When we last left you, we had just purchased our new travel trailer and set it up in the KOA campground next door to the RV dealership in Sanger, Texas. The next few days were spent practicing backing up, getting a few minor issues fixed and scouring the stores for the right size storage bins for all the cabinets.
But eventually it was time to bid farewell to our first campground and bring the trailer home. We were also saying goodbye to the summer-like temperatures in Texas and that meant we needed to winterize the trailer. I had watched a number of YouTube videos, including one on how to winterize our particular model.
In general, the process involves dumping all the water you might have in the system, and then replacing it with RV antifreeze. The trickiest part was accessing the bypass valves that keep the antifreeze from entering the hot water heater. Ours was located behind a panel underneath the sink. It was one of the few times in my life, I was thankful for my very skinny arms.
Our trailer also had a bypass valve near the water pump, along with a dedicated tube for pumping in the rv antifreeze. All I had to do was stick the tube in the gallon jug of antifreeze and the water pump drew it into the system. Then I opened up the faucets until the water turned antifreeze pink, and the inside was done.
Since we had a spray port, I went outside to plug into the spray hose to winterize that system as well. I managed to spray antifreeze all over my good fleece. Just another reminder to wear clothes you’re not too attached to when doing any sort of maintenance work around the trailer.
By 10 am, we were packed up and started to disconnect our water, electric and sewer. But when we tried to lock the storage compartment, we found the lock didn’t hold on one side of the trailer, and the key wouldn’t even enter the lock on the other side.
Luckily, we were right next door to the dealership and we popped by on our way out to get the locks fixed. A little WD-40 and some adjustment to the lock fixed the problem and we were on our way by 11.
The goal that day was to drive to Amarillo and overnight at the Travel Information Center. They have a parking lot for overnight RV parking and bathrooms that are open through the night.
Towing the trailer was a breeze, although keeping our speed to 60 mph was a challenge. It just seemed like we were going so slow. We had to stop twice to fill up on gas, although the truck’s display screen suggested we were getting a respectable 11 miles to the gallon.
We arrived in Amarillo, just before dusk. There was a motorhome already there, and another trailer joined us later that night.
Temps had already dropped below freezing by the time we got there, and the trailer was freezing cold. We cranked up the propane heater to warm us up, connected the trailer to the generator in our truck to microwave dinner, and then settled in for a cozy night.
I woke up around 2 am and while it was warm under the covers, the air seemed fairly cold. I checked the thermostat which was blinking “LO.”
I figured we must have emptied the first propane tank, and all I needed to do was to switch over to the second tank. I bundled up and went outside to the tanks to flip the switch. That, unfortunately, did nothing.
I had assumed that both tanks were full when we left the dealership four days earlier. We hadn’t turned on the heat at all at the campground, and only used the on-demand water heater for a couple of minutes to test out the shower.
I can’t imagine that we would have blown through two full tanks of propane in that short amount of time. I woke up Mrs. 123 and conferred with her. We figured there was not much we could do, other than get in the truck and start driving.
We had about seven hours of driving back to Denver and had planned on breaking that up into two days. We decided we would drive as long as we felt up to it, and could find a place to camp out along the way if we needed to.
At 5:30 we stopped at a Denny’s to have breakfast and use their free internet to try to book a campsite in the Florida Keys for next January. Those sites get released 11 months in advance, at 8 am Eastern Time, and they’re usually gone within seconds. We didn’t have any luck that day, but the bacon and eggs were good, and Mrs. 123 is always happy when she gets chocolate chip pancakes.
We emerged from the restaurant to find daylight and listened to a few RV podcasts to get us through the rest of the trip. For now, the trailer is parked outside our apartment complex. We gave it a thorough clean before locking it up for the rest of the winter. We’ve got another two months before we can de-winterize it–just enough time to plan our next few trips.
