A very frozen Valens Lake!
Our first camping trip of February fell on the coldest weekend yet of 2016! Temperatures were negative double digits all weekend with a warm up not happening until the Monday we left for home. On a good note, it was sunny and clear the entire weekend. Friday and Saturday were the coldest, but by Sunday the wind had died down which made it seem even warmer!
We arrived as usual on Friday and got the trailer set up and the heat on without issue. Within an hour it was toasty warm inside.
Saturday we worked around camp. I wanted to give the fifth wheel a good clean inside. I’ve found a great work around to cleaning without water – Lysol cleaning wipes. We haven’t been using our fresh water system yet so there’s no such thing as warm water, unless we boil it, which we usually do for washing dishes. All my bird feeders got filled which the squirrels really loved! There were the first visitors!
By Sunday, our feeders were being visited by chickadees, sparrows, cardinals, bluejays and woodpeckers. I just love seeing the birds! We also built a warm campfire Saturday late morning and kept it going until dark. I find during the winter on really cold weekends, it’s nice to have a fire all day, but come night fall it’s just too cold to stay outside for long!
Our wood pile continues to grow! Every visit to Valens, we load the pickup bed with more wood and we get a great workout unloading it! It was bonus having an extra full day. The long weekends are nice! Sunday we had visitors, our camping friends Mike and Kathy and of course our camping friends Derek and Tatjana who are also taking part in the winter program at Valens stopped by.
I installed a new toy in preparation to use our fresh water supply more – a digital thermometer. I put it in the pass through compartment near the heat duct to keep track of the temperature in there. During the coldest part of the weekend it was about 4C and the rest of the time around 8C. I think we’ll be fine using our fresh water system! Next time up, we’ll give that a try I think!
Sunday we also went for a hike on some trails at Valens. It was a much better day weather wise for outdoor activities. The blue sky and sunshine was wonderful!
It was a wonderful weekend at Valens. Despite the cold, we had a great time! Our fifth wheel was a warm, cozy refuge when we tired of the cold. We ate well with a crock pot roast for dinner on Saturday night and bbq’d steak on Sunday. Valentines Day treats were also brought along to celebrate!
We have one more trip out in February in a couple weeks and that will round out the month!
Stay tuned for more winter camping adventures & HAPPY CAMPING!!!
Sue and Daves RV Adventures 