thermal heat. Gathered scrub oak leaves, assembled a chair that I am currently using to do all of this serious thinking and repaired a gate that the deer this winter decided to bust through rather than jump over... like how they get into our yard in the first place.

Right now... May is coming and we will be packing the Airstream and off to a Greenhorn Boondocking Adventure. And if you made it to the end of this... I can tell you are also ready to hook that aluminum beast and get as far away from where you have been cooped up all Winter... I feel your pain... in my hands, my back, my arms, my feet... there are better places than "home sweet home".