Oct 20, 2020
Getting ready for winter
Last Thursday we brought the RV home from Enterprise RV. In a short two week period they solved our hydraulic problem. The motor for the hydraulic needed to be rebuilt. Amazingly they diagnosed the problem, found a shop to rebuild the motor and it only cost us $900.00. We are very happy with their work and communication and they will now be our go to for RV issues – should we have any more 🙄
It actually was ready Friday the 9th ( we only brought it in on October 1 st ). But we could not get there sooner.
We put it here for a few days in order to charge the batteries before putting the RV into storage. I spent several hours including asking on RV.net about batteries and freezing. I even called the manufacturer of our batteries and got a very different answer than Colin had when he called. That person said to just pull them out for the winter, just in case 😯 Long story short, if your batteries are fully charged and you disconnect the negative on each battery then you are able to store them for the winter within the coach and do nothing more. Our AGM batteries are good to -60C/-76F before they will freeze. This was confirmed to me by several people on RV.net. If it gets that cold here in the winter, I won’t even care that we have an RV 🙁
We were surprised by those asking us if we were packing up to head to Mexico! Umm we can’t cross the border folks. Oh yes, we also got an invoice from the mobile RV tech for the work he did trying to solve our hydraulic problem. It was much cheaper getting a $30.00 driving permit to take the RV in and another to bring it home. The mobile dude charged us $473.00 before tax 😥 $164.00 for a new solenoid that did not need to be replaced as well as $150.00 for labour and a $50.00 service call! He is in this park almost everyday!! No I am not going to say another word but I bet you know what I am thinking.
Colin cleaned the batteries and then disconnected the negative posts. On Saturday, the 17th we put it to bed for the winter. Sniff!
How many heaters can you count? One electric and three oil burners. I will admit to having three oil burners on as well as the fireplace. Not sure how I am going to survive. My happy place is between 80 – 84 F.
Actually Colin is not sure how he is going to survive. He prefers it on the cooler side then I do. So how do you couples out there manage to deal with heat/cold issues in the house?
Colin brought in a mat from the RV and we put that outside the door. The darker charcoal mat inside the door is new from Home Depot for $25.00 to stand on to take boots off, etc, it has raised knobs so the moisture ( snow ) goes between them. You can barely see our boot tray under the entrance table.
Thank goodness for Canadian Tire, we got this tray for about $12.00. Perfect area to place wet shoes and boots. I really like how the table fits on the tray. That way we can leave the table in place for the winter. I so love doing research and finding deals on stuff like this.
That night as a treat I made us a zucchini, spinach lasagna. New recipe that I found that incorporated our garden veggies. I used Swiss chard instead of spinach. It was beyond yummy, definitely we will make it again.
Of course we added tomatoes, cukes and carrots from our garden. I can hardly wait to make it again. I has three bites of leftovers for lunch today:)
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Winterizing a camper one year made me cry. I hope you are coping better than I did.
I try not to think about it. Actually I have to live in the moment and not too far ahead or I will stress. That seems to have helped get thought the first few months of Covid once we got home. This winter is going to be quite the test for both of us.
I am so grateful that we can be here in AZ for the winter. Billings MT has had 16 inches of snow already. I run the fireplace and the heat when it drops below 65. I wear sweats and sweaters and sit under a blanket. Jim wears shorts and a short sleeved shirt. It’s so wonderful when you find a place that does such great work. Hopefully this winter just flies by and the US can get this virus under control.
16 inches!!! OMG. Sounds like you and I are kindred spirits as is Jim with Colin. If things clear by April, we likely will head down to Mexico. We want to get out generator back.
apparently there is a work around to being in the US for the winter. Although you can’t drive across the border, you can book a flight to the US. Then you would pay to have your RV transported by a professional moving/transport company to the same city. Not sure why anyone would risk coming to the US with all the cases of Covid, but it’s being done.
Yes I have heard that about folks having their vehicle shipped to the US and then flying to that city and carrying on to somewhere in the US or Canada. I have not heard of anyone with an RV doing so. I can’t imagine the cost although I would be interested in knowing the price. What if they turned your RV back at the border and you were already in Seattle. Too many things could go wrong, even having your vehicle impounded.
We don’t have a furnace just a wood stove which we only use when it gets well below freezing. Two oil heaters keep our 1000 square ft house at about 74F. I’d suggest you might want an electric blanket for sitting around. I’m warm enough if I’m buzzing around but not sitting still for a long time. By the way Westjet cancelled our direct flights out of Vancouver and our friends out of Calgary. Now we’ve booked Swoop direct out of Edmonton. Pretty stressful. I’d guess westjet never had any intention if flying direct but now they have our money.
Oh Kathy, I had so hoped that your flight was not affected. How the heck are you going to get to Edmonton, I guess fly out of Vancouver, you certainly don’t want to drive there. Fingers crossed for Swoop, what date? I believe that Westjet had plans to fly but because of the low numbers of travellers they had to cancel. They just can’t afford to come back empty. If there were folks traveling to Mazatlan for 2 or 3 weeks for vacation and then coming back the flights would pay for themselves. Hopefully you will be covered to get a refund with the new policy that just came out.
