Montana.... A Major Change of Plans!

djkeev · Last edited by djkeev on Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:13 am; edited 2 times in total

As they say..........

Life Happens as You Are Making Other Plans.

I've the 86 Weekender which I am rebuilding for early Spring and Fall use.
I planned on parking it for the Winter, no need for a rear heater, no need for a propex and similar thoughts.

I live in NJ, yes, thank you for your condolances, my daughter and her family of four children does as well.

Her husband, who until now was much loved Wink

, has accepted a job in Great Falls Montana. Broken my wifes and my heart 💔 yanking our grandchildren away, .............but...... Like a dog, I guess we'll kick grass and leaves on the pile of poo and move on!
http://www.city-data.com/city/Great-Falls-Montana.html

But, the good news is that I had the foresight to buy a camper two years ago!
I KNOW!!! ...... WHO KNEW?.... right?!?

Our vacation time is only short snippets together during nice weather and then a two week chunk around Christmas. Any long distance traveling West will be done then.
Having only visited there during the Summer months, passing through to more "interesting" places such as Yellowstone or Glacier.......

How bad is Early Winter out that way?
Is camping out of the question during the journey in December? Obviously the Shorter Route is Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota........... The Northern route. But that route also runs the worst early significant snowfall potentials.

Flying? Only on emergency MUST do situations. We Don't much care for traveling in the flying germ infested Sardine cans, or the entire flying experience on the ground!

Should a Propex heater and full camper style propane tank move high on my "must have" list?
Interior thermal insulation as well?

Dave
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bluefirefly · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 5:13 am Post subject:

This is wonderful, you'll be able to use your Weekender as you are suppose to.... Laughing

Sorry Dave, that was too easy.... Rolling Eyes

Propex would be a good idea, the 2800 was the best choice for us and you won't need interior insulation with it.
Winter trip here are often in the -20F or less and we can keep about 65F in our Vanagon , no insulation at all, curtain closed only.

The good news is Mountains will be at your sliding door (but you knew that) and if you are nice to your son in law, he might get a nice yard for you to plug in....
Of course, he should offer to buy you a nice set of snow tire on CLK rims too....

Christmas weather could be nice in Calgary (not really for the past 2 years...), not sure it would be the same for Great Falls (Calgary is only 5h North).
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wes.outside · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:38 am Post subject:

I would just say that the weather is a total crap shoot then. We have had storms that closed down I-90 briefly around the last two Christmases. Of course, it might be 60 degrees, too.
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IdahoDoug · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:49 am Post subject:

Hey, you'll be out my way - maybe I'll finally meet you! That's a beautiful corner of the world and a real immersion into the Montana experience for you guys to look forward to. A bit of work on insulation and a Big Buddy portable propane heater and you'll be good. Snow/winter tires would be wise, and chains will help you sleep better and don't take up much space. You'll use winter tires in NJ as well if you ever head to the hills. I'll elaborate more later.
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sanchius · Samba Member Joined: May 03, 2007 Posts: 1568 Location: IN

There are upsides. My family moved from just outside of NYC to Whitefish MT when I was quite young. Those formative years spent in MT proved to be amazing and set the tone for the rest of my life in the West...

kalispell365 · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:45 am Post subject:

Great Falls is bitter and often windy in December, no trees or mountains to block the cold air. The good news is that Glacier is only a couple of REALLY WINDY hours at like 30 MPH north on I-15.
Sorry...Last year I delivered a motorbike there in my Toyota Hilux and literally crawled home with an empty trailer ay 35MPH. with my otherwise great running truck overheating caused by the crosswinds being so strong that no air was getting to my radiator Exclamation

You may want to consider a stronger motor in your van, as well as a good heater.
The good news is that even with all the wind/ cold, Montana still is a place that shames New Jersey on its worst day to say the least. Clean air, clean water, good simple folks. Kinda like Pine Barrens 50 years ago.
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tschroeder0 · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:48 am Post subject:

its no man's land up there, go north and you are into some really remote area...it can snow up there in september (last September, just west of there I drove through one of the craziest storms I have ever seen)and you can run into some brutal winter storms any time after that. I have camped in blizzards in November just outside the northern entrance to yellowstone.
Propex, pop top insulation, real snow tires, yes, yes and yes

on the up side, probably one of the the most beautiful areas in the country up there...makes you feel small and happy when youre just cruising looking out at all that wide open land. It is an amazing place.

Mountain1.8t · Samba Member Joined: January 20, 2013 Posts: 340

Good thinking OP....we are planning a move out west this summer, and Montana is on the top of our list right now. I've also been working on setting up the campmobile for mountain life, and Propex and window insulation is next on the list. I like the idea of the 7-day programming timer that is available with the Propex units, so you can ski all day and come back to a nice warm house on wheels.

Since you will be in a remote part of the country, where you could get stranded for a while, you might consider putting together a 72-hour food pack, tow strap, extra blankets, first aid kit, etc. Of course snow tires/chains are important too.

J Charlton · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:57 am Post subject:

For those of you planning winter camping - I refer you to this post by jrobewesty

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:58 pm

John, even though I got lucky enough to find 2 factory AW's locally last year, thank you for taking this on for us.

I can't believe how much more we like the van with the Hightop.

NO clutter on the floor!! Very Happy

We have 15 nights in the van already this year. Normally we would be just getting the van out for the year and wouldn't even think of over nights this time of the year.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

To me that alone is worth the cost of a top.

Thanks again for giving us this option.

Jeff

I sure hope you get some replacement windows that can fit the stock tops.

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Steve M. · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:59 am Post subject:

Just a heads up on cellular service going out that way. T-Mobile did not have any presence after Fargo, ND on the interstate going out that way. Don't know who your using now, but ATT was the carrier that showed up most often. For navigation it can be a problem If you use the Google Maps on the phone.

insyncro · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:00 am Post subject:

Big Sky or Big City...an easy decision for most Wink

maryloucb · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:11 am Post subject:

Maybe you should just move out there with them Very Happy

insyncro · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:15 am Post subject:

djkeev · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:09 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies!

It seems that we will be able to carve a two week window in late Summer to venture out!

This means that I probably need to fix the AC! Heavy sigh..........

Time will tell!

Dave
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greebly · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:13 pm Post subject:

You will need a sticker for the van that declares..."I'm from Joisey! Reminds me of Joe Pisccopo on SNL. I'm from Joisey! Are you from Joisey?

djkeev · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 4:27 pm Post subject:

Jeffrey Lee · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:40 pm Post subject:

djkeev, since you're in a Weekender Vanagon, I suggest you avoid the Rat Race of the I-system and instead smell the roses along historic Highway 2, which will get you darn close to Great Falls with much less stress.

Here's a write-up of our own Westy trip out that way:
http://www.vanthology.com/Layout/Journeys/Glacier/Glacier1.html

Note that we encountered snow in Glacier NP on Labor Day ...

Lemme know if/when you're passing thru Wisconsin; I've been following your seam-rust thread as I prepare to attack my own, and would love your opinion. Bring your Fein Multimaster!

Jeffrey "Earl" Lee
www.vanthology.com

DadsOld74 · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:04 pm Post subject:

I love this area! I happen to be in Missoula right now.

A strong engine would be good. 75 mph freeways with considerable wind.

We were in Billings in December this year and it was -25 degrees. Shocked

That can happen any place in Montana.

But, Montana and Wyoming or open, clean, and free. I would never want to go back to California. If you can do without the big city, I would definitely recommend following them. It's not for everybody though. One friend of mine from the East about went crazy and had to get back to some concrete!
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