Winter is Hell in McKinney!!!

Since January 31st, winter has really descended upon Texas and in particular, McKinney. I know I have not added to the blog for a while but this week is really worth mentioning. On Tuesday, February 1st we were greeted with a nasty storm which rained down sleet and freezing rain. Peg and I thought we would be smart and pulled our motorhome slides in to save the awnings that cover each slide. On Tuesday the temperatures plummeted and we were stuck living in our normally roomy motorhome with all the slides in. As you RVer's know, this is not a wonderful amount of living space. It becomes pretty tough, especially after being closed in for three days. The temperatures did not get above 20 degrees during the day and at night it was in the single digits. I could not get to my jeans in the drawer, so I was stuck in shorts for a couple of days. Now that was a topic of conversation around here!

I tried to open the slides during the day on Wednesday and they opened part way and then I could see the tops bending in as the toppers were so iced up they were keeping the slide from deploying. I also heard a bang and the topper roller actually came out of the center support arm and rollers so it was very difficult to get the topper material to rollback in. I barely opened my jean drawer, got jeans and then I went on the roof and rolled the fabric as Peg brought the slides back in. No way would I do that again until they were thawed out!

On Thursday we decided to try and get the motorhome unstuck from the ice (jack pads, tires and power cord) and make our way across the icy parking lot and into the factory at MCD to try and thaw out the slides and the entire motorhome. MCD has a very large garage door that will accommodate our motorhome. After fighting the ice, chipping out the leveling pads and trying to get the back engine compartment door open so I could plug in the engine block heater (used a hair dryer to melt the ice from the locks), I moved the coach inside and it stayed there the rest of the day. I was able to fix the center roller mount while it was inside. Finally, after a couple of hours, I was able to move the slides out. I left them in that position to dry.

We left the building around 5:30pm with the slides functioning and moved back into our site. This time I put wood blocks under the jack pads and got the slides extended quickly. Ahhhh...room again!

Wouldn't you know it, it began snowing around midnight on Friday and here we sit in about 6" of snow. There are a few other folks stuck here with us waiting to get their shades installed, but the factory has been closed most of the week so work has been slowed to a crawl for the most part.

As you can see, I took my position on top of the coach and began getting rid of the snow. I HATE winter! Hey...Can anyone say snow in Dallas for Super Bowl Weekend!!!!!!