This article was written back in 2023, but remained in drafts until the day of publishing, 2025.

So, I write this after having quite the doozy of a day last week. We’re heading to a camping spot we selected ahead of time, ready for a well deserved night’s rest. It’s dark now, and as we’re on the highway when I see the light rain we’ve been expecting turn slowly into powdery puffs of snow…

I’m inexperienced with snow (I’m from the San Joaquin Valley in California), so I didn’t want to head out to some unknown dispersed camping spot where I’d be prone to getting stuck if the snow got heavier than forecasted. Instead, we found a nearby spot at a travel center, where we’d settle in. Only thing is, the diesel heater decided to not start up. I kept trying it, over and over, priming it, then starting it up, only for it to blow room temperature air at best.

Outside, the snow began to pile up around us. It wasn’t that cold – maybe 35 degrees at lowest – but the visual from outside in combination with the heater going out made me feel a tiny bit of pressure. Would it get colder? Would we be freezing tonight? Would I even be able to fix the heater? All things that rushed through my head. I needed to get under the van and troubleshoot right away, I felt.

Wasn’t the fuel line. Heater was definitely getting fuel after getting underneath to check. It wasn’t a power issue. It was the infamous E9 error so many diesel heater users see. I needed to open up the heater and clean out the chambers. And with the snow really coming down now, work the next morning, and a general reluctance to be outside for longer than 5 minutes, we slept that night with three covers and Lily for warmth.

The night passed and it honestly wasn’t too bad. I was expecting for Lupi to be absolutely freezing, but our wool blankets and body warmth kept us quite toasty all night. It was just getting out of bed initially where I felt the chill of the day set in.