Travel from Chicago to LA in December and January

Originally posted by techntrek Nothing crazy about that!  If it stays above freezing before you leave, then hit the road and you'll be fine unless you hit freezing temps as you go over the mountains.  If you need to winterize you can still stay in the pod, I've done many winter trips in my pod and current camper.  Use RV antifreeze to flush the toilet at night and use truck stop showers on the way.  Keep gallon jugs of water for drinking, teeth brushing and hand washing in the pod.  Collect the water in a basin and dump it outside.  Sleep with the vent open an inch and a window open an inch to vent moisture.

In some places we have stayed, signs are posted that it is illegal to dump gray water on the ground. That would make it hard to use water unless we have a separate collection jug that we can pour out into a drain somewhere. This is North Carolina's rules on gray water.

Our daughter and family just moved from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. She wants us to visit at Christmastime. I plan on towing the R-Pod, but am concerned about the colder temperatures we can expect there. I figure that I will probably carry materials to winterize, and if it does hit a cold spell where I think things can freeze up, I will do a quick winterization. I also purchased an 8 gallon water container (Reliance Hydroller) so we can carry water in our T.V. Since we will be running the heat when we stop, it should be okay to leave the water container in the pod as long as the heat is running. The tricky part will be the black and gray water tanks/valves. We may have just a warm place to sleep, but need to use indoor facilities for necessary stops, showers, etc.

Doug, when you use RV antifreeze to flush, do you use it full-strength or diluted?

We took 70-76-72-80 on our podyssey across country...in July. I definitely *would not* recommend that route anytime close to winter! Those big gates on the highway entrance ramps and overhead signs displaying High Wind Warnings in Wyoming convinced me I would want to avoid that route in winter!

I've driven East to West twice (Philadelphia to California and Florida to California).  I recommend getting south as quickly as you can.   You'll have to make your plans around weather, but given a normal winter, head for New Mexico and stay south in Arizona, driving through Phoenix.   The I-10 will take you from PHX to LAX.   I'd avoid Flagstaff in the winter.  IOW, take the longer, warmer route.  From Louisiana you can make a southern trip across TX and NM. 

--Denise

We recently got our new pod with the intention of spending December and January in sunny California. However we live in Chicago which is kinda cold that time of year.