Our Morning Coffee and Weather

[cooperhawk]

Fair, 21°F, Humidity 86%
Wind Speed S 3 mph
Barometer 30.01 in
Mostly sunny, with a high near 46.
South southwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
We're having a cold start but it's supposes to warm up nicely today.
I think this might be the last warm day if the season though.
I'm taking the new motorhome in and fueling it up today, then it gets
put away until February when we go south.

[Hatchdog]

Our Explorer is a 2018 and is capable of flat towing. I was quoted by the RV dealer the cost to set it up for flat towing is 6-8 thousand. With 61000 miles on the Explorer I’m hesitant to spend that only to have the Explorer have issues.

6 to 8 thousand sounds like a lot. I had our set up for less than two but that was a few years back. The biggest thing is
the tow plate. They have to pull the front facade off and remove the titanium bumper behind it replacing it with the tow
plate. That's not that big a deal. My local shop did that in one day. Then I had the Air Force 1 braking system installed and
installed the wiring kit. I guess though you don't have air brakes so the AF1 won't work for you.

My Explorer had about 160 thousand miles on it now but if you add in tow miles it's more like two hundred thousand. I've had
to replace a couple wheel bearings, but that's about all.

I also have the Blue Ox tow bar and tow plate.


Yeah, I was expecting 3-4K based on the prices for the components listed on E-trailer.com. We have a local independent RV shop who told me they refuse to work on Ford automatic trannies. I’m sure they will be much less expensive to set up a Wrangler which is one of the contributing factors to our looking at the Jeeps. Nope, no air brakes for me but brakes, absolutely. I’m liking the 2 door Wrangler as it is lighter than the 4 door and I think I can squeeze it into my shop. The 4 door is definitely too long to do so. 2 doors are more squiggly but if we are just using it for towing that shouldn’t matter.

A very balmy 35 here with a high of 41 expected. We had a light rain overnight but we are looking at dry days for the rest of the forecast range. Cold overnights next week with temps in the upper teens to lower 20’s. No snow predicted, thank you!

[brm4450]

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PT today, no school so some of the grandkids are coming over to help setup and decorate the Christmas tree. Granddaughter that had some neurological problems from encephalitis infection has advanced very well and called me up and asked if shoulder was good enough to take he to range, can’t pass that up so yes. Everyone have a great weekend!

[Shakey Jake]

It was a cool 44° this morning. Currently it's 59° and sunny. There seems to be a bit of a warm-up for Thanksgiving but the temps will still remain in the 60's. I just cooked some oatmeal with toast and coffee for breakfast.
Jake

[cooperhawk]

Fair, 27°F, Humidity 74%
Wind Speed NW 9 mph
Barometer 30.17 in
Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.
North northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
I finished getting both motor homes winterized and fueled, and now they are put away
for a few months. Now comes the cold and snow for a while. Actually I kind of like this]
time of year. No lawn to cut, just plow snow once in a while, and then of course are
all the Holidays where we eat well and celebrate.

[Sir Henry]

Fair, 27°F, Humidity 74%
Wind Speed NW 9 mph
Barometer 30.17 in
Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.
North northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
I finished getting both motor homes winterized and fueled, and now they are put away
for a few months. Now comes the cold and snow for a while. Actually I kind of like this]
time of year. No lawn to cut, just plow snow once in a while, and then of course are
all the Holidays where we eat well and celebrate.

I like winter also. Especially where I’m at in the open. I like the view but can do without the wind that openness allows. I was talking to my neighbors yesterday who lived in this house up to two years ago. In 2019 the driveway had five feet of snow and it had already been plowed so much there was no place to plow the snow. The solution was the county had to bring in a huge front loader and it took them all day to get a scoop and dump it a half mile away. Scoop, dump and repeat.

[Shakey Jake]

46 degrees on the dog walk this morning. I just had cereal and coffee this morning. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Jake

[cooperhawk]

I like winter also. Especially where I’m at in the open. I like the view but can do without the wind that openness allows. I was talking to my neighbors yesterday who lived in this house up to two years ago. In 2019 the driveway had five feet of snow and it had already been plowed so much there was no place to plow the snow. The solution was the county had to bring in a huge front loader and it took them all day to get a scoop and dump it a half mile away. Scoop, dump and repeat.

We are deep in the woods and the wind is usually not a problem here. The snow just falls and I plow it aside, but once in a while I have to get the old Ford 8N out and scoop it up to dump over the hill. Winter is usually easy.

[Sir Henry]

I like winter also. Especially where I’m at in the open. I like the view but can do without the wind that openness allows. I was talking to my neighbors yesterday who lived in this house up to two years ago. In 2019 the driveway had five feet of snow and it had already been plowed so much there was no place to plow the snow. The solution was the county had to bring in a huge front loader and it took them all day to get a scoop and dump it a half mile away. Scoop, dump and repeat.

