Looking for an inexpensive place/way to spend the winter in my Winny

[moonlitcoyote]

I know its early as we just got out of winter but I like to plan ahead. Hubby and I are building a house here in Northern Maine and we have decided to take the winny somewhere warm next winter while its too cold and snowy to build. I am hoping someone may know of an inexpensive way to spend the winter down south somewhere... Any suggestions GREATLY appreciated.

[LJ-TJ]

There ya go Mark. Spin your Magic 

[Oz]

As you may know, Florida is THE place for "snowbirds" (northerners and Canadians) to migrate for winter.  What you may not know is that many come down in their RVs (or bring them here and leave them here) as there are many RV parks which cater to the Snowbirds.  The St Petersburg are is one of the best places because it has the mildest weather.... you can go to the beach just about every day in the winter and the nights, well, we only ran our furnace to take the chill off a total of 6 days from December through March.  Most days were in the 70s - low 80's with temps in the upper 50s - mid 60s at night.

The more in-land you go from the gulf coast, the cooler it gets, the more bugs you have and the more rain you get.

As for "Cheap", you get what you pay for, remember that.  Of course, the further away you get from the more populated areas, generally the less expensive things are.  You can find a lot of basic, "mom and pop" parks which have less than 20 spaces and only the basic amenities.  Some people greatly prefer that.  It's quiet and more removed from larger populations.  And, it really doesn't take long to drive to places nearby which have everything you need.  If that's more for you, I'd Google the parks up the western coast from about Dunedin through Tarpon Springs, up to about Crystal River (you can swim with manatees there, if that's your fancy).  Temps up that way are a just a little cooler than here in the St. Pete area but... you don't have the traffic either!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Another very affordable alternative are State Parks in Florida, if you don't mind shuffling off the another State Park every 2 weeks.  Not a lot of free camping down in Florida.

Out west (Arizona, New Mexico, etc.) there are a LOT of BLM lands to boondock camp at, and national forests to camp at for super cheap or free, but that is a LONG drive from Maine!  Florida is a LOT closer.

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

I was actually thinking about the Carolinas or Georgia. Florida really isnt my cup of tea

[ClydesdaleKevin]

While you can find some affordable camping in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and north Florida in the winter, just because its the south, remember it DOES get pretty cold in the winter, snow and all!

We used to winter in Alachua, Florida, which is about 50 miles south of the Georgia border...and many days it would only reach around 45-50 degrees during the day, and nights would consistently drop down into the teens.  I know that is way warmer than Maine in the winter, but you still have to worry about hoses, tanks, and plumbing freezing in the winter, and you'll definitely be running your furnace and heaters a LOT.

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

While you can find some affordable camping in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and north Florida in the winter, just because its the south, remember it DOES get pretty cold in the winter, snow and all!

Kev

Thats strange when I look at the weather for Hazlehurst Georgia, where my husband has family. I find the average low for the winter months is 40F. Or maybe I am looking at it wrong.? I found it here.. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KAMG/2012/12/22/MonthlyHistory.html

[TommyM]

The key word is "average."  The average HIGH for Durango in January is 35.  There are plenty of days in January when it doesn't get over 20!  But there are also enough days around 40 to keep the average at 35.

Tommy

[moonlitcoyote]

The site I checked must not be very reliable then. I checked Durango for January of 2012 and the average temp each day was within 4 degrees of the actual temp for that day. And it didnt list any days that were colder than 32F. Unless your not speaking of Durango CO.

I will have to have Hubby call his family in Georgia and see how cold it normally gets at night. I can deal with 40's at night but dont want colder than that. And if we have to we may head twards Louisianna

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Look at this site: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/31539

Now select record high and low readings.

This will most likely be a hot summer so temps will most likely be above the normal high temp.

Here in VA we had a abnormally warm winter so the average high was several degrees higher than normal.  Ever year is different.  Thats why they call it an average rather than an absolute.

You can have 3 days of 30 degrees and 3 days of 50 degrees in a row however the average is 40 degrees.

Dave

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Weather reporters are primarily idiots that were even too stupid to become politicians.   

From my personal experience, when we wintered in north Florida for many years, it could and did get down into the teens at night...and quite often!  I remember hoses freezing, the ceramic heaters running constantly, and even light snow a few times.

Granted, there were mild nights too, but it was freezing temps at night as often as it was in the higher 30s and 40s.

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

Where do you spend the winters now Kev? Anyplace that it's not freezing? We will be heading out probably mid October. I cant wait until I have a home to live in.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I replied to your PM, but as far as where we spend the winter now, its primarily Arizona, although we take our time getting there.  We leave our last show of the season in Charlotte, NC right after Thanksgiving (and by the way, while this last year was very mild, in previous years by the time we left NC we had freezing hoses, frost on the windshield, etc), then we head down to Saint Marys, GA for a few days to spend an early Christmas visit with my sister and mother.  After that we usually head west, and will probably do the same this year (although we might take a liason south first into Florida to the Saint Pete's area for a few days, maybe Disney World and Universal Studios, but we'll see how our shows go).

Our first stop heading west is Hammond, LA, where we hang out for the last 2 weeks of that Renfaire, visiting friends and teaching my friends that franchised from us new designs that I came up with that year.  This usually involves at least a couple of trips into New Orleans.

That brings us to mid December, and now it starts to get cold in Louisiana, but it wasn't freezing temps very often before we left.

Then we meander through Texas, and last year we stopped in San Antonio to see the Alamo and whatnot.  We are going there again this year since we didn't stay long enough to see even a fraction of the neat attractions in that area.

Eventually we end up in New Mexico, and this past winter it was COLD!  We just missed parts of I-10 being closed down for snow and ice!  We were going to take a side trip to Carlsbad Caverns but the roads leading to them were impassible and icebound.

By New Years we end up in Tombstone, AZ, which we are going to make a tradition of...nothing neater than spending New Years in Tombstone at the same saloon Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp drank and gambled and stayed at!

We usually spend at least a week in Tombstone at an RV park.

Then is boondocking time...Hot Wells Dunes in Safford, AZ with natural hot springs, and of course Tonto National Forest.

These places don't get all that cold at night.  Low 40s at night, 60s-70s during the day with no humidity whatsoever.

This time of year, even the south rim of the Grand Canyon is COLD!  So we always plan to go after our first show of the season in Apache Junction, AZ, but so far haven't made it yet.  That show runs through February and March.  This year we'll definitely make the trip to the Grand Canyon, although we'll probably just make it a few day trip and stay in a dog-friendly hotel, making the drive in the Jeep...the elevation gain to get to the Grand Canyon isn't something I want to put my poor RV through!  The primary reason we haven't gone yet is that our window of opportunity to get there falls right on spring break, and all the hotels and even campground are full!  We plan on making reservations for it several months in advance this year. 

But even in March in Arizona, the north rim of the canyon is still closed and snowed in!

That pretty much concludes where we stay in the winter...then its out to Oklahoma where it gets TOO hot with all the scarey tornadoes...but its a good money show for us, so we just keep our weather radio turned on and hope and pray...lol!

I would highly recommend, if the winter isn't mild this year, heading down to St. Pete's or that area of Florida for the winter.  Not much farther than Georgia, all flat rolling highways, and plenty of inexpensive parks, including state parks, to stay in.

Kev