As the weather in the northern parts of the continent begins to get cold, and the leaves turn in their rainbow colors, RV'ers leave for the warmer climes of Florida, Texas and Arizona. From Canada, the northeast, the mid-west and the northern plains states come those of us who wish to escape the cold, snow and ice of winter.

Having lived in Texas and Arizona for the past five winter seasons, I have some ideas that might help those of you thinking about starting this lifestyle (and maybe a few for those who are doing it now!) prepare for winter weather in the south. Don't think it doesn't get cold down here! Over the years, I have told many of our northern friends that they brought the winter weather with them. In San Antonio, Texas we recently had three days where the temperature didn't get above freezing - and it is forecasted to stay like this for several more days. So what happens in an RV?

Just like in the north, people drive in bad weather. The ice storm that hit Texas recently caused over 1400 accidents in San Antonio alone. DON'T DRIVE if you don't HAVE to! An RV is heavy, but can still slide on icy roads. Tow vehicles are an added danger on highways slick with rain, snow or ice. Other people may not realize just how long you are when they try to pass, and if there is a bridge coming up on the highway that is iced over, it's an accident waiting to happen. Stay an extra day or two in the park, if you can/have to. It might save you repair costs to your rig.

Pipes freeze here, too. If you are planning to spend a whole season in one park, start out right. Winterize your water hose with the foam tubing available for pipes in most hardware centers. Cover the parks water connection with some kind of insulation - we use a large empty planter that came with a tree the park planted; lined it with regular household insulation and cover our connections with it. If you haven't covered/wrapped your hose and connection, and you know that it is to be below freezing for any length of time, turn off the water, unhook and empty the hose, and run on tank water. Of course, make sure your tank is full!

Make sure you have enough propane. This can be a real problem, especially in a Motorhome. Waking up and finding your heat is out, can also be dangerous to some of us who have health problems. Again, if you are staying in the park long term, see if you can utilize, rent or purchase one of the 50 or 100 gallon propane tanks to connect to your rig. This allows for longer times between fill ups in a cold spell. If the park allows it, run small electric or catalytic space heaters. This allows you to conserve propane. Don't try to add heat to the rig by running the stove and/or cooktop. Just like in the north, if your heater isn't doing it's job, have it checked out. Carbon monoxide will kill in an RV too!

Don't try to heat the rig to 80+ degrees. Dress for the weather. And DO bring some heavy clothing with you. You WILL need it occasionally. Heavy coats, hats, gloves and scarves take up space, but can be lifesavers in cold weather. Sweat pants and shirts help, too. Leave the doors to your sinks and bathroom areas open if you can. This allows the pipes to stay warm, and heat to travel through them to the connections outside. Our rig happens to have heat in the outside bays to allow the pipes to stay warm under the rig, but most do not. Be SAFE, not sorry. A water leak in an RV is the pits to repair!

If you take pets or plants with you, take care to winterize them too. Keep them inside as much as possible. Don't put your plants in the drivers window of a motorhome during a freeze. People lose them that way. We close the curtains for the night and to keep out the chill from the window and forget the plant is against frozen glass and in much colder air then in front of the curtain.

Of course, most of this information is common sense, but people forget to do things like this. Coming into a rig and finding a major leak, frozen/broken water hoses or all your plants dead is not fun.

Have a happy trail time in your rig!