“Home” … it has a weird sound to it.

After nearly three years on the road, it’s strange settling back in here at Jerry’s Acres knowing that we’ll be here until it’s time to head south again next winter. We were only here a couple months before hitting the road again last season, and having returned I suppose we are officially Snowbirds now, or Snabbers rather.

Though I thought Snowbirds were supposed to travel away from the snow! It was snowing when we left last October, and as I look out the window now it seems we are living in a snow globe, and someone is shaking it really hard. Just a couple weeks ago we were sweating it out down in Texas – running the A/C all day, thinking it was time to head “home” … now we wondering when we might be able to stop wearing multiple layers!

The good news is, I must have done something right with my directions for how to winterize a mountain home.

After doing our best not to fear the worst for the past few months, we returned to a clean house, perfectly intact, where everything came back online without any problems. No broken windows, no burst pipes, no critters trapped inside, no worries. We were even prepared to spend a few nights in the RV, having no idea what to expect upon our return. But considering this crazy weather, I’m certainly glad to be inside, next to the fire.

Bonus: My motorcycle even fired right up after sitting stored over the winter. Before we left, I had added some Stabil to the gas tank and turned off the fuel line, letting it run dry. I disconnected the battery, wrapped the bike in moving blankets and forgot about it. Then, a couple months ago I got to wondering, “Can the water in batteries freeze?” Well, apparently not, at least not this time.

Best of all, we had a welcoming party greet us upon our return. The day after we got back, René spotted a moose walking down the road past our house. The next day, we saw two moose cows and a calf – the same one we saw last year I believe – crossing our property while out for a walk. And earlier today we had a nice little training session with Wyatt learning not to bark at deer right outside the window.

It’s good to be “home” … but don’t worry, we have lots of stories to catch up on from our not so recent adventures. And before we know it the time will come to head back out on the open road in our home sweet home on wheels!

By the time we left our mountain home in between snowstorms, it felt like an episode of M*A*S*H with us bugging out and heading South before getting hit hard. On a side note, a weather report from Red Feather lakes last week said it was -2 degrees back home.

But we did have time to winterize the place, which based on that report, we are very glad we did.

In addition to a few minor exterior repairs, below are the steps we took to ensure our house survives the severe Colorado winter.

Steps for Winterizing Mountain Home:

• Close and/or cover all heating vents.
• Remove all food from premises.
• Clean out refrigerator.
• Remove all ice from freezer and shut off water supply to ice maker.
• Turn heater thermostat off.
• Turn off fuel supply and/or electricity to furnace.
• Turn off fuel supply and/or electricity to water heater.
• Turn off well pump.
• Drain well water pressure tank.
• Drain hot water heater.
• Drain water from and insulate any outdoor hose bibs.
• Drain water from all interior faucets.
• Flush toilets to drain tanks and remove excess water in bowls.
• Plunge out excess water from all waste water traps.
• Plug dry toilet bowls with rags.
• Plug all sink and tub drains.
• Expel water from lines using air pressure, if equipped.
• Lock all windows and close blinds/curtains.
• Deploy preferred rodent deterrence.
• Plug any exterior holes with steel wool to prevent rodent entrance.
• Set nail mats in front of all windows and doors to deter bears.
• Unplug any phantom load items, TVs, stereos etc.
• Provide contact information to neighbors.
• Pray that all is well when you return.

What is a nail mat you ask? We wondered the same thing when we discovered the picket fence looking things with nails sticking out of them in the garage when we bought the place. (See photo above.) Turns out the previous owner made these bear unwelcome mats to place in front of all the windows and doors, with the screws pointing up. Let’s hope they work!

The previous owner also told us he never winterized the place, but he was often up there on winter weekends. We told this to a couple neighbors, and they both said, “He was lucky!” We’ll be gone a few months. And considering this was the first time we ever had to do anything like this, we’ll see if these steps did the trick. Talk to us next Spring.