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Old 09-13-2008, 07:14 AM   #2
Bill
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
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Kevin -

My Dad did this same thing 35 years ago, using his hotel budget to buy an Airstream. It worked well for him - but he did it in greater Los Angeles. For your plan, my first question would be where in the Pacific Northwest will you be? If you are in the low altitude rainy part (ie, near the coast), it shouldn't be bad. If you are going to be in the high altitude and/or snowy part, it could be tougher. Wikipedia tells me that Seattle is pretty moderate. Average high temps in Oct/Nov are in the mid-to-high 50's, and average lows are in the low 40's. That's quite manageable. And Spokane, way out east, is only a little colder - but it is at low altitude. Most of the Pacific Northwest appear to be similar, as long as you stay out of the mountains.

If you get deep snow, you'll need to shovel or rake it off the roof occasionally. The TM is strong enough to hold quite a bit of snow - but if it rains on top of that snow, things can get ugly.

No matter what, I would be less enthusiastic about boondocking, especially if you are in the snowy part. You will need to run the furnace a lot, and the furnace will discharge your battery in a day - so if you are boondocking, you'll need to buy a generator and run it for several hours a day in order to have power for the furnace, as well as lights. And you neeed to consider where you will get water, and how you will handle the gray and black water dumping question, if you are boondocking, especially in the cold. These can become real problems in any travel trailer if the outdoor temp stays below freezing for any appreciable time. I would look for a "trailer park", and ask about the rates for an extended stay, which will be way down from the overnight rate. And during this season, the tourists are gone, so rates are down for that reason, too.

A lot of it will depend on your personal temperament, and how much time and enthusiasm you have for dealing with some of the issues.

Bill
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