[Winter Adventure]

[Fred.Rowe]

My wife and I moved to this ridge, in s/e Ohio, in 1980. Our first home here was a 1958 Niagra. 30'x8' trailer. It was, a deep blue with a round glass in the entry door. We had electric, phone, our dog Tyler and that was about all. Well our first year, it got down to 35 below on Christmas eve. The heat that morning was being supplied by a kerosine wick heater. It might as well have been a single match. We piled every blanket we could find under and over us and stayed real close. In the afternoon I went to see if the car might start. It was so cold that one of the hindges broke when I tried to open the drivers side door.
So how cold was it ? It was colder than a well diggers -----:thumbdn:

Fred

 

[fitzo]

That was one buttfreezing winter, wasn't it, Fred??

We were living in a rented home. The oil heat was prone to getting plugged nozzles and had quit the coldest weekend that January. We piled the two of us and three big dogs on a queensized bed trying to stay warm. It got down below 35 in the house. Kerosun heater couldn't do squat against that cold, like you said (though I was grateful to have it). The middle of the second night, I hear a noise I think is a gunshot. I jump out of bed and grab a gun but couldn't find a thing.

The next morning, I found the cause; at opposite corners of the house, the walls had all of a sudden cracked from floor to ceiling and separated about 1/2".

That was one buttfreezing winter....

 

[Robert Dark]

In 1971, I was stationed at Minot AFB in North Dakota. In late December of that year I was getting ready to move to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. I was going through the usual "check-out" procedures, but had several problems in transportation to and from my "base-housing".

I don't remember what the "actual" temperature was, but the radio stated that with the "wind-chill" factor, it was -105 below Zero..........High wind with Minus-degree temps adds up to some strong stuff.

I know that I had one of the military "Parkas" that zip up over your head so that you are lookin' out a small hole. I "spit" out that small hole, and when the "spit" hit the ground, it was frozen and the wind blew it away like it was a frozen marble. It just rolled away.

That was the coldest damn place I have ever been. When you finally got your car running, the tires had a "frozen" flat spot on them, and it took several miles of driving before you felt like the "square tire" syndrome finally rounded out.

All-in-all..........I loved the place, and hope to someday re-visit.

Robert

 

[Robert Dark]

I'll start a [winter adventure] thread in this forum. Tell me a good one!

I forgot to say that I was doing some last minute tune-ups on my 1964 Chevy Impala..........I left the base and drove up the highway to test the old girl out.............I decided to make a U-Turn and head back to base........When I made the turn, the danged Chevy went dead, and when I tried to re-start, all I got was the dreaded "rrrruuummmph"........Dead as a hammer.......

Five minutes later.......... out of nowhere...........A North Dakota Game Warden came along.......... He told me that I was extremely lucky that he happened by..........He said that I would have frozen to death in 20 minutes or less if he had not came along........He carried me back to my house and gave me "Hell" for not having a survival kit in my car. That man saved my life, and I am ever grateful.

We are talking about some serious "cold" in that part of the world.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

In 1971, I was stationed at Minot AFB in North Dakota. In late December of that year I was getting ready to move to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. I was going through the usual "check-out" procedures, but had several problems in transportation to and from my "base-housing".

I don't remember what the "actual" temperature was, but the radio stated that with the "wind-chill" factor, it was -105 below Zero..........High wind with Minus-degree temps adds up to some strong stuff.

I know that I had one of the military "Parkas" that zip up over your head so that you are lookin' out a small hole. I "spit" out that small hole, and when the "spit" hit the ground, it was frozen and the wind blew it away like it was a frozen marble. It just rolled away.

That was the coldest damn place I have ever been. When you finally got your car running, the tires had a "frozen" flat spot on them, and it took several miles of driving before you felt like the "square tire" syndrome finally rounded out.

All-in-all..........I loved the place, and hope to someday re-visit.

Robert

I hadn't thought about the bias tire flat spot in a lot of years. Nylon was the worst. It would jar your teeth loose until the tires warmed up. I remember driving home from work one really cold evening. I made it to Bartlett,about three miles from my house and the car just died from the cold. -25 or so. I was mad that I had not made it home and without much thought smacked the vinyl dash board. It exploded. Luckily some one was out on the road and gave me a ride home. Just a little scarey. Fred