Tag: #Winterizing

Packing The Trailer the Lazy Way – What Things Should Live In The Trailer

This time of year is kind of the worst time of the year if you’re like me, a weekend trailer adventurer and you live somewhere where it gets cold in the winter.  You start thinking about winterizing.  You end up putting your trailer and your trips either on hiatus until spring or you’re limited to taking trips without snow and ice.  Either way, it’s a bummer.  This brings me to my blog topic for today … sort of in reverse.  Lazy packing.  If we have our rigs set up like second homes, getting away at any time of the year is easier.   When it comes to packing for a trip, I don’t like to have to pack anything more than clothes and food.  That’s part of the beauty of having a trailer!  Easy packing.  Here’s my list of what lives in the trailer and what I bring into my house as part of our winterizing chore.  Spoiler alert … I take out almost nothing!  

Kitchen:

My trailer kitchen is an edited version of my home kitchen when it comes to pots and pans, cutting boards, utensils, etc.  You can read more about my RV kitchen in my BLOG POST about it.  I leave everything in it year around.   I also leave a certain amount of pantry items.  For things like sugar, brown sugar, and flour, I use airtight containers and I have yet to have a problem with ants or rodents.  (knocking on wood right now!). Here’s what stays and what comes in.  Note:  While I’m bringing items in, I make a list of what I’ll need to replenish or pack when we’re going out again.

Stays

  • All pots, pans, dishes, kitchen utensils, dishtowels, etc.
  • All appliances
  • Dry pantry items such as flour, sugar, spices, pasta, etc.
  • Baking soda – leave it in the fridge
  • Oatmeal packets
  • Water (unless you’re concerned about the bottles freezing and cracking)
  • Kitchen cleaners and dish soap

Comes in

  • Oils (Olive Oil and Canola Oil.  I usually buy smaller bottles for the trailer so they don’t get that old oil funk)
  • Canned food.  (Funny story, I didn’t used to bring this in until I found some while moving out of one trailer and into another that had expired 4 years earlier.  Better to just bring it in and start over later!)
  • Anything perishable
  • Vitamins
  • Cereal
  • Chips
  • Anything with an expiration date of less than a year in the future
  • Anything with a smell that might smell worse when you come back to your trailer
  • Anything that attracts pests where you live
  • Anything in the fridge or freezer (except the baking soda and some re-freezable blue ice things)
  • Pet food
  • Wine – you’re going to need it over the winter!

Living area:

I leave this area pretty much totally alone.  For every trip, I put my throw pillows in my dishes cupboards so the dishes don’t slam up against the cupboard doors while we travel.   They stay there over the winter.

Stays

  • Throw blankets
  • Throw pillows
  • DVDs we have dedicated to our trailer trips (Office Space is one of our favorites)
  • Devotional books
  • TV Remotes
  • Games
  • Vacuum cleaner, Swiffer, broom, etc.
  • Rugs
  • Trashcan (make sure you empty it!)

Comes in

  • DVDs or games we think we’ll want to play at home.  Sometimes we don’t even bother!  This is how our trailer game and movie collection has grown over the years.

Bathroom

I have my bathroom set up so it’s ready to roll at any given time.  When we first started RVing, it was suggested to us that we stock our medicine cabinet with cold medicine and things we might need.  We found we ended up just tossing a lot of expired unused medicine.  Now, we buy small sizes of things like Tylenol and only buy other types of medicines when we need them.

Stays

  • Towels.  In fact, I have my towels not only stocked in my cupboards, but hanging on the towel bars ready for the next trip at any given time.
  • Cleaners, toilet chemicals, etc.
  • Hairdryer, hair tools, brush, comb, pony holders, etc.
  • Shower items such as shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, etc.
  • Basic toiletries – toothpaste, deodorant, shaving cream, floss, skincare products, toothbrushes, contact lens solution
  • Tylenol, Advil, Tylenol PM (as long as the expiration date is far enough out)
  • Waste basket (emptied)

Comes in

  • Any medicine item that has an expiration date of less than a year out.

Bedroom

I am super lazy when it comes to packing.  If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know this about me and that I also love my creature comforts.  When I close up the trailer, my bed is made and there are clean sheets ready to greet me when I take my next trip.  It’s like a hotel … only better because it has all of my creature comforts … and I had to do the work…  I have a few items that always live in my trailer so that I never have to remember to pack them.

