theboondork's RV blog

I shoulda stayed in texas

5/18/2017

The view of the Arctic Fox this cold wet morning in Denver Colorado

I woke up this morning to find 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground, and this was only surprising because today was supposed to be rainy and tomorrow it was supposed to snow. not a weather forecast I like to hear but it is what it is.

This is the second time that I've had to deal with snow in the last couple of months and that's a lot for someone like me that never wanted to see snow again. After taking a serious and in-depth look at the problem the only conclusion I've been able to come to is I left the warm southern areas to early.

Being here hasn't been a problem until now. Last week it was in the 70s and next week is supposed to be about the same. And after all I kept heading north because it was getting too hot in the South.

I realize that heading north to Colorado also means I'm heading up in altitude which generally means the weather can change drastically in a very short period of time. So I guess everything is a trade-off and no matter what I do sometimes I'm going to have to deal with short periods of cold weather and short periods of hot weather and there's not a whole lot I can do about it.

But if I have to be somewhere that it's going to be too cold or too hot I'm glad I'm in the Arctic Fox. It's 1:30 in the afternoon as I'm writing this and its 35° outside. But inside the Arctic Fox it's 72° at the moment and my catalytic heater is only coming on every 15 or 20 minutes and only putting out heat for about five minutes before the thermostat shuts it off again. And since all that happens in complete silence I have to pay attention to know it's even coming on at all.

Another good thing about the Arctic Fox is how watertight it is. Yesterday it rained off and on all day sometimes really hard, and today I can see water leaking off the roof and the top of the slides from the snow melting and I have yet to find a single drop of water coming into the Arctic Fox from the door, the roof, the windows, or the slides. The Arctic Fox is about four years old now and has not been babied. Being a boondocker I've drug the trailer down some pretty rough roads which I'm sure tested the integrity of the frame and the body. and since my inherent laziness prevents me from being a stickler about maintenance it amazes me that everything is still sealed up tight.

Tomorrow will be another test of me and the Arctic Fox because it's supposed to continue to snow until about lunch time, which makes me glad I didn't give away ALL of my winter clothes when I went full-time.

theboondork

6 Comments

Barney Ward

5/18/2017 03:10:33 pm

It is plain old hot night and day here in Rockport. I am thinking that some moderate elevation in mid New Mexico could use some consideration. You know about a long days tow from where you are now.

theboondork

5/18/2017 03:52:04 pm

There's an old saying in Colorado that if you don't like the weather just wait a few hours. I've never been any place where that is more true than the mountains of Colorado.

But even though I'm actually in the foothills of Colorado the weather is still pretty erratic especially in the Spring. I think I could easily talk myself into going someplace warmer but by the time I got there the weather here in Denver would be great again.

At least you're plugged in and can run an air conditioner, and your trucks air conditioned, and the Whataburger is probably air-conditioned, but I'm not too sure about that. So you should be comfortable most of the time.

Tom... Trying to stay toooo warm.

darrell

5/18/2017 08:05:21 pm

Seasonal changes all in one week. That's a good thing, uh?

5/18/2017 08:47:52 pm

Well Darrell it's a little odd for Denver to have weather changes like that, and around here the weather guessers are calling it a freak spring storm as it is kind of late in the season.

But up in the mountains where I used to live sometimes in late May the winter would hang on and hang on with 40° highs until you thought it would never end, then one morning you wake up and it's 75° and Summer.

Of course that wasn't a good thing because it would usually melt the snow pack in the mountains to quickly and the rivers would flood.

But it looks like I'll have half a day of snow tomorrow and that should be the last of it until fall.... I hope.

Tom

Linda Sand

5/19/2017 03:13:29 pm

It amazed me when RVing how much difference a few things could make. A polar fleece jacket under a windbreaker. A knit hat and lined gloves. Wool socks inside my Crocs. None of those take up a lot of space but what a difference they made in my comfort.

5/22/2017 02:42:25 pm

You're right about that. I kept some of my winter clothes when I moved into the Arctic Fox and I use them on a pretty regular basis. Because even though I'm in the Southwest in the winter it's still winter and is sometimes chilly in the mornings and the evenings. And in the summer living in Colorado, because of the altitude, it too is often chilly in the mornings and the evenings.

I've also figured out, genius that I am, that wearing warm clothes in the trailer when it's cold outside is cheaper than turning up the heat. So I to have some wool socks, a polar fleece jacket and some thermal underwear.

Tom

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I shoulda stayed in texas

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