We spent the holidays on the road with our
EggCamper. Tow vehicle was a '90 full size Ford Bronco (302/5spd). Cruise control set for 60mph most of the way (55 in Illinois) except when driving on ice.
Left Golden CO on December 19 headed for Illinois. Saw lots of problems on the highways in eastern CO and KS due to ice on the road. Folks were defining their own driving lanes down the median and off into the ditches. Also had lots of gusty crosswinds.
The first night out stayed in a rest area in Kansas. Temp +3F with wind chill of -19. Snow and ice on the ground and 1/4" of ice on the trees. Nice and warm in the camper though after I straightened out a few
propane distribution issues.
For those of you who don't know, Kansas allows overnight camping in their rest areas and even has areas set aside for RVs. They also have dump stations at most rest areas although some are shut down during the winter. Overall their rest areas are much better than anything I've seen in any other state.
Second day made it to my dad's place in Swansea IL (just over the border from St. Louis MO) and set up camp in his back yard. With 120 v AC available we used the small cube heater instead of the
propane furnace. It kept things plenty warm even though the temperatures were in the teens and twenties.
After a couple days of visiting with my dad we headed across Illinois for our daughter's place in Danville near the Indiana border. Had high crosswinds but no towing problems. Temps again in the teens and twenties. Set up camp in her driveway and again tethered the egg to the nearest AC outlet.
The big problem of the trip was when we decided to dump the black water tank before starting back to Colorado. The gate valve was frozen (yeah, big surprise with temps in the teens and lots of wind). I cut a couple pieces of cardboard to block a small area under the egg, put a
light bulb under there for a couple of hours and all was well. If we had been away from AC power I would have used the single mantle Coleman lantern as a heat source to accomplish the same thing. After successfully dumping our "stuff" at Kickapoo State Park dump station we were ready for more travel.
On the 26th, as we broke camp, the temperature finally climbed to above freezing and it decided to rain (and rain, and rain). It rained sideways. It rained straight down. I think it even rained up (maybe somebody repealed the law of gravity). We even had a little sleet to add to the mix. There were high wind warnings, severe storm warnings and a tornado watch (in December?). Oh, well, it made for an interesting drive across Illinois.
On the way back to CO we visited some friends in MO and camped in their driveway. It sure is convenient when you have your home with you. Then an overnight stay in another Kansas rest area before arriving back in Golden on New Years Eve as the sun went down. Lots of wind again crossing Kansas and the eastern plains of Colorado.
Mileage for the trip was 2,400. Total trip length 13 days. Used two tanks of
propane. Had a great time.
Don't put the eggs away for winter. Get out and travel.