Stays

  • All bedding – I have dedicated trailer sheets, pillows, quilt, blankets, etc.  I am way too lazy and into my creature comforts for things like sleeping bags or packing these things each time.  I also have 2 sets of sheets so that when I change them, I can immediately make the bed and I don’t have a bed making looming over my head.  Lazy and I hate having things hanging over my head.  
  • Coats – I have 3 in my trailer.  A heavy one, one for rain, and a fleece type jacket.  
  • Slippers
  • Hats, scarf, and gloves
  • Electronics chargers.  (We finally gave up and have an extra set of chargers for our trailer.  Life got so much easier when we did that!)

Comes in:

I only bring in what I packed for the last trip for clothes. Everything else stays.  I know people who have a full trailer wardrobe that they leave in their trailer.  I live in and travel around the Pacific Northwest.  I think our weather may be too bipolar for that.  Also, I’m kind of typical in my girly-ness and like to pack for each trip according to what we’re planning on doing.  It sometimes leads to packing more pairs of shoes than the number of days we’re camping!  

We are getting ready for what will probably be our last trip for a few months.  When we get back, we’ll do our winterizing chores.  My husband does all of the important stuff that keeps plumbing and hoses from freezing. We learned the hard way that blowing out the lines with an air compressor is a really good idea.  We walked into our first trailer after a few months of winter to find the kitchen faucet laying in the sink!  It actually made me do a little happy dance because I hated the faucet and it was beyond broken!  It could have been something worse!   We’ve learned to follow our trailer manufacturer’s directions about winterizing.  They just don’t have any instructions or suggestions for the inside of the trailer.  I am in charge of all of the inside stuff.  I set my trailer up as much as possible for the next trip (i.e. bed made, towels on towel bars, etc) so that when we go out and set up, my trailer practically says “Welcome back!” and we can start enjoying our next trip as soon as we arrive.

I always feel a little sad buttoning up the trailer for the winter.  This year, our RVing was a little strange due to the COVID Pandemic, but it was still really great.  We had a few trips cancelled due to temporary RV Park closures.   After RVing in Washington State for 15 years, we were inspired by our usual haunts being closed to start going places we’ve never been in Washington.  For instance, we’ve lived here almost 26 years and this is the first time we had never been to North Cascades National Park.  We’ve camped for about 14 years in Port Townsend and had no idea that there are some really cool trails at Fort Worden.  It’s high time we discovered these things that have been right under our noses all this time!

Over the winter, my plan is to scheme up new places to check out and explore that are nearby enough to visit on a weekend adventure.  I’ll also work on planning our big summer trip.  Usually, in about January, we have trailer withdrawals enough to un-winterize for a weekend and head out some place without snow or ice.  This past season has left me with a lot of fun memories to build my future trailer trip dreams on.  Hope you’ve had a great RV season and that maybe you even get to continue yours a little longer!

Next Trailer Girl Blog – Always Pack a Can of Soup … That One Time When We Didn’t…

Winter RV Blues – Tips and Tricks for Keeping Upbeat in the Winter

We live in the Pacific Northwest.  To be fair, this is the first season we’ve done the full-blown winterizing for our trailer.  In the past, my husband has just blown out the lines with an air compressor and left the faucets open.  We only had a problem once.  (I’ll tell you about that at the end.) It makes me sad to think that we can’t just take off whenever we want.  It’s going to take a little more doing to take a winter trip, and a little more re-doing. It might be hard to talk the guy who has to do all this extra work into taking off for a weekend.  You’re probably wondering how I’m even qualified to write this blog post.  Like I said, I live in the Pacific Northwest.  I moved here from Southern California 25 years ago.  It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s wet … YUCK!  Trying to keep in in good spirits in the winter has been a challenge since our first winter here.  Here are some things I do.  Surprise, surprise!  Many are travel related! 

