mbroos
Kansas City
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We live in Kansas City and would like to go on a winter vacation with our TT. We typically enjoy the Rockies, which is not practicle this time of year. Any suggestions? Smokey Mountains this time of year an option? Thanks for any thoughts.
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Oasisbob
Portland Oregon 97266
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Joined: 11/18/2001
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In my opinion some of our best camping has been during the winter month's. Having said that it is all based on road conditions. Yes, you can chain up the TT but at what point does the risk justify the gain?
Oasis Bob
Wonderful wife & 4 Really Fun kids
2008 KIA Sedona 3.8L 24 valve V-6
2001 Bantam Trail Lite B-19
HAPPY TRAILS
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Keith M
Cle Elum
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Arizona I think would be an attractive winter destination from Kansas City. Tucson has an average high temp of 62 in December and Phoenix has a high of about 67. Its obviously further than Smokey Mountains but it hardly rains in the winter and is almost always sunny.
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sdianel
Tampa, FL
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We have been to Hot Springs arkansas in the winter and have never seen snow but it does snow there. Beautiful area.
Lonny & Diane
2004 Country Coach Allure 33' "Big Blue"
Towing 2008 Chev Colorado 4x4
Semper Fi
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Dick_B
Palos Heights, IL USA
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For previous posts you could search the RV Parks section of this Forum for `snowbird'. We go to Florida for the month of January; closer to Chicago than Arizona.
You can also go to www.weather.com and type in any city to see the averages for any month of the year.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2011 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
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One wife, two bikes (both Electric Schwinn's with motor assist)
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Eycom
32043
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The Smokies wouldn't be my favorite pick during the winter. Look at Florida's Panhandle, specifically the "Forgotten Coast". See old Florida the way it used to be 60 years ago. Miles of uninhabited beaches, dotted with sleepy fishing villages. Pull over, take a walk, drop a line, take a dip, weather permitting. There's a small working waterfront and the local dives serve fresh seafood. Low traffic and the pace is slow.
RVn Full-time
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HappyTrails2U2
Tennessee is home but being held hostage in GA.
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I grew up just a few miles from the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and the weather around Gatlinburg is not real cold during the winter but there are times from the end of Dec. to about the 1st of March that it can get really cold at times especially at night. Usually there's not to much snow down low but up in the mountains it can really get cold and snowy especially when you get up to around 6,000 ft. At times the road is closed over the mountain from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, NC in the winter or they will require vehicles to have chains on to proceed from the road gates near the Sugarland Ranger Station on up.
I was up there on a motorcycle one day in July and the temperature was 90 degrees in Gatlinburg and when I rode up on top of the mountain to Clingmans Dome it was in the low 40's. 'bout froze my rear end off before I got back out of the clouds.
So in my opinion Winter time is not the best time to vacation in a travel trailer in the Smokies. Late Spring, and Fall are my favorite times to visit. Summer is not so good any more either. In the summer there's lines of tourist traffic all over the place. You'll spend more time sitting in traffic than enjoying the scenery.
That's not to say there's no traffic during the other months too. There's always to many people there compared to what it used to be like in the old days. Back in the 50's during the Winter you could go up the mountain on any of the roads and not see anyone all day some days and Gatlinburg was for the most part closed down during the Winter months. Not so any more.
Good luck to you.
* This post was
edited 07/03/12 07:32pm by HappyTrails2U2 *
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WandaLust2
TN
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Eycom wrote:The Smokies wouldn't be my favorite pick during the winter. Look at Florida's Panhandle........
The nights can and do get pretty darn cold there. As soon as the sun goes down they'll be looking for heat. Think possible frozen pipes.
WandaLust. Retired. Middle TN
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WandaLust2
TN
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My advice is GO SOUTH! Follow the sun and warmth. We live in TN and head for FL for the winter.
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Eycom
32043
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WandaLust2 wrote:Eycom wrote:The Smokies wouldn't be my favorite pick during the winter. Look at Florida's Panhandle........
The nights can and do get pretty darn cold there. As soon as the sun goes down they'll be looking for heat. Think possible frozen pipes.
Yeah, it can get quite nippy occasionally. But average temps for the area are Lows in the upper 30's and Highs run low to mid 60's from Dec-Feb. Being on the Gulf helps. I've wintered in the Carolinas, traveled all over the East during winter and my vote still goes to Florida. Key West would be an excellent choice. However, it's changed too much since I lived there. In fact, since the late 40's, the whole state has grown from 2.5 million to over 19 million today. And that doesn't include the snowbirds that flock to the state. The "Forgotten Coast" reminds me of what Florida used to be. And the weather ain't too bad, even for a native.
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