Heading South during Winter Month

[fayliss]

I live in Rochester, NY very near Lake Ontario where it is very cold in February and March. My Rockwood 5th wheel is winterized and stored where I can get to it easily. I plan on meeting my son in Florida in March which will be the first time I've ever travel in the winter months. My first question is how much snow is too much to travel in when I decide to head South? Secondly, where do I go to de-winterize the RV (flushing out lines and getting water heater ready to go?) I can only think that this will be done at the campground I stay in down South or on my way down. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Fayliss

[FrankG]

Leaving the end of January. Plan on de-winterizing at the first campsite south of the freeze zone.

Water in tank, flush all lines, insert plug in WH, turn bypass off and fill WH. We do not drink the water so we will not sanitize the system.

As far as weather I will check the forecast for the entire route and plan accordingly. Be sure to look at the wind speeds.

[yetavon]

Well as far as snow....If its laying on the road I would restrict my travels as much as possible...even with a 4X4. Wet and salted will get up under everything and future rust issues.
Winterizing....We camp during the winter here...well we call it winter..and after winterizing we bring jugs of water for cooking cleaning flushing, heat on the stove. Washbasin in the sink and waste poured into the black tank. outside of draining the black tank everything stays winterized.
once south you can dewinterize, use your jugs for drinking cooking water, and winterize again for the trip home.

[Still Kickin]

As your departure date nears, pick a two day window to "get otta Dodge". That is plenty of time to, as the one poster said, get below the freeze line. Dewinterizing is wherever you want to start the process. Sounds like you're headed to a specific point anyway, so do it there. Pack drinking water for coffee, etc.

[oldsmasma]

Travelling from Northern Ontario we watch for a 3 day window with no major storms on our route and away we go. We stay in hotels for 2 nights even with our large dog. It's easy to find pet friendly hotels/motels. We camp for the first night near Lakeland Florida and de-winterize at the campground and also grocery shop. After a night or two there it's off further south to the good weather. We tried cold weather camping once and determined it wasn't for us. It's pretty common to see folks carrying a small pressure washer to clean off all of the salt/brine that your rig will pick up. Have fun!

[Mark1]

Hey fayliss Were here in Spencerport, Have a class A We will try to leave shortly after Christmas, Need a decent day or two to get as far as Columbus Oh. I will Add water and de winterize a day or so before we leave and just keep the heat on. We use 90 to Ohio/then 71 or 75? toward Nashville,then 40 west to Az/Nevada Last year December was great didn't need to winterize at all. But this month has been a bruiser. Just winterized last week. Stay safe

[wjrdmr]

Found a useful free Android app called ' weather route' . Enter start and end points and app maps out at route and gives weather at several way points along the route. Route that is mapped is not RV specific, but is an easy way to get a quick read on the weather ahead. Not sure if app is available for iPhone.

[CaptnJohn]

I live on the SE coast of NC. We rarely get snow ~ maybe a dusting once every few years that does not stick on the roads. I drain the lines and open faucets. I'll watch for an extended freeze which rarely happens to winterize. Inland is totally different. At the NC/SC border you should be fine to dewinterize.
I've pulled from NE Ohio to MC in winter often. Rt 60 to I-79 to rt 19 in WV to I-77 to rt 52 in NC to 73/74 and the roads have always been great except rt 19 at times can be snow covered. As there are a couple good sized steep hills along the 70 miles of rt 19 I'll not travel it if snow covered or reports of ice. Caught once and spent a night -11.

[Mark1]

I'll look for the app.I do have a rv specific GPS.won't let me travel on roads that are below my height or weight restrictions.I'm 24000 lbs and 12'10" high

[Jim in Halifax]

We live in Nova Scotia Canada and need a 2 day window to get south of NY!!!!!!4th day we arrive in Fl and set up and de winterize!!!!!!!Stay in motels for three nights..Good rest/shower/ and b'fast in am

[fljl]

As I understand the posts, driving over salted highways is guaranteed. Do some go earlier to avoid that mess? Anyone go south down #83 to avoid the mountain snow/ice to get to Arizona? Google maps says 6 hours longer but I think it would be wort it.

[greymedic]

Probably the best route for you is I-81 to I-66 to US 17 to I-95. That way you avoid the Baltimore/Washington area and still get to the warmer side of the mountains ASAP. Once You get south of Fredericksburg, VA you can think about dewinterizing.

[Keystone]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

As your departure date nears, pick a two day window to "get otta Dodge". That is plenty of time to, as the one poster said, get below the freeze line. Dewinterizing is wherever you want to start the process. Sounds like you're headed to a specific point anyway, so do it there. Pack drinking water for coffee, etc.

I give myself 3 days for the departure/arrival/return dates. So far it's worked well for me. This year will be my 4th year of heading south. Since my wife is still 10 years from retirement I only do 3 weeks. Once she can retire I think we may do a month or two or three.....

[nikita]

We live in Grand Island, NY. We've been snowbirding for about 8 years. We started going down early January. Like everyone has said, you don't de-winterize until the first "warm" campground and we also brought an extra jug of water to use for drinking and toilet. We traveled one time in a blizzard, we drove slow, it was bumper to bumper and we lost 2 hours on our ETA in Wytheville, Virginia KOA (our first stop). Two years ago we bought a 40 ft. 5th Wheel, we made the decision to go the end of October - no winterizing the camper!! For the month of December, we drive home in the truck, leave the fiver behind in the campground, then drive back the end of December. EASY PEASY Much less stress and we also get a better site at the campground in South Florida!!

[Wilco]

I towed through snow twice. Now I have found an easier way. We go on a November camping trip to Myrtle Beach and leave the trailer in storage at the campground. (No winterizing.) We pick it up in late December on our way south. The storage fee is offset by my better gas mileage driving home and back down to Myrtle Beach.