Using Westjet credit from Terrace to Vancouver to Edmonton, overnight in Edmonton on Nov 6th and out on Swoop on the 7th direct. I have looked at plan C if this one falls through. I see the flight we had cancelled is now being offered on Dec 11th…I’ll bet it gets cancelled too.
OMG, such a run around. Overnighting in Edmonton is not fun. Hope it all goes well. I think the first Swoop flight in on October 31st. If that goes you should be good to go.
Do you make your lasagna with uncooked noodles?
This particular recipe asked for uncooked. I will try and find a link to the recipe to share with you all.
I’ve seen a few BC rigs all ready to hit the border, I thought it was shut too (but maybe only firmly to Americans). I do know friends who have a boat that they kept in Florida who had no choice except to fly in and pick it up to ride out hurricane season outside the storm areas, but they are pretty safe onboard and avoiding crowds for the winter living on board. I just got cancellation on our November flights to Mexico (I had forgotten about them) so who knows if westjet will refund anything or RBC points or money but at this point I don’t care. The hotel offered to refund our deposit but I asked them to keep it, want them to stay in business. We survive with a king size electric blanket with dual control lol (me on 20, he on 1). Buddy just rolls around to which side is to his temperature liking. We also wear alot of sweaters. Your lasagna looks amazing.
Yes the border into the US from Canada is definitely closed. I think some people think that the rule does not apply to them. Based on what I read yesterday it looks like you will be able to get that refund on your flights. I love how dogs just figure out what they need temperature wise and then keep changing every so often. We have a down duvet on the bed which we use year round, somehow it is allays right for both of us.
When we lived in Alberta, I wore leggings under my jeans/pants all winter, and a tank top, from October to April. And warm socks.
Still do occasionally here in Tsawwassen if I’m going out, not at home.
I just heard about leggings that are lined with fleece. I don’t want to go into the mall but I will to check these out. I found some Edmonton type heavy fleece tops in the bins under the house so I am good with that – well so far. I do remember going out one might in Vancouver and when we came home to Tsawwassen our car could not make the small hill up to our home. So much snow had fallen. I had to with Colin’s help walk up in high heels. It was cold and wet and that snow lasted for days. So many cars had been abandoned here and there. Must have been back in 1990 give or take a year.
Fleece lined leggings are wonderful!
I will let you know once I get some:)
I’m sure we will hear our RVs shivering in the winter and pleading with us to go south 🙁
When we are outside we like it warm, high 30C/low 40C are good for me! But inside we prefer it on the cooler side because we love to snuggle under a blanket while watching TV or reading a book. Fortunately we are both on the same page temperature wise …. except at night, I like it COLD hubby likes it cool but we manage to compromise. We had a few sleepless nights in the condo because it is warm in here, even with the heat off. We finally got a good nights sleep last night with the window open and the fan above our bed going.
I love your “moment of silence” picture 🙂
I am always snuggling under a blanket to read a book or watch TV even in Mexico:) Colin is fine and never uses a blanket. It will be interesting to see what he will do this winter. However at night we do sleep with it cool too cold and always have a window open, even if only a smidge. I thought today that we just might close off the bedroom to keep it cool and not have to heat that area. I can’t sleep when it is too warm. Glad you figured it out. We always made a point to making sure the bedroom in our Airbnbs in Europe abbe both a window to open as well as A/C/\.
Contessa, did you ever find some “booties” for cold weather. That’s what we call cold weather leather ankle boots down here. I know you don’t like shopping for closed-toed shoes. But the ankle booties look more “petite” than a full boot. With a few pair of soft wool socks, the booties will look great.
What is this!! Just read about three people from Quebec crashing through the border into a Vermont backyard with a mini-van and caught on camera by the homeowner. They made it to the highway, ditched the van at Wal-mart, and the RCMP and local police are trying to find them. I’ll bet that happens a lot lately both ways. I wonder if I can do that in order to get away from this Covid. Would you and Colin be waiting for us just on the other side of the border as a getaway car?!
Yes I did find a slip in boot/shoe by Merrell. I will have to post a photo soon. I do have a par of taller boots that drive me crazy to wear but I figure that it will so cold out that I won’t notice my toes being crunched. I never read about that incident in Vermont. I guess people just need to get away. Iu am not even going to answer your question cuz I know that you would not come this far north at this time of year.
That’s looks so yummy. Ohhh I love the heat this is us thermostat is 70 for me and I’ll wear long shirt and socks have to have socks if my feet are cold that’s the end of me and my raynauds will act up also a little electric throw for tv time. David lives in shorts unless we go out.
Colin also wears shorts, usually year round. Not sure what he is going to do now he will be for the winter. I think he only has two pairs of pants. Colin sets our furnace at 70F and I try to sneak it up to 72F. Usually we settle at 71F.
We live in Central Texas with a pretty warm, often tripple digit, climate and let’s just say that The Wife’s personal thermostat is calibrated differently than mine, so I spend as much time as posible outside, and when I do come inside, you know, for those impotant things like eating and sleeping, I’m either wearing a jacket (yep, jacket during a Texas summer!) or buried under an extra blanket.
Fortunately cooler weather suits The Wife so we rarely run the heat during the winter which is fine by me since I prefer to acclimate with the seasons.
Wow, that is quite a difference in temperature preferences between you. But I have to say that I am most impressed as to how you both have worked it out between you. Kudos to you,