Snow Day

IT"S SNOWING!!!!



Okay, I realize that you readers north of the Mason/Dixon line are going to just chuckle but for a Florida boy this is a big deal.  We woke up to a nice dusting this morning.  Actually I think this would qualify for more than a dusting but it's really just ' bout knee high to a Dachshund.

Russell "Rusty" Wallace Oliver. One of the three resident ankle biters.

Shiloh, the big black Cocker Spaniel, stopped in his tracks upon my opening the door this morning to let him out.  After a few steps he looked at me as if to ask what had happened.  In his mind the Mayan calendar/end of the world thing that was supposed to happen today actually did.  Pepper, the Schnauzer, has seen snow before (on prior trips here) and was like Tigger in the Hundred Acre Wood - bouncy, bouncy, all over.

Shiloh - warming up to the idea

Pepper, still in his jammies.

It's been cold since I arrived, in the 20s at night with single digit wind chills,  but we've been quite comfortable.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I would talk about the cold weather issues you have to deal with in a trailer.  Certainly it's different from a house but actually BTU for BTU it's much more efficient to heat LuLu then to heat a whole house.

We have four sources of heat, actually five if you count snuggling up to Margo, but I won't go into that here, it's a family blog after all.  First the AC unit on the roof is also a heat pump.  We have a standard electric space heater, a propane furnace and an electric blanket for the bed.  Airstreams have what is called a belly pan that encloses everything underneath including the three water tanks and all of the plumbing.  This is for aerodynamics but also with ducting from the furnace to keep things warm underneath makes it truly a four season RV.  As long as I run the propane furnace when the thermometer dips below 32 I have no worries about frozen pipes.  Most of the time the space heater is all that is needed to keep it quite cozy.  Of course it's all controlled by thermostats so once set is automatic.

LuLu

Hank

The aluminum skin you see is the outside skin.  There's a layer of insulation then an inner skin as well.  All of the windows and doors have rubber gaskets and form an air tight seal.  We had winds with gusts up to 50 mph yesterday but there were no drafts to speak of in here.  Actually, it's so air tight that you can pressurize the inside and put soapy water on the outside to check for leaks.  Because of this though I do take great care in making sure that the carbon monoxide monitor, propane gas monitor and smoke alarms are tested each month.  All in all a very cozy camper.

Well, Christmas week will be here soon then, baring more of this white stuff, we'll be headed south again with a stop in Perry, GA for a 3 day indoor regional agility dog show.  After that it's back to the Sunshine State.  I'll update everyone on the trip back and the show when I can.  Until then, I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.