Winterizing After Being Full Time

A post from Keith!

Something we never gave much thought to was winterizing our rig. We thought we’d be full timing and we hoped we’d be able to follow the weather or we’d at least be using the RV. We never considered we’d have to pack it for a season. That made today’s work more of a realization.

I broke out the user’s manual for the RV and it pointed me to the manual for the generator. I scoped out irv2.com to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Sure enough the article there reminded me to check the washer as well and linked to instructions on how to do that. After reading and making a short list of things needed, I packed the pup and went to Camping World. As always they were friendly -if not the most efficient- and I found almost everything I needed (with the exception of carb spray for the generator) and got on the road again.

I picked up lunch on the way figuring I could eat at the RV. The first thing I did when I arrived was add STA-BIL to the gas and get the motor and generator running. Having lunch in the RV was reminiscent of being on the road since that’s the only time we ate with the slides in and the generator running. After I was done eating, I started with the task at hand. The next step was to drain the fresh tank and I wandered the basements for a few minutes trying to remember where the drain valve was for the tank. We never drained it as we normally kept 20 – 30 gallons in it for washing and flushing on the road and I’d totally forgotten where it was. The manual wasn’t much help, showing a line drawing that didn’t seem very specific. I searched irv2 and couldn’t find the answer there either. I decided to move to the dump station (our storage has one) and start dumping. Moving presented an old problem. While the shop had been able to fix a hydraulic leak, the jack system was again complaining that the jacks were down. I filled the reservoir for hopefully the last time before I swung over to the dump station. While I was waiting for the tanks to empty, I found the potable water drain and emptied that as well. No surprise the line drawing makes perfect sense now that I know where it is! While I was waiting I also drained all the faucets.

Since I was pushing the end of daylight and working alone I wanted to move the RV back before it got dark. I did that and by the time I was ready to start adding antifreeze to the water tank it was already dark. I had bought a funnel of sorts at my stop earlier and trying it out it was less than helpful. The potable water filling caps on RV’s is really a challenging target. I managed to rummage up an empty water bottle and cutting the bottom off that made a more serviceable funnel but I still had to pour slowly and managed to spill a little more. Running the antifreeze through the faucets only took a few minutes. Cleaning up the RV took a few more minutes and I was on my way.

Walking across the storage lot at one point I was walking the same way as some geese who were passing overhead. I’d heard them a few times while I was working but now I had some time to take in their flight and what they were trying to tell me. It’s time to be on my way, time to ramble on and instead I’m packing in my home for a cold winter’s stay on an asphalt lot. I’m going back to an apartment and a full time job. While none of these are at all bad, it’s not where I would prefer to be. I’ve always been one to fight mother earth and stay places I shouldn’t be. I want to live closer to the earth and I want to follow the geese; it’s the right way to be and it calls to me.