by We left New Hampshire on January 3rd trying to beat the blizzard. We did not succeed. Holed up at a PA Welcome Center while the wind was blowing sideways and the temp went down to 1 degree.
We stayed with friends in Virginia where the temp fell to 2 below. Shiny was still winterized then.
We made it to a friends house in North Carolina and the temps climbed to the high 50’s so we dewinterized Shiny there. Since we left North Carolina it has been below freezing. This morning it was 0 degrees F.
We’ve had a couple of Shiny problems. One, according to the Tennessee Airstream dealer, was the fault of the New Hampshire Airstream dealer who winterized our 2017 27FB. Apparently they left a washer out that caused the water pump to suck air. We had to pay $70 but that problem is fixed now.
The other problem is an intermittently misbehaving temperature control. The furnace sometimes will not shut off because the thermostat controller’s inside temperature reads 32 F all the time. We’re not the first persons to have this pesky problem. Nobody has really figured it out as far I as I can tell. The consensus is that humidity is the culprit. This makes sense to me because we have been having what I would call major condensation issues.
We spent an afternoon seeking out a small dehumidifier call a Eva-Dry Petite. Finally finding one at an Ace Hardware store. It seems to be helping.
Many people in hot and humid climates have had this controller inside temperature reading 32F all the time problem. The air conditioning won’t work because, well the system thinks it’s already 32 degrees inside why do you want it any cooler! This would be a far more serious problem then us having to manually shut the heat off once in a while in my opinion.
I have read posts on Air Forums where, people far more knowledgeable about these things then me, swear the problem are these connectors in the fresh air vents getting wet. We dropped the vent covers and sure enough the connectors were sitting in condensation that had dripped from the aluminum hull above.
I’m not entirely sure this is the root of the problem but we did let them dangle there for a day using a hair dryer occasionally to help dry them out. The temp controller started working properly after a few hours and has been fine ever since.
One night I stupidly left the city water hooked up to Shiny. Not only was the water hose frozen solid but the park water spigot was frozen in the on position. Luckily, there was a shut off for that near by.
More seriously on the outside of Shiny, where the city water connects, was frozen solid. The hair dryer that I thought Sue was silly to bring came in handy again. We got lucky and didn’t break anything.
In Tennessee a 1/2 inch of snow is a big, big event. We decided to pull off the road and sit out a storm at Edgar Evins State Park in Silver Point, TN. I don’t think I’d want to be here in the summer when the place is full but right now we are the only ones here and it’s absolutely beautiful. So beautiful that we decided to stay another night. There are 4 rangers on duty who attend to our every needs.
The park is huge, it’s a 20 minute drive from the entrance to the campsite. I walk around as much as my poor old knee will allow. It is still mighty sore after the arthroscopy surgery I had last December. Walking downhill aggravates the heck out of it. Sue hikes around taking such wonderful pictures. She has a good eye for that.
I was thinking this morning, that we’ve been RV owners for over 30 years and that not one of our previous trailers would have kept us as comfortable or have held up to the extreme conditions we’ve put Shiny through. Airstreams heat the holding tanks when you run the furnace so we have not had any freezing issues inside. I hope I didn’t jinx us by saying that.
Today we move onto the Natchez Trace and finally heading in a due southerly direction. We are still undecided on our destination, Florida or the South West.
Hopefully as we mosey our way south we will reach warmer weather but if not we have our winter clothes and a silly hairdryer.
Isn’t it crazy how little things like a hair dryer handle some big problems. Our cars doors were all frozen shut after a period of warm/cold/rainy/cold/warm weather.and thank goodness for hair dryers. I hope that you will be hitting some warm natural winds very soon.
It’s cold in Florida, too. The southwest sounds might fine to this New Englander.
By the end of your trip you will be a professional rv repair man. Desperation is definitely the mother of invention. We have a dear friend in R.I. who is a retired rv specialist. Saved us tons of money many times. Still keep him on speed dial!!!Hoping that repairs and crap weather are behind you. Look us up if you decide to head for Florida. Cousin Sue
You guys tell great stories and your memories will only be about the adventures not the lack of sleep. I did read from other friends that Panama City has ice in the canels and New Orleans had snow on the ground. They tell me it’s warming soon. Go Forth and thanks for sharing this.
We are going to do the out west trip in May but only going for 3.to 4 weeks wormer weather by then I hope.