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My first travel trailer was 35 feet and worked out great I bought it when I was 19 and working at a nuclear power plant...Everyone was buying houses and paying out of this world leases. I finished the job owning a trailer and truck note free plus cash in the bank.
Check into SIP panels to winterize/seal the underside....Well worth it!
Here is my take on it and maybe you'll get a feel for why I am so adament about living in a nice camper.
I used to travel for the Government. 3 months here, 5 months there, 4 months over there and so on. The Gov furnished "Corporate housing". We could call ahead and say, "I want 2 bedrooms, a king and a queen, I want 4 nightstand, a dining room table for 4, a couch, 2 easy chairs, 6 dressers, etc... They would set up corporate housing to match exactly what we wanted. The problem was, you went out there with what you could put in the trunk of your car, or the cab of your pickup. You had a beautiful place to live, but you really didn't live. You existed, and then, just barely.
The US Gov paid approximately $1600 a month for these wonderful corporate places to exist.
I bought a 35ft bumper pull, used. Couch folded out into a bed, but in back it had 2 single beds. Perfect as my son (14 years old) was going to travel with me. I pulled it out to Portland Oregon on the first project. My son, my dog, my guns, my knives and all the rest of my hobbies were with me. Suddenly, I felt at home. I could sit of an evening and build a knife, or clean a gun, or reload some ammow. The cupboards were filled with the normal fair but 5 months from now, you reached to the exact same spot to get what you wanted. It wasn't a different cupboard, a different reach, a different bed, a different couch, a different easy chair, a different dresser, it was the same. I felt at home. After about 6 month, my daughter (15 years old) came to live with me. Nothing changed, she just slept on the fold out couch. Meals were the same, food in the cupboard was the same, nothing changed. The kids were in school and loved them. I felt at home.
After the first year, I bought a satelite dish and now when I moved, I even had the same channels to watch. There was a routine, a normalcy to it all. I went and bought 15, 1gal pots and planted tomatoes, jalapena's, radishes, cucumbers and I put the pots on my rear bumper and a rear step. I had a garden. Most folks don't grow a garden to support the family, they grow a few things in the garden to occasionally have a "special treat" during a meal. I had that.
Then, I found a deal on a nice 37 ft 5th wheel trailer. Had 2 slideouts, a super slideout that slid the dining room and couch out and then a slideout that slid the master queen bed out. All of a sudden I had a huge home. My dining room was not a booth, but instead an oak table with 4 chairs. Central air, central heat, and even central sterio system. The sterio had speakers in every room, several of them. I felt at home. Bathroom had a garden tub that was huge for a "camper trailer". I had a walk in closet that went the full width of the front of the 5th wheel. I had a basement. When you sent from the living room, up to steps to the bathroom, the bottom step lifted up and you could see into the basement. It was the laundry shoot. Dirty laundry, step out of the shower and lift up the step and drop it straight into the hamper.
I could move on a mometns notice. One time, I was in San Diego. The Gov called me up at 2pm on a Wednesday and said they needed me in Charleston South Carolina by Monday. I took about an hour to load up and slide in and off I went. I drove up to Pueblo Colorado and let the kids visit their mother for a day and we spent that night at an RV park. Took off from there and pulled into an RV park built by Loretta Lynne in Tennesee. Next night I was in the RV park in Charleston SC and was there early enough that we went out and grocery shopped and put some 1.5 inch rib-eye steaks on the Bar-b-q that night. We brought the bar-b-q grill with us. It was a propane grill that I took with me every where I went.
My whole point of this post is that I moved all over, I traveled 1500 - 2000 miles between each move, I did 38 of these moves in 10 years, and no matter where I went, I felt at home.
So your idea of buying a bigger rv is outstanding, but when you look them, don't worry so much about winter living as you do about finding something that will feel at home. Comfortable. Cupboards, stove, refer all need to feel right on where they are located, for ease of use. Once you find it, we can fix you up so that winters are not harsh, nor uncomfortable.
Somebody mentioned skirting, somebody else mentioned insulating. If you get one with a decent basement, those things are taken care of and you don't have to worry about them. Figure out what you want, post some pictures and I'll help you figure out what you need to do.
I'm not sure what you are looking for, but I purchased a used Teton to live in for 6 months while we build our house. We wintered in it here in Northern Colorado - it got down to about -10 and we were toasty warm no problems. I did a ton of research and from what I read Teton is the only brand that ever guaranteed not to freeze up if you keep the cabin a livable temperature. I did not skirt it, but I am sure that would cut down on propane cost.
It has an extra set of windows that you put up in the winter, the entire underbelly is sealed and the heating ducts run through it which keeps the water warm.
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Last edited by Count David; 05-04-2012 at 07:53 AM..
Reason: more appropriate in the classified ads forum
Elkhunter I am excited up getting a bigger camper I can't wait. Also I am excited about warmer weather because I am going to have my herb garden as I said in earlier post I love to cook food with fresh herbs. Also my husband is great on the grill. This weekend we are going to buy the anchers for the awning. I think that if I can create a nice space outside for us to relax in when we come home from work daily that we will feel like we have other options than laying on the bed watching tv. Really please don't take it as complaining about having no space because I feel blessed we have a beautiful little camper new and clean, dry and warm. I am going to take you up on your offer. When we are close to making a decision on buying I will probably send you a message for your opinion.
I can't say enough thank you's to my city-data North Dakota forum family.
I'm sure that most everyone who is looking for advice on wintering in an RV appreciates any and all information that may give them insight as to how one can make it through the winter months in an RV. I lived in a truck bed camper, 11.5', 85 Lance, last winter in Colorado. It was just a weekender so insulation and winter use was obviously not in the making of the camper but I found that with the light bubble wrap insulation in all of the windows, insulation board cut for the vent holes and having electricity to run a small space heater, I was able to stay nice and warm even when the temps dropped down to -16. The one thing I did find is that when things got down to around 0 my bathroom/shower would no longer work. I used the RV anti-freeze in the water so as not to have any problems with lines breaking due to expanding water. As long as I ran the space heater and left the cabinet doors open under the sink in the kitchen, I always had running water.
Obviously my camper was small compared to trailers and such but it got me through the winter. I now have a new Keystone Sprinter, 331RL, the under belly is enclosed, insulated and heated. I'm assuming there must be heating pads and heat tape built into these trailers but I'm unable to confirm. It will be interesting to see how this trailer does in the extreme cold of North Dakota. As of this posting a big artic cold front is dropping down into ND, temps will get into the -5 range. My trailer is not skirted, so it will be interesting to see how things pan out when temps are only going to be a high of 25.
Last edited by addicted2sw; 11-08-2014 at 05:18 PM..
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