Hi all,
we are leaving the snow and heading south soon in our virgin voyage--not counting one night in the driveway and one night on the coast--
with scamp 16 ft and cocker spaniel. haven't a clue which route to take to avoid "weather" and this year it looks like "weather" is all over the place, south, midwest, west. hmmmm. if any experienced scampers have advice for finding our way from the top of new england safely to the southwest or even to key west we would welcome it. no heater except electric plug in. towing with toyota mini van.
First of all its going to be cold..no avoiding that and I doubt you'll find an open campground. Get yourself a Mr. Buddy heater at Walmart and head to route 81...a little out of the way from your area but no tolls, the tolls on 95 will equal the amount you paid for the scamp. Drive slow and good luck!
Adam Michaels
Head southwest toward St. Louis, then take the old Route 66 which is now highway 44. Head toward Tulsa, then southwest toward Amarillo. You shall avoid lots of severe weather that way,but be in guard as it is January!
<p>Doug Allen 2016 Ford F-150 2018 Lance 1575</p>
We live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and you will Probably not find many campgrounds open here as water will be shut off due to the cold. Big dangers are ice storms though we do get snow often on top of ice. We camp in January using electric heat but do it on the Texas gulf coast. We have had freezing rain even there. We drove the route from Maine to Oklahoma in July and took 5 days but could have pushed and done it in 4. In winter I would expect to stay in motels, just drive safe and 55 to 60 mph. If I were camping, I would head south to the Florida Gulf and then West along the coast (time permitting). Even along the Florida panhandle coast we were cold when tent camping in January. (this is why we now have Scamp)
Good Luck
I-95 south to I-10, then westbound, or continue south into Florida till later in the spring. We recently got a small handheld NWS weather radio that we used on a trip from Ohio to California and it worked great. Same information as you would get on a home weather radio and it is automatic, About $29 at a radio/electronics store, or Walmart. For heat, Google "Boondockers Welcome" for potential host's along your route, where you can stay and plug in electric for free.
Don
2015 Scamp 16'
Tow Vehicle...2013 Lincoln MKX 3.7L V-6
SW Ohio
Hello from the gulf coast. We pulled out of northern Michigan on Jan 2. The first night in Kentucky was a motel and I suspect you'll face the same issue. Second night was northern Alabama and it was cold. We found a number of campgrounds open. We did not load water, except to fill a small jug for making coffee. Used an electric space heater and had to turn it way down, even with an overnight low of 28. We were toasty. Keep the camper dry, as in NO water anywhere until you're well into warmer weather.
We're all grownups, so I'll just say this. The weather channel is your friend. LOL. Make darn sure the coast is clear for 500 miles and three states in your forward path. Winter doesn't mean snow and ice every day. Many days have sunshine and bone dry roads. Just make really sure you have a prolonged dry, winter storm free period to travel. Hope that helps.
Do what ever you can to avoid wet salted roads. I have had many problems with my 2015 Scamp because Scamp delivered it to us in Maine when the roads were heavily salted. ( I had asked them not to!!!) If you do end up driving on salted roads get the trailer washed ASAP. Wash all the underside, the battery, lights, LP tank (s). Wash everything! The front end of my awing is even corroded! Have great trip. Enjoy
That salty air and roads can be a killer on metal. We live squarely in the middle of America and do not suffer such. When I worked on jets that were based on the coastal areas, we fought corrosion like mad!
<p>Doug Allen 2016 Ford F-150 2018 Lance 1575</p>