Hi Folks , We are moving out to Saskatoon in January 2009, I have a job to go to but rather than buying or renting a house straight away, we are considering buying a winnebago type RV and living in it for a couple of months before choosing a house type and location etc. The main questions are. is there any touring type stop overs open at this time of year , are there any restrictions as to where you can park ? basically ANY views or pointers would be appreciated. thanks in advance .Shrug

I would think there are lots of restrictions. Tourists park on Walmart parking lot. Walmart seem to like this because they shop at Walmart, but I don't think you could stay there for a couple of months. Of course, there is no elecricity to hook up to so you would have to eat out all the time. You can't park any vehicle on a street for more than 24 hours. Of course, people do it all the time, but if you parked outside someone's house and they complained, parking enforcement would give you a ticket.

This site has several RV parks

http://canada.travelall.com/sk/acc/s...on/camping.htm

Here is a site where people have reviewed the parks

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions...Saskatoon.html

I realize RV's are very well equipped these days but I'm not sure I would want to live in one for two months during a Saskatchewan winter even if I could find available parking and hydro/water hookups. I'm sure you're aware of how cold/snowy it is there in winter. Today it is -21C, feels like -35C in Regina with light snow.It would probably be difficult to find sewage evacuation facilities open at that time of year. Do you plan to buy a car to tow behind the RV? If not, then every time you leave your site you'd require to unhook hydro/water so you could drive to the store, movies etc.
Sorry if I appear to shoot down your plans/thoughts but the Saskatchewan winters can be very severe

Oh right. I guess I should learn to read . . I didn't see you were coming here in January!

Ditto what the above poster says.

Yeah, it's been -30C or thereabouts for much of the last three or four weeks, and we had about six inches of snow last night, so January may be a bad time for living in an RV.

That said, they're predicting temperatures close to zero by the middle of January.

Oh good grief. I have my fingers crossed for 0 degrees. I am SO sick of this cold and the intersections being like skating rinks. And now all this snow too!! But at least its a DRY cold!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi and Welcome.
When do you move out?? We moved out last Jan and dont think I would have enjoyed living in an RV! Have you looked at short term rents, hard to come by and cost a bit more but they are out there. We spent 6 weeks in an apartment downtown that we didnt need a long term agreement on??

Is it true that when the temperature reaches 0C in Sask everyone breaks out the Speedos and sun tan lotion?

Omg great idea, We (ME AND HUSBAND) looked at these things on the show room floor for holidays and to say if you got a good one it would well do you for a hard winter......

Looked better than my house inside some of them...Not to sure on your location to rent, that is a thing for you to look up in that area..But with showers and inside heating and the sence of adventure your more than love it.. We have camp sites up here in Algonquin -35 and thats under canvass kids go camping in this weather as Scouts and guides a like... and that is with tents and sleeping bag....


Best of luck GO FOR IT..............

Don't underestimate the cold! We travelled in our motorhome from Halifax to BC in December last year. It was around -25 for most of the time and our RV is not fully winterised. We managed to get to about +10 inside when we stopped and put on the heating but while we were driving it was around zero and overnight it was down to -5 some nights even with the heating on. We survived but that was only for a week.

Unless you have a fully winterised RV and park it permanently then board up the underside to keep the cold out it really isnt possible to keep it comfortably warm inside. All the water lines will have to be heat taped or they will freeze and you may have to have the water heater adapted to be insulated.
The propane tanks are a permanent fixture on motorhomes so unless you want to keep moving the vehile to fill the tanks you will need to buy large propane tanks. You'll be using a lot of that!!! (I am talking about calor gas type stuff). Cold weather also affects the flow of propane.

So if you do decide to do this make sure the RV you buy is fully winterised down to at least -40C then you isulate like mad.

I am pretty sure you won't find any campgrounds open at this time of year but you may be able to find a hard standing to rent on a trailer park (mobile home park). We have people living in RVs on trailer parks in town here (winter temps around -10 to -30) but as I previously said, they have boarded and insulated around the bottom of the RV. On such park you will be permanently hooked up to water & sewer. The sewer lines will freeze so they have to be heat taped as well.

We have just spent the past few days replacing the heat tape under the trailer of elderly neighbours as theirs failed and their water has been frozen for days. That is in a regular trailer park type trailer.

So it can be done, but you will need the right kind of vehicle.

You mention a Winnebago type thing so I assume you are thinking of an 'A' class motorhome. As a previous poster said you will then also need a car so why pay for a vehicle you won't be driving.

Consider a trailer (caravan) or 5th wheel instead. They can be winterised and will cost around $30,000 upwards whereas a motorhome is going to set you back $80,000 and up! Those lovely new ones are over $200k. There are a lot of bargains to be had at this time and you could get a 5th wheel and truck package for a bargain.

Take a look at these sites for more info
http://www.sankey.ws/rvwinter.html
http://www.rvliving.net/winter.htm
This is sales in BC - but it gives you an idea http://www.voyagerrv.ca/

Hope that helps
Jill

thanks for the links and input ,much appreciated I will follow them up

thanks Purley, much appreciated all the campsites seem to be closed till April, so I am beggining to catch on to the idea that RV's in winter is not a good idea ? cheers Shrug

Yes I think not. Its one thing for scouts to camp a couple of nights in a tent, but a totally different thing to try living like that for a couple of months.