  • Leave town! – I try to get out of the area in the winter for a while (sometimes I even bring the family!).  I usually use an airplane instead of a trailer in the winter.  I’ve been on several mission trips to Nicaragua, visited my brother and his family in Southern California, visited my husband on his business trips to Florida, and this year, we’re going to Hawaii.  Warm places and sunshine are good for the winter blahs.
  • Drink coffee – You wonder why Starbucks is such a big deal in Seattle?  Cheap anit-depressant in a cup.  There ya go!  It helps!  Coffee with friends is even better!
  • Plan our next trips – I usually have our summer trip planned and booked sometime in March or early April.  Having this to look forward to is a huge help.  I try to plan and book a trip for each month from March through October.  
  • Do fun winter things – A few years ago, we took up snowshoeing.  We live about 40 minutes from some great snowshoeing trails.  Going up to the mountains for a day of getting out in the snow is fun and makes us appreciate where we live a little more.
  • Have hibernation days – We sometimes have lazy days in the winter where we hang out at home, watch movies, wear sweats, and just don’t go anywhere.  We savor these days a bit because, in the PNW when it’s nice out, we feel guilty if we’re not outside working  in the yard, hiking, walking the dogs, or otherwise just getting out.
  • Catch up with friends – We have friends who we hardly see all summer because our schedules don’t line up.  They’re out of town or we’re out of town.  They have out of town guests or we have out of town guests.  Whatever!  Winter is a great time to call your friends and get together.   
  • Try new recipes and make notes about which ones will be good RV food – I love cooking.  There’s no better time than when it gets dark at around 5 p.m. to try new recipes.  It’s not like I can be outside working in the yard.  I might as well cook!  
  • Get outside daily – I have dogs.  They make me go outside.  If I don’t walk them every day, I pay for it.  So, every morning, I get up, look at the temperature outside and complain “It’s stupid cold!”, put on several layers, and take the dogs for a walk.  Once I’m out the door and a few blocks away, I appreciate being outside and getting some fresh air.   It also gives me time to think about where I might like to go in the summer….
  • Get enough exercise – There’s nothing worse than hanging out inside and feeling like a blob!  It adds to the blahs, messes up your sleep, and generally makes everything worse.  If you’re snow-bound, you can probably find an exercise video on YouTube that will help.  If you’re not, get out and walk or go to the gym.  You’ll feel better, I promise!
  • Go somewhere in the winter in your rig – If you can get out – go!  We have a favorite spot that’s easy to get to.  There are no snowy passes to go over or anything scary like that.  We’ll go there in the winter sometimes just to get away.  One time, we went and we didn’t follow the directions on the sign that said, “If it gets to freezing temperatures, city water will be cut off to the RV Park.  Make sure you have enough fresh water in your tank.”  That was a bummer … for me!  I didn’t get to use my own shower and had to use the RV Park shower that you put quarters in.  My son and husband found my getting flustered with the whole situation very entertaining.  Now I know better!  I’ll be asking about the fresh water tank!  This year, we went out in March after our Snow-mageddan to Mount St. Helens.  There was still snow in places.  It was cold and we ran out of propane and woke up freezing.  That wasn’t fun either.  Another thing I have to remember to ask about….  The moral of these little stories – make sure you’re prepared if you’re going out in the winter!
  • We’re considering snow-birding – When we retire, and if we’re still living in the PNW, we’ll probably be on the road most of the winter in warmer places.  If you have this ability, I would highly recommend it!  We had some neighbors when we first moved to the PNW that were snow-birds.  We always knew when they were back because their swan planter showed up in the yard.  They wintered in Florida and loved it.  I thought they were old and crazy at the time.  I now see the wisdom in their choice and plan to copy them in our own way!
  • Go to RV Shows – Are you thinking about a new rig?  Are you curious about some rigs you saw on some of your trips?  Go check them out an RV show.  We have gone to RV shows as total looky-loos.   We’ll go find the most expensive rig and see what kind of crazy things they put in it.  We’ll look at newer versions of our own rig.  Whatever, it’s always fun to look!  My husband was out of town for the Winter RV Show in Seattle.  When our trailer was in the shop for our Memorial Day Trip and our trip got cancelled, he decided he owed me an RV show.  There wasn’t one going on so, we decided to go look at Fifth-Wheels.  In order to make it a little less exhausting, we picked out about 6 different rigs on 3 lots that we wanted to look at.  That turned out to be a little dangerous.  We ended up buying our Fifth Wheel while our old rig was in the shop!   It was a little sooner than we had planned, but we are really happy with how everything worked out!
  • Get professional help – If your blues are hanging on, please get help.  Seasonal Affective Disorder is real.  There are lots of ways to treat it.  Hanging out and feeling sad all winter shouldn’t be an option.

So, you’re probably wondering about that time when we had the winterizing fail.   It was our first trailer and our first winter with it.  Sixteen years ago, RVs didn’t have as nice of sinks and faucets as they do now.  Most of the sinks were small and the faucets were some version of the cheapest kind you can find at Home Depot.  Our trailer was no exception to the crummy sink and faucet combo rule.  I really hated the faucet because you couldn’t fit a pan under it to wash it.  It was dumb!  It was probably set up by someone who ate microwave dinners all the time.   We forgot to leave the faucets open on the sink.  My husband went to go pick up the trailer and there was our faucet, broken off and laying in the sink.  YAY!  I got a new faucet that worked much better!  If you like your faucet, don’t forget to leave it open when you store your rig over the winter!

Hang in there!   There are more RV-able months than months where going out is just too cold or too difficult. Find some winter fun, plan your summer, and look forward to being re-united with your rig!

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