Can it get any colder???

It is 7:26 a.m. and the current temperature is 7 with a wind chill of -4 degrees! Though I am sure we will now be filling a propane tank today, I will have to say it is really not too bad. We have heat tape on the black tank and the water hose and added about a cup of antifreeze to the black tank, the galley and grey water are left open as  my husband won that small battle.We sealed the ceiling vents with 3in fiberfill , sealed around the door with weather stripping and hung blanket throws on the windows. We are being blasted with about 3 days of artic like weather so we are really having fun lol.(not). Our menus have consisted of chicken and dumplings, french onion soup among other hot dishes with cream of wheat and oatmeal ranking high on the breakfast menu. It really does help to combat the chill. I have a cup of hot coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon right now. My main complaint is not being able to go outside except very briefly. Thank goodness I have my netbook,our daughter, Leigh has her IPod Touch and my husband has his xbox360, we also have satelite tv a ton of dvds and several games like dominos. I highly reccommend all of the above if you are going to winter in an rv.
Now an update since my last post ...At about 9 a.m. on Jan.4th  we decided to make the hour drive to Tulsa that afternoon to see Avatar in 3d at the IMAX .  I purchased the tickets online and within minutes of doing so we lost all power to the rv park. Our battery took over supplying power for the next hour but it was almost drained when the power was restored over an hour later. To make a long story short we decided we couldn't leave the pets in case of another outage so we packed them up went to Tulsa and got a hotel room next to the theatre. We saw the movie which was amazing! Had a wonderful steak dinner. Went back to the rv park the next day to find the power on but the furnace was in a bind and making a weird noise which my husband fixed by turning it off, resetting the breakers. There was ice in a coffee mug in the sink and all my houseplants froze! I willreally miss my little ficus fig bonsai!

Nearing the end

I am nearing the end of my blog which I began Jan.1,2010. My husband left two days ago as he has finally ended his unemployment by securing a position as an overseas contractor in Afghanistan. My daughter and I will be getting an apartment soon and putting the rv in storage. Would I recommend this style of living to others ? I would have to say no or maybe I am just needing more stability than the rv lifestyle can offer. It is an adventure to say the least!

Biggest problems

I thought I would just list the downside of rving on this post.
1. Have to take very short showers, good for the environment
2. Trapped in a small space with people you may end up wanting to kill for fun and entertainment, or it does bring you closer if you don't kill them.
3. Brings new meaning to the words" riding the storm out", makes you feel like a real survivor.
4. You really have to limit your number of possessions, there are always storage lockers.
5. Your black tank can freeze or get plugged, what a feeling of exhilaration when you manage to get it flowing again!
6. For about the first year you bang your head when you get up on the frame of the slide or the overhead cabinet by the door, you also get to watch your guest do this even after you have warned them:-))

This is our home

Using way less propane

As first time rvers we literally stumbled on some things, a few months ago my husband was pouring over some of the manuals that came with our RV when he discovered that we are able to switch the hot water heater from propane to electric....who knew! Now it has been 3 months since we refilled the propane tanks, that's a big savings since our electric is included here in the RV park. We still use the propane only stove and oven for cooking but I really don't use the oven that much in the summer. I love to use the propane grill we have outside whenever possible, the food is always so flavorful and it is much healthier than frying. Something as simple as a bag of seasoned precooked hot wings are so delicious if you just crisp them up on the grill and the RV stays nice and cool.

We found an even cheaper way to live!

Can you believe that! We became members of our rv park and now we pay $90 every 2 weeks! What a bargain this includes space rent, electric, water, free wifi, use of an inground pool and we are on a beautiful lake. I think we are really blessed to have found such an economical way to live in this recession that America is experiencing.

Visitors!

Recently our daughter,son and two teenage grandchildren came to visit us for the weekend, we literally had wall to wall people in this 31 ft travel trailer! It was great to see everyone and lots of fun but a real juggle to make meals in the tiny galley for everyone., but just so you know it can be done! One big help was the showers here in the rv park so everyone didn't have to wait on the little 5 gal tank here to keep heating up. We really need to do some spring cleaning inside and out. Birds are everywhere and they all have nests and babies. It makes me smile everytime I go outside. I have been walking a mile about 5 days a week and trying to recover from a torn rotator cuff that has been really causing me a lot of pain. I would love to answer questions anyone has ....really I would.