DJStep -- welcome to the forum. There are several members that travel in cold temps ( like Cate&Rob and d2reid ) so hopefully they (along with others) will chime in soon. I'm posting just to welcome you and ask (if not done already) please review the Welcome Letter and fill out your signature line with the model and year of your GDRV.

Howard

DJStep Welcome to the family and the forum!

First travel with the trailer winterized. Carry bottle water. When I winter travel I watch the weather to try and avoid storm's so having a flexible scheduled helps.. When on icy roads I back the trailer gain down to prevent lockup. If the road is fine and bridges are icy, neutralize as you go over them. By neutralize, don't brake, and don't add power Just coast/maintain what your doing and steer without any sudden changes. Keep in mind bridge decks will freeze first before the roadway does, so be careful.

I would get South as fast as you can by using I35 or I 29. I 40 across the top of Texas and NM can be icy too. I would drop all the way down to I 20 or even I 10. Many of the campgrounds will be closed for winter until you get below I 40, but check ahead

Now if a surprise storm pops up, STOP. Find a safe parking spot, Wakmart, Sams, HD, Lowes, (Even if posted no overnight, I don't think anyone will bother you if its storming out) Truck stops, etc Some of the Pilot truck stops now have RV camping spaces. Otherwise find a hotel that has space for you to park your rig.

At one time I had cable chains for the trailer (previous unit), but quickly learned to just not drive if icy. Carry some good cold weather clothing too.

Be safe

Hope this helps

Thanks for the response Yoda, the route we have planned is to go south thru Wichita Kansas, then get on I 40 east of Albuquerque. So you would suggest adjusting to I20 thru Tuscon?

DJStep,

The simplest way to get “south of cold” is to stay in motels. Many do this . . . but, we never have because we travel with 2 dogs and 2 cats. Your trailer is quite capable of staying comfortable at below freezing temps. The “critical link” is maintaining sufficient battery charge to run the propane furnace and other 12V accessories. This takes a large battery bank and sophisticated charging plan if you are going off grid. The best plan is to find campgrounds where you can plug in. Few and far between to the north in the winter. We also travel with the water system winterized and using bottled water . . . one less thing to worry about.

Rob

We made the same trip as you are planning last winter. We left from just north of you (Thunder Bay) and spent our first night at Owatonna in a hotel. That was the only hotel night. Next night we spent in Lawrence Kansas and I fully charged up the water system. It was low 50's so we weren't concerned about freezing. We were going to spend a couple nights but forecast showed snow coming the next afternoon so we headed out the next morning. Taking I40 to Albuquerque was uneventful but there was snow on the hwy going up to Albuquerque. We stayed at a KOA then decided to take I25 down to Las Cruces instead of 40 to Flag because of snow. I would recommend taking the southern I25 route instead of I40 and coming into Phoenix from the north.
So...like Yoda said...be flexible.

The I40 section east of ABQ from Amarillo can be unpredictable with high winds, snow squeals, etc. When in Wichita check the weather. If the forecast is anything but perfect head south to I 20. Remember you gain altitude going to ABQ, which normally means colder. The mountains east of ABQ create some unusual weather on short notice..When I went through Oklahoma City this fall there was a lot of construction on I40. If the weather is bad I would grab I44 out of Oklahoma city to Wichita Falls then 277 to Abilene to bypass Dallas/Forth Worth.. Where in AZ are you headed?

Hope all this helps. You have gotten Great advice from the others too.
Keith

DJStep -- two apps to consider using when on the road: Windy and Highway Weather. I believe it was TucsonJim that steered me to these apps. They are very useful when considering whether and when to travel.

Windy's PC website here: https://www.windy.com/?30.421,-86.893,5 There's an Android app on the Play Store, too.

Info on Highway Weather here: https://weatherroute.io/

Howard

I second howson 's advice. Coming from unending forests up here in northern Ontario, we weren't fully aware of the importance of wind knowledge. Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas can be breezy from time to time...
Depending where you are in MN, you may live in the trees too.

