While staying at Brookhollow, I did a quick ride along the dike that wraps around the park.
The entrance:
Views from the dike path:
A video of the route:
I rearranged the contents of the bed of our truck. I previously had the bikes side-by-side, with the hammock and canopy tent on top:
Instead, I rearranged things so the bikes are front-to-back, with other stuff beside them:
This seems to be a better layout, as I can get the bikes out without having to remove other items, and vice versa.
We stayed at Brookhollow RV Park in Kelso, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A convenient stop.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient Stop on I-5
We stayed here for a few nights while we had business in the area. It was quick and easy access to I-5, which was convenient. Looks to be mostly permanent residents, but the park is clean and tidy. A bit spendy for what it is, however. We camped at Brookhollow RV Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
Our site:
Utilities:
We needed to park our truck across the road from our site:
Paladin in our doorway:
Our site from the dike opposite:
Entrance sign:
Other RVs:
Next to the RV park is the Brookhollow 55+ mobile home park:
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 215 miles from Concrete, Washington to Kelso, Washington.
We drove our coach 215 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Concrete, Washington to Kelso, Washington.
The map route, heading south:
Paladin looking a little concerned in the steps:
Rail bridge:
Do you think they’d wash a 40-foot motorhome?
Historic train:
Entering I-5:
Bridge:
Paladin:
Rest area exit:
A nice rest area dump station:
Pink car:
Bridges:
Trains:
Seattle Space Needle:
Seattle:
Seattle Convention Center:
Seaplane:
Paladin on the back of my chair:
Seattle traffic:
Green car:
Tacoma Dome:
Paladin:
Another rest area:
Lunch:
Paladin:
Gee Cee’s Truck Stop, a nice fuel option on I-5:
Kelso exit:
Arriving at the RV park:
To personalize our coach a bit more, we decided to replace a generic artwork in the kitchen with something a bit more meaningful to us.
Here’s the old artwork, after removing it from the wall:
The empty wall:
We got a wooden US map to feature in its place:
The map comes in several pieces:
We also got a 24×36” wooden frame, an opaque white plexiglass sheet of the same size, and some foam boards to fill out the space behind it:
I used Command-brand double-sided strips to help adhere it to the wall:
I also used screws through the plexiglass to secure it to the wall; the screws were later hidden behind stickers (the PostIt notes mark the map placement):
The wooden map is attached with double-sided adhesive strips:
And mounted to the plexiglass:
It has a nice 3D relief:
Hawaii:
Alaska:
Some hummingbird decorations:
We added pins (that came with the map) on states we’ve visited:
Plus stickers around the map for some places we’ve been:
The current state:
Over time, we will add more pins and stickers, to help commemorate our travels.
We took a six-hour day-trip around and up Mount Baker in northern Washington.
Here’s an interactive map of our route:
Our first stop was at the Acme Diner for brunch:
Acme art:
Continuing on:
Our second stop was at the Glacier Public Service Center, where Jenn collected a cancellation stamp, and we got a paper map with local info:
A one lane road:
Next was Nooksack Falls:
Then up Mount Baker to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, a very picturesque area:
And to the end of the road, Artist Point:
International Overlander:
An enjoyable day-trip.
Jenn won a prize to choose an item from Amazon, and opted for another useful addition for our travels, a foldable hammock.
It folds up fairly compactly in a carry bag:
The hammock frame easily unfolds:
The fabric is attached:
Pillow:
Extendable poles:
Support an optional shade:
The assembled hammock:
We probably won’t use it often, but it’ll be nice to have when wanted.
Today marks the one year anniversary of us purchasing our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome!
(The Allegro Bus brochure, if you’re interested in the stats and options.)
One year ago today, we drove four hours to Kennewick, Washington and met the private seller at a KOA campground, where we handed over the cashier check payment, signed the title transfer, and got the keys. We then stayed in the coach that night, marking the first night of our full-time RVing adventure.
To celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d re-publish the first pictures of the coach from a year ago. Many aspects have changed over the past 12 months, so it’s good to look back on where things started.
A couple of pictures of the coach exterior at the Kennewick KOA (the slide-out looks so naked without our stickers!):
My tour of the interior of the coach:
Here’s a floor plan (note that the living room layout is a bit different):
The entry door and steps (the exterior steps automatically slide out when the door is opened); welcome aboard:
In front of the passenger chair is a pull-out workstation surface:
Thusly:
The driver cockpit:
The living area:
The L-shaped couch and ottoman that came with the couch; we removed and stored it, and recently sold it:
Dining table (it can be pulled out to extend it a bit):
On the right of the dining sideboard was a keyboard tray drawer, for a computer workstation; I thought I might work there, though I didn’t; I use a lap tray instead, and we actually removed this, to make room for bottles in the cupboard below:
Residential refrigerator and freezer:
Pull-out pantry shelves:
The kitchen:
Pull-out counter:
Drawer dishwasher (made by NZ company Fisher & Paykel):
Dual sinks, with covers when more counter space is desired; we typically only use the left sink, with a draining rack over the right side:
Induction cooktop:
Convection microwave, that can be used as a normal microwave or as a convection oven:
Half bath; yes, this coach has two porcelain toilets:
Bedroom:
Tiltable king bed (with way too many cushions; we’ve stored all of these):
Bedroom TV and cabinets:
Moving into the bathroom, the sink:
Washer and dryer:
Shower:
The above pictures were with the four slides out; when traveling down the road, the slides are retracted, which makes things much more cramped.
Here’s the living room with slides in; it was difficult to get past the couches, another reason why we removed them:
Dining and kitchen with slides in; not so bad. We were able to get to the fridge and half-bath pretty easily, once past the couches — great for rest stops:
Bedroom with slides in; not very easy to get past the bed without climbing over it, but that’s fine:
I hope you enjoyed this flashback! Sometime I plan to do a similar tour with the current state. Stay tuned for that.
On to the next year of our full-time RVing adventure!
We went up to Concrete, Washington — almost to Canada — just to check off another national park, North Cascades.
A rather nice entrance sign:
A map of the Newhalem area:
Visitor center:
Jenn enjoys getting the passport cancellation stamps:
A helpful sign:
Do not touch the bear:
Relief map:
Displays:
Boardwalk to a viewpoint:
We had a picnic lunch there:
A tunnel:
Another tunnel:
A bridge:
Mountains:
Viewpoint at Diablo Lake:
The lake is a fascinating color:
A very dusty road, due to roadworks:
Lake:
Outside the park, a Wilderness Information Center:
Relief map:
The reason for visiting it, another passport cancellation station:
