Let me start off by saying we are rookies. This will be our first trip with our travel trailer. Due to family commitments and various other reasons, we would like to plan a 4 week trip from Iowa to the East coast from Nov 1 to mid December.
While I have thousands of questions I'm going to start with a few to hopefully hear from your RV veterans. Your knowledge and experience will be most helpful and appreciated.
1. Realistically will it be to cold to camp? We're not opposed to getting hotels when its going to be very, very cold.....we dont want to haul the camper all that way and then find we simply chose the wrong route for the season.
2. What happens if we do run into cold weather with regards to pipes freezing? Again is this route just a dumb idea considering the time of year.
3. We really just want to see the cities: NY, Philly, Boston, Washington DC, etc - do the normal tourist stuff. We really dont intend to do much hiking/biking/ outdoor activities on this trip. So with that being said.....again, is this route an ok choice for this time of year.....or not smart.
Any suggestions with regards to trip planning: tours, campground advice, must see stops - please, please send my way. Thank you all for your time and efforts in helping us with our first big trip. We're so excited....and yet so darn nervous of the unknowns!
Alot of campgrounds will close during those months. Or, if they are open, water may not be available. Sounds like fun if you can work around the cold issues!
I would suggest that you look at Rvparkreviews in the places you wish to stay and see if any RV parks will be open during that time period. It can be cold and even snow then.
The deep south is open all winter and offers some great camping. Add Charleston, Savannah, and St Augustine and cut some of those other places and join us. We camp year round!
Weather is unpredictable that time of the year, and as mentioned, the availability of a campground with water will be very limited.
If you have the inclination, I would concentrate on visiting North Carolina and head South from there. If you are new at anything you would like the first experience to be a positive, and heading to where I live during those months will most likely end in frustration.
Thanks everyone - well I guess we either hotel that trip (if we're forced into going there during that season) or we figure out a way to get out of it and head to the Carolinas.
I knew you guys would give me some good advice. Thanks again
I've traveled in a 4 season camper year round in the east from Fl to NY for years. Above the Carolinas, campgrounds generally close around Oct. 15th for the winter. There are some parks that remain open trough the year, but they are far and few in between. When I HAVE to travel north after the camping season, I automatically plan on black-top parking.
I was in Buffalo on Oct. 12th in 06 when the "October Surprise" storm hit. Many areas got 2' to 3' of wet snow in two days. Leaves were still on the trees and limbs came down onto the power lines. My area was without electricity for almost 4 1/2 days. With a propane generator, I didn't miss a beat... watched Sat TV... had high speed internet with an air card... plenty of heat... didn't miss a meal... took hot showers. But, it wasn't cheap... used 30#s of gas during that time.
My suggestion would be to leave the trailer at home. The weather can get iffy and there aren't many CGs open anyway. JMHO
The East Coast will not be as much of a winter weather problem as will the route getting there. You have to get across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia, and the Appalachian Mountains, to get to the milder winter climate on the East Coast. And the East Coast can sometimes have a cold early winter.
From I-40 and to the south, many commercial RV parks are still open, although the campgrounds at many public facilities, depending on volunteer campground hosts, will be closed because the volunteers have flown further south for the winter.
From I-70 to the north, campgrounds at most public parks will be closed for the season, or have no running water. Some RV parks may be open with limited facilities, some will be closed. It depends on whether the park sees their business as overnight stops for travelers or recreational campers; those in the recreational camping business will be closed for the season.
I find that I can use my motorhome OK if I have electrical hookups (power for the furnace) and daytime temperatures are in the 40's, night temperatures slightly below freezing. That's my motorhome, what works varies with construction and equipment, some are more winter capable, some less. In full time freezing temperatures, I will travel winterized across the wintry areas to get to my milder temperature destination.
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