Coming to Pennsylvania in February meant we were limited in options of places to park. The Elks Lodge in Ephrata allowed us to stay, without water on-site, which was fine with us. The electric was on, and we filled with water at the building. Some campgrounds up here will open April 1, but most are at least April 15. Some are even later, with a May 1 or May 15 start of their season.
Moving to be near Michelle, who asked us to arrive in the area 3 weeks prior to the baby’s March 14 due date, would be a different thing. Having stayed in the area off-season before, we knew our only options were one yucky campground, a half-hour drive away, or their driveway. Michelle and Derek were fine with us being in the driveway, and we happily accepted their generous offer. I was thrilled, as I could be available to quickly and easily help for the first month or so after Baby Girl was born. We have a seasonal site waiting for us when Hickory Hollow Campground opens April 15.
We arrived in-between nasty weather days and got parked for our 7’ish week stay. Bill and Derek discussed Bill’s plans to get us electric, dump our tanks, and fill us up with fresh water. While in Lancaster County, Bill filled both our 40 pound propane tanks at the Costco.
Bill shopped at Lowes and also brought some of the needed items online. His plan for electric involved 100′ SOOW 10/4 wire, so we could have 2 legs of 30 amps to supply the rig. He could have chosen to have 50 amps but that would have meant 100′ SOOW 6/3 wire, which would have been almost triple the cost, $1.22 per foot
This much power was needed to run our electric heaters; we have 3 total. He placed a small electric heater behind the basement wall to help keep the tank area warm. Our Landmark does not have what Heartland calls a “Yeti” package, which comes with heated tanks, so we needed this heater to prevent our tanks from freezing up. He also placed a small fan near that heater to blow the warm air around the tank area. It’s important to note that while running the furnace, the basement gets heated, but not the area behind the wall where the tanks are.
On the coldest nights, he also put a 500-watt Halogen lamp under the rig, aimed at the fresh water tank drain valve, to keep it from freezing. The trouble with that would be if the drain froze, ice could migrate up to the fresh water tank tee and freeze the fresh water line. Bill found out this could be an issue on the Heartland Owners forum. It must have worked, as we had four straight days/nights of teens/single digits and below zero wind chill temps and nothing froze up (except the water line in the refrigerator, which really can’t be helped.)
Between the three electric heaters, the Halogen lamp and the furnace, we were toasty warm and no freezing up! If we had been there the entire winter, we would have taken the time and effort to put some type of skirting around the bottom of the rig, but we were optimistic that it wouldn’t get that cold except those few days. All things considered, we were happy with the way it worked out.
Due to the freezing temps, we could not leave a water hose out and attached to the house, so Bill filled our fresh tank and we had plenty of fresh water that way. Believe it or not, we’ve been carrying two, used only once, 50′ hoses, bought when he was planning to work for RV Armor. Our older fresh water hose was downgraded, and we still needed to buy another 30′ of new fresh hose. Yes, we are that far from the spigot.
Dumping our tanks also required some homework and online purchases. Bill purchased a macerator pump from Amazon. He did extensive research and chose the one he did based on reviews, which were overwhelmingly good. It was also very inexpensive, compared to others. He purchased 100′ of red rubber hose, which will stay flexible in the cold, plus is using the downgraded former fresh hose, to reach the septic clean out. Bill also installed a 12 volt outlet in our UDC (universal docking center), to power the pump.
We did have snow a few times since we arrived. Bill got to “play” with Derek’s tractor, which has a snow blower attachment. That makes snow removal a lot easier! There was still some shoveling to do, but not much.
The worst of the weather was four days in a row that didn’t get above 20, even during the day. Nighttime temps stayed in the single digits. Brrrr ❄️ Good news was we didn’t freeze up! All the effort Bill put into getting us ready paid off!
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We will be doing the same thing when we get to my (Sue) sister’s home in upstate NY in early April to help her with home repairs and celebrate her 60th birthday. No campground open til May 1, weather permitting.
Love spending time so close! At least it should be starting to warm up by April!
I take it baby is late or you are so busy you haven’t posted any pictures of her yet?
Baby actually came about 8 days early – be on the lookout next week for pics!
Oh I love baby pics ! Great.
That’s too cold! Good thing Bill has many talents, or you’d all have be froze by now. Stay warm! while awaiting the next family member.
I am one lucky lady, that’s for sure! Otherwise we’d have to winterize and stay in the house, which we could have done but we like our own space.
That looks SO cold!!! Glad you were able to get comfy while waiting for baby girl to arrive.
It was so cold! Thankfully we are starting to see signs of spring
Good Prep work trying to keep warm and not freeze!!! Glad to hear you were toasty!!
Freezing up would have been BAD as you know – so Bill took it very seriously!
YAY for geeky Bill and his thoroughness! I’m sure he loved the challenge of making it all come together! How wonderful for you that you were able to stay right at Michelle’s and be so close. I know you are loving every minute! Miss you guys and think of you every day!
That’s my man – nothing if not thorough! Love him for it! And yes – being here is wonderful! Missing you two also!
Your pictures of the snow are brrrreautiful from here. Congrats again on becoming grandparents!
Thanks!
Great preparation, we tend to freeze up about 19 degrees. We found that our first freeze point is at the bypasses for the hotwater heater and winterizing switches. The are right inside the belly door but still too close to the elements.
I was so nervous that we’d freeze up but thankfully we did not! Maybe adding a heater or lamp in the area could help?
What is the make/model of the Macerator Pump?
There’s a link in the post you can click that takes you directly to it on Amazon. It’s made by Amarine-made. It’s 12volt, made for RV’s and boats.
Bill & Kelly- How did your macerator setup work for you. Anything you would change to the setup? We are full time and moochdock at family every so often and would like to be able to dump there rather than have to travel to a dump station. Thanks!!!!
Julie – hi! The set-up worked great! Bill dumped our tanks 5 times while we were there – it worked well for us! If you have any more specific questions – let me know!
Please disregard my macerator question. The links to the products weren’t appearing the first time I read the blog.
C
No worries! Sometimes it take awhile for pics/links to load – depending on your connection – thanks for reading!
Good thing Bill is super handy! Sounds like he gets an A+ on his anti-freezing project. Way to go Bill! I hope you’re feeding the kids your yummy yogurt while there. Enjoy that beautiful new baby! No doubt its well worth all the effort to be there for your kids. You’re good parents!
Thanks Peggy! It is so wonderful being here! Been seeing your pics on FB – looks like you are having an awesome time! Hugs!
I had no idea you had to do that much to make it do able. Good thing Bill is Mr. Handy. I’m glad you explained it all otherwise I would think you just had it easy!
I’ve said it before – I am one lucky lady!
Glad you stayed warm!
Thanks Deb! Me too!
Wow, I didn’t know Pennsylvania coul de so freezing in February. Very interesting story, Bill did a greta job 🙂
We knew it was a possibility but were hoping not! Always better to be over prepared! Thanks!
That you’re nice and toasty during single digits shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that knows Bill. Warmer weather is coming…sometime. 🙂
Agreed! Bill is the MAN! We are starting to see hopes of spring, although it does take a bit longer around here!
That’s was really interesting especially using their septic system. I didn’t know that was possible. Bill is the man!!
It is very convenient that we can use the septic, otherwise we’d have to leave and come back, which would be a major pain in the butt, especially since getting into the parking spot isn’t easy.