We are deep in the woods and the wind is usually not a problem here. The snow just falls and I plow it aside, but once in a while I have to get the old Ford 8N out and scoop it up to dump over the hill. Winter is usually easy.

I worried about running out of propane and the truck not being able to deliver up my driveway. The solution was to get more propane storage capacity.

The other problem was not being able to get my own car/van up the hill. I know have electricity at the driveway/road junction so if I have to park down there I at least have power. And worst case I can move Alice and park under shelter.

Next up after completing my garage at the top of the hill is to install a bank of batteries with solar and wind power.

[cooperhawk]

I worried about running out of propane and the truck not being able to deliver up my driveway. The solution was to get more propane storage capacity.

The other problem was not being able to get my own car/van up the hill. I know have electricity at the driveway/road junction so if I have to park down there I at least have power. And worst case I can move Alice and park under shelter.

Next up after completing my garage at the top of the hill is to install a bank of batteries with solar and wind power.

All good moves. We have 1500 gallons of propane on hand and pre-buy all our propane for the Winter. Then last year
we had a 22KW Generac installed that runs on propane. I also have a 350 gallon gasoline tank that is full for the snow
plow and tractor.
A man's gotta be ready around here.

[Hatchdog]

Coop, Sir Henry, you guys really got it figured out, self sufficiency at its best. I’m prepped similar to you but at a much smaller scale as here we don’t have the type of winters that you guys do. Generally I’m prepared to go a couple of weeks without leaving home.

Right now it’s a brisk 26 with what looks to be partly cloudy skies and no wind. I’m thinking we will get thru Thanksgiving without any catastrophic events unless I overcook the turkey. We have four guests coming over so it will be pretty calm. Then for the next several days we will have more of the same with the lows in the upper teens to lower 20’s.

[brm4450]

Big dinner this afternoon and then maybe a nap! Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!

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[Ernie]

Made my Thanksgiving diner last night and today it's turkey sandwiches which is my favorite anyway. Today I am taking the mower deck off the lawn tractor and installing the snowblower, weights and tire chains. Next week looks like possible lake effect snow and if I am prepared sometimes it doesn't happen. But if I am not ready the odds are it will. Everyone have a peaceful and joyous Thanksgiving with friends and family.

[Vaquero]

Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving.It was 30 when I got up, which was a little late as I slept on til almost 7.
It's up near 40 now, the wife is finishing up a couple dishes then we are headed north to the son's place. Only about 45 mins., so not a long journey.
We'll be bringing the grandson home with us. Hoping we have enough time to get a little deer hunt in before dark.

RP

[dave77]

The other problem was not being able to get my own car/van up the hill. I know have electricity at the driveway/road junction so if I have to park down there I at least have power. And worst case I can move Alice and park under shelter.

Maybe get a snowmobile to get back and forth to a car parked at the bottom of the hill.

[Sir Henry]

The other problem was not being able to get my own car/van up the hill. I know have electricity at the driveway/road junction so if I have to park down there I at least have power. And worst case I can move Alice and park under shelter.

Maybe get a snowmobile to get back and forth to a car parked at the bottom of the hill.

Snowmobiles are allowed on county lettered (C) roads which in my case leads to a snowmobile trail which parallels state numbered (86) roads. With that in mind I can travel at least a hundred miles in all four directions. Eventually I’ll buy one but first need to complete my outbuildings so everything doesn’t sit outside 365 days of the year.

[markiver54]

The other problem was not being able to get my own car/van up the hill. I know have electricity at the driveway/road junction so if I have to park down there I at least have power. And worst case I can move Alice and park under shelter.

Maybe get a snowmobile to get back and forth to a car parked at the bottom of the hill.

That sounds like a natural.

[dave77]

Sounds great. I've not snowmobiled for many years and only on a older sled. The new ones are amazing, so much power and traction they can go most anywhere. Ski-doo has models made for deep snow, was looking at one that has 180HP. That's a little more than my Miata has (at $17,000 it's not that much less than my Miata cost).

https://ski-doo.brp.com/us/en/models/deep-snow.html

[markiver54]

Yeah, if I lived somewhere with that much snow I would definitely have one. I hate the cold/winter anymore though. In contrast, that's why I spent the money on a nice 4 wheeler for the mountain here in Western North Carolina.

[dave77]

Yeah, if I lived somewhere with that much snow I would definitely have one. I hate the cold/winter anymore though. In contrast, that's why I spent the money on a nice 4 wheeler for the mountain here in Western North Carolina.

I also hate the cold but you can get heated gear clear down to heated socks and gloves so you can stay toasty warm snowmobiling.

Back when snowmobiles where just becoming a thing I went with a friend as a passenger, I had no snowmobile gear so just long johns and jeans. It was a very cold day, sub zero and it wasn't long before I was so cold I couldn't even hang on. We had to stop and build a small fire to warm me up a bit and then head right back to the vehicles. I'm pretty sure I had the beginnings of hypothermia, I never want to be that cold again.