I grew up in NW CO so no stranger to snow and wind driving. But pulling the Momentum across icy roads and snowy passes scared me. I quit doing it. I have found that most highway DOT's do a really good job of clearing the interstates within 24 hours of big storm. So I have modified my winter travel to not push it, I stop and spend a boring day someplace I wouldnt normally be at to let the roads clear.

With your morning coffee and browsing research winter chain laws in the states you will be traveling in. In many western states you are required to "carry" chains. I tried using chains one time. Laying in slush tyring to put chains on my 5th wheel, drive 25mph for hours. While I stopped to adjust my chains I noticed some trucks passing me without chains. Got on the DOT app and found out the chain restriction had been lifted. Had I just waited a couple of hours I would not have spent the time in the slush.

I don't travel too many hours in a day, so I found that the internal RV temp would drop to around 40 by the time I would stop. 9-4. I never boondock in the winter, it takes too much power to keep warm. I know there are some folks that have super solar and battery pack to do this with, but moma likes her electric blanket.

Guard your water and sewer lines from freezing. Pretty easily done, just takes a little time and thought.

I never had much trouble pulling the RV through snow/ice packed campgrounds. My truck is 4x4 with decent tires. I have had to dig out a snowbank where they stacked the snow too deep for me to make the corner. I also travel with a cat, so I have kitty litter handy just in case...

Your electrical cord will be really stiff.

I keep a broom pinned to the wall next to the door, those steps get really slick when snow/ice packed. I found sweeping them off before I step on them makes it easier to keep them clean.

Bring your heat gun in case you get a poop-cicle. (Frozen sewer vavles)

Put plastic or wood footpads down. In some instances it's possible to freeze your landing gear to the concrete. RV parks get annoyed if you damage their concrete.

If you have a 50 amp rig get a 30amp to 25amp adapter, you can use the 30amp side to power engine block heaters, water hose heat, and maybe that extra electric heater with a power cord run through a slide corner.

Check your propane daily, running out of heat at 3am leads to intense marital discussions.

Weather prediction has gotten good enough it's pretty easy to avoid major storms.

Mostly it will be easy. Not much different than summer travel.

We are staying at El Mirage RV resort west of Glendale

We make a similar trip every year, we leave mid-Michigan after Christmas and head toward Texas and/or Arizona. I have a very simple rule - avoid snow. I won't pull the trailer in snow or on ice. This requires watching the weather very closely and being flexible. I use a weather app called "Ventusky". It covers all of North America, providing up to hourly temperature and precipitation for over a week out. It is easy to see how storms are developing and moving across the country by scrolling thru in half day or day steps. You can set the map at any scale, so you can see what is coming along your proposed route. I start watching it a week or two before I want to leave. I try to travel long enough after a storm that the roads will be cleared, and before the next one hits. We head straight south first, and start heading west depending on the storm tracks. Sometimes we go down to Mississippi and hold up there until a storm clears out of Texas. One year it looked like we could "cut the corner" and go through St. Louis and Oklahoma. We stopped in Oklahoma to wait for a storm to clear western Texas. The storm tracked east sooner than originally predicted. So when it started to snow where we were, we headed straight south before snow started to accumulate on the roads. We frequently have to go down to I-20 or even I-10. I-40 is not usually a good option. We do the same thing coming home in early March. It has worked out well for us. We don't mind camping in below freezing temperatures on the way down. We carry drinking water in containers and don't de-winterize the camper until we are clearly in warmer temperatures.

Good luck with your trip.
Dave

Thanks everyone for the replies, those of you that indicated you camped in freezing Temps, Where do you stay, are there campgrounds open in those situations?

There are some state park, Corps of engineers, and others that are open all year. You need to check. Usually the water is turned off during the winter. But if they have electricity it is usually still on.
Dave