Winter Follow Up 😉 Made It

[bebewanna]

Well.... After everyone here said I would freeze to death . Including neighbors who now think I am a bad ass lol

I am just not a campground person or in any way interested in Rangers and rules. After living inside National forests for 20 years I have no patience for them

Feeling chased every 14 days does not work for me and since I refuse to follow rules... Better that I stay away

So I stayed in Northern New Mexico at 8100 feet. Coldest nights were -5, -6. We were never cold for 5 minutes.
The wind can be brutal, I would say that is the worst of it.

Most daytime hours with the New Mexico blazing sun angle into the van. I could turn the Big Buddy off 6 hours a day... Even after minus degree mights

I foam insulated the only bare metal in the floors where the seats used to attach, the wells pooled condensation.
Cut reflectix for all windows. Bought 2 more solar panels and a fancy MTTP controller giving me now 400w.

I put those hoop chains on the van and it's not easy but I am very experienced in the snow.... The deep tread All Terrain tires were really the answer. Once I was stuck but able to back up, just poor choice of lines on road.

Yes lots of days no way I get out but being prepared is the answer

Shoveled lots of snow and the worst is the mud. Yes I got lucky it was an easy winter.... But life's about luck

 

[bullfrog !]

You are definitely tougher than most! Amazing you didn’t get stuck in that mud!

 

[WanderingRose]

You are an adventurer in the truest sense of the word.

Congratulations on surviving and thriving.

 

[RoamerRV428]

Happy ya thrived and did so well! I got cold just looking at the pictures

 

[tx2sturgis]

Wow!

I've stayed in Northern NM many times, I love it up there, but deep winter there would be a challenge in a van!

 

[INTJohn]

Well.... After everyone here said I would freeze to death . Including neighbors who now think I am a bad ass lol

I am just not a campground person or in any way interested in Rangers and rules. After living inside National forests for 20 years I have no patience for them

Feeling chased every 14 days does not work for me and since I refuse to follow rules... Better that I stay away

So I stayed in Northern New Mexico at 8100 feet. Coldest nights were -5, -6. We were never cold for 5 minutes.
The wind can be brutal, I would say that is the worst of it.

Most daytime hours with the New Mexico blazing sun angle into the van. I could turn the Big Buddy off 6 hours a day... Even after minus degree mights

I foam insulated the only bare metal in the floors where the seats used to attach, the wells pooled condensation.
Cut reflectix for all windows. Bought 2 more solar panels and a fancy MTTP controller giving me now 400w.

I put those hoop chains on the van and it's not easy but I am very experienced in the snow.... The deep tread All Terrain tires were really the answer. Once I was stuck but able to back up, just poor choice of lines on road.

Yes lots of days no way I get out but being prepared is the answer

Shoveled lots of snow and the worst is the mud. Yes I got lucky it was an easy winter.... But life's about luck View attachment 33728View attachment 33727

Spent my entire adult life working in one patch of woods, brush, swamp, jungle or another in all kinds of weather and those pix look like the kind of stuff I spent 30 years charging clients 100 to 200 bux an hour to go work in.
……and that’s why 2day I prefer a nice warm, sunny beach 🏝.
Enjoy!
jonny boi

 

[bebewanna]

Well.... I read every weather forecast for the winter and they all said, low snowfall.

As it turns out... I used to live in Eastern Europe. My ex is Serbian. After I came home she had great stories about not getting paid at Radio DJ job and she was worried about hungry son. I sent money for a long time. Only one day to finally catch her in all her lies and found out that there was a long list of victims from her neighborhood... I turned her into Moneygram to make sure it happened to nobody else....

Well on about 5 years I get letter from law firm with pre filled claim form to get all the money back... lol I was shocked. Moneygram had to cough up 125 million... It took 2 years but I got a 100% rebate check in January...

I will say that I do not think it was Moneygrams fault. They questioned me several times, stopping the transfer... I just believed it was OK.

So... I expect my illegal tiny home will be up and livable in May. I got the check a few weeks ago. Nothing fancy.

That does not solve the minivan mud and snow issues but it takes the overweight load off the van into the cabin. Which will raise the van clearance quite a bit.

There have been many times over the past 10 months the road was impassable for me. Mostly mud. I just wait until it dries out and between the baking sun and never ending wind, it's not a big wait. One 8" snow after a 4" snow I was a bit concerned. But it melts fast...

I had that mud road photo totally filled in and perfect... A losing battle with neighbors... I am one road off the main road and the main road is so horrible that everyone turns off and comes over past me.... So the mud photo is a regular thing. One guy plows and drags the mud even,. Wet Adobe dries like cement lol

I can last in summer about 10 days, winter 14 days because the great outdoors can be a good refrigerator for milk and coffee cream , priorities

I was thinking a few days ago that I love living in the van and I am comfortable do I really want a building.... But as stated above and reality is one winter we will get buried and better to have a roof. Before I spend the money.

One good thing about a refugee living subdivision, nobody cares what you do.

54f out at 11;30 am.... Yippee

 

[bullfrog !]

Good luck! Best wishes for the future!

 

[INTJohn]

Cold can be a good thing sometimes. 25 or so years ago I had 2 deer butchered up and in the freezer and then idk around mid December I shot a third……
……there was about a foot of snow on the ground and temps in the teens. After guttin it out and getting it hung up frum the pole barn rafters, got the hide off it and since there was absolutely no warm up in sight. Just let it hang there. Thought why butcher it up its already in a freezer.
Whenever I was hungry just grabbed my Air Force issue survival knife and go cut a slab of meat off and bake or broil. That thing fed me about 5 or 6 weex hangin in the barn.
After all that was left was scraps, I carved off all I could then broke the legs open and made a nice venison bone marrow stew.

That deer & the cold treated me well.
Yessir, jonny boi always eaten good.