This winter has certainly been a test of how well Greg and I get along. It’s been unusually cold and since we no longer have horses our weekends aren’t spent at the barn. We’ve been forced to spend more time inside than we like. Our Beagle pup Daisy is tired of being in and she’s taken up a new pastime of trying to play with the cats. The 3 cats aren’t amused and decided to retaliate by going after her if she gets close to them.
After an unwanted foot of snow in late March, it looks like spring is finally making an appearance. Temperatures are starting to be where they should instead of the usual 10 degrees below. Spring peepers are out, a pair of bluebirds arrived yesterday and bunnies today. We made it through our first winter in the 5th wheel (with no major problems)! Or so I thought. A few more snow storms, more cold and more wind. Winter just doesn’t want to let go.
We’ve learned quite a bit over the first winter. The industrial Velcro didn’t hold all of the skirting all winter. We ended up buying snaps and Greg did repairs “as needed”. We’ll replace all of the Velcro when the weather decides to stay warm. The marine vinyl is holding up very well and it wasn’t expensive. The 100 gal propane tank was a life saver. The heated hose worked well except when the temps went down to single digits at night. Dripping the faucets was enough to keep Greg from having to use the heat gun to thaw either hose connection. The repair man that came to fix the oven told us that supplemental heat was fine as long as it was above freezing. Keeping the heater from kicking on also prevented heat in the underbelly. We’re pleased with our choices of marine vinyl skirting with blue foam board behind it, thermal curtains, a heated hose and vent stuffers for wintering in the RV. We were warmer and more comfortable than we’ve every been in any house.