Is it winter yet?

We started our cross country RV journey with winter weather, and it looks like as our X-Mas break is approaching, we are closing 201o with record breaking low temperatures.

I think we turned on our furnace for the first time after this summer, about a month ago in the Coyote Buttes wilderness area. Then, I think the temperature was dropping into the 30's F early in the morning.

But as soon as we crossed into Colorado, we got our first snow and brutal dips into the 10's F
A couple of weeks ago, while camping in Raton Colorado, about 2 AM our furnace stopped heating.
I woke up because I could hear a clicking sound coming from the area where the furnace is, and the vents were blowing cold air.

I feared the worst, a busted furnace. I checked the stove for flame to make sure we had propane. The flame at the stove was very weak....I went out (14F) to check the propane tank levels: Both empty!



I have been checking the tank levels every two weeks. Last winter (cold spring) each tank was lasting 2 weeks.

The owner at our KOA campground heroically got up at 2AM an helped us by filling up one tank to heat us for the rest of the night.
Next morning we filled up both tanks, and checked for leaks. When the local RV repair place heard that we filled the tanks 2 weeks ago...their diagnostic was a busy furnace! Apparently in this part of the country, you can expect to use 1 gal of LP per day when the temperatures drop this low.

The night when we ran out of LP, I tried to use the roof Heat Pump, but it was too cold for the unit to heat the 14F cold air, and the panel was automatically reverting to the furnace. This event prompted us to buy a heater that we have seen in the rigs of some experienced RVers that we have meet in the road.


We have been using this electric ceramic heater and it is great. It is very compact, heats great, rotates, and has a thermostat so it auto shuts off when it reached the desired temperature.


Here is Vicky with our friends Helen and Curt in Albuquerque New Mexico. The temperature up there in the Sandia Mountains was 14F, but the wind chill was brutal, we took this shot and went back into the car.

Now we are faced with the dilemma of keep exploring some beautiful areas when are practically deserted because the low temperatures...or run south to warmer temperatures, where surely we will be more crowded.