VIAIR tire inflation compressor

Another essential gadget I’ve had for quite some time is the VIAIR 450P air compressor, to inflate the tires on our coach.

I already had a tire inflator that plugged into a 110V outlet, which I’ve previously used for truck tires and other tires. But it can’t quite handle the maximum 130 PSI of the coach tires, plus is very noisy. (I inflate the front tires to 120 PSI.)

The VIAIR unit is much quieter, and automatically shuts off when not actively inflating.

Unlike the old one, this one connects to a 12V source like a car battery. I hook it up to the truck’s battery; the truck needs to be running while in use, to avoid draining the battery.

I keep it in the back of our truck, so we’ll be able to use it while driving the truck around if needed.

It comes in a handy bag, and includes two long coiled hoses, so I can leave the compressor by the truck, and reach all of the coach tires:

VIAIR tire inflator

Here it is in use; it’s easy to inflate by pulling the trigger, and release to read the gauge to check the static pressure:

VIAIR tire inflator

An essential tool.

Video

Video: 2021 motorhome travel timelapses

I’ll soon be publishing a video showing all of our motorhome driving timelapses in 2022, so I thought I’d first publish one for 2021, to be complete. Or as complete as possible; I didn’t get a dashcam until about a month after we got the coach.

This video is 20x the speed of the original timelapse videos.

Grackles

We first saw grackle birds in Mexico, but they are quite common in Texas, too. In San Antonio, we encountered an area that was totally inundated with them. They are kinda cute, and make a very interesting noise, a bit like R2-D2… but this was a bit much.

Grackles

San Antonio River Walk

We explored the main downtown part of the San Antonio River Walk.

But first, lunch at Margaritaville near the river:

Margaritaville

A statue of Saint Anthony:

Statue

The river, with a glimpse of the Tower of the Americas:

River and tower

The river walk:

River walk

Buildings

Fountain

River

Duck

River boat

We had a second lunch at a riverside Mexican restaurant:

Jenn

They took some photos of us, gave this one free, and offered to sell others, but they weren’t great pics:

Boat

We decided to take a river boat tour, which was an interesting and entertaining experience:

Boat

Boat captain

Theater

Statue

River

Building

River

Building

River

Waterfall

Bridge

River

A theater, with seating on one side and the stage across the river:

Theater

River

Waterfall

Sculpture

River

Rivercenter

A nice downtown area.

The Alamo

We visited The Alamo while in San Antonio. It is a site of great significance in the history of Texas. It started as a mission in 1718, and is best known for the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.

Here’s a GIF of a series of relief maps, showing how it grew and changed over the years:

Relief maps GIF

The courtyard in front of the Alamo church:

The Alamo

Statues:

Statue

The Alamo:

The Alamo

We took a guided tour, which was great to learn lots about the history:

Tour guide

We each had a device with an earpiece, so the guide could more easily talk to us:

Tour device

Drawing of the mission:

Drawing of the mission

A statue of a guy who lived in that house, and who defended the Alamo:

Statue

Monument:

Monument

James Butler Bonham and James Bowie:

Monument

Burke Trammel and David Crockett:

Monument

A cannon:

Cannon

Heading inside the The Alamo church:

The Alamo

The church is just one part of the mission:

Model

The Alamo

As part of a guided tour, we got to go into a room that isn’t open to the general public:

The Alamo

Army markings:

The Alamo

Exit:

Exit

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Back of The Alamo:

Back of The Alamo

Courtyard:

Courtyard

Cannons:

Cannons

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Decorations:

Decoratoins

Reenactor:

Reenactor

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Statues:

Statue

Model:

Model

Long barracks:

Long house barracks

A last look at The Alamo:

The Alamo

San Antonio Zoo Lights

We visited San Antonio Zoo for their holiday lights.

We arrived before dark, so there were still some animals awake:

Animals

A carousel:

Carousel

Animals

Aussie Snacks

Animals

We had some dinner:

Dinner

Then wandered around some more:

Animals

Some holiday lights coming on as the sun set:

Holiday lights

Animals

Artwork

Animals

Holiday lights

Animals

Holiday lights

A band:

Band

Holiday lights

Artwork:

Art

Holiday lights

Zoo sign

It was a fairly small zoo, not particularly impressive. Notable for opening the first cageless exhibits in the US. Though it looks like much of it hasn’t been updated recently.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

We explored the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

We rode our bikes between the four missions, starting at Mission Concepcion in the north. Here’s the approximate route on an interactive map (we diverted from this a little; see the actual route in the video at the end):

Mission Concepcion:

Mission Concepcion

Relief map:

Relief map

Mission Concepcion

This is still a functional church:

Mission Concepcion

Riding on the river path:

River walk path

Our next stop, Mission San Jose:

Mission San Jose

Relief map

Mission San Jose

River:

River

River walk path

Mission San Juan:

Mission San Juan

An art installation — Árbol de la Vida: Memorias y Voces de la Tierra:

Artwork

Mission Espada:

Mission Espada

Heading back along the river walk path:

River walk path

River

River walk path

Back at our truck:

Back at our truck

Mission Concepcion:

Mission Concepcion

A video of our riding route:

SeaWorld San Antonio; Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Since it’s Christmas Day, I wanted to wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. 🎄

We went to SeaWorld in San Antonio to see the holiday lights. One doesn’t really think of the sea in connection with landlocked San Antonio, but there ya go.

SeaWorld

We first checked out the sea lions:

Sea lions

Since we happened to be nearby when they were about to start a Sea lion show, we thought we’d check it out:

Sea lion show

We sensibly sat outside the splash zone, aka deliberately spraying water jets zone:

Sea lion show

So cute:

Cute

Sea lions

Snowmen:

Snowmen

Reindeer

A very Texan boot tree:

Boot tree

Plastic bottle tree:

Plastic bottle tree

Turtle:

Turtle

Fish:

Fish

Ducks and flamingos:

Ducks and flamingos

Jenn:

Jenn

Dinner:

Dinner

Swag:

Swag

Lights:

Lights

Again we happened to be nearby when they were about to start a nativity show, as told by animal puppets, with some live animals, so we attended that too (way too loud):

Nativity show

Lights reflecting in the water:

Lights

A musical performance:

Performance

Lights:

Lights

A Sesame Street Christmas parade:

Christmas parade

Then we headed to the Orca Encounter, for a little more animal exploitation… but they were keen to point out how many animals they’d rescued and otherwise helped:

Orca Encounter

Some videos of the orca:

More lights:

Lights

SeaWorld

It was a fun evening.

Hidden Valley RV Park

We stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park in San Antonio, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A rural campground minutes from the city.

We had originally planned to stay at a Thousand Trails campground a bit further from the city (because TT is free for us), but had concerns about access to it, and thought we’d rather be closer to the city, as San Antonio has lots of interesting attractions. We could have been closer still, but this place was a nice compromise between the kind of rural sites we enjoy, but close to the city.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-12-11
Check out: 2022-12-18
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
High temps ranging between 59-77°F, lows around 41-61°F
Occasional wind, up to 28 MPH gusts

Noise:

Some road noise, occasional train and plane noise
No neighbor noise

Site:

#6, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Unlevel; needed to use some blocks on the front jacks
Medium-large site: about 80 feet long by about 40 feet wide
Picnic table

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 1-22 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 46-93 ms ping
AT&T: 15-21 Mbps down, 8-12 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
T-Mobile: 4 Mbps down, 1-9 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Verizon: 1-8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster (near entrance)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A nice country feel, close to the city

This was a great place to stay for our visit to San Antonio. We were in the lower, creek portion of the campground, and it was nice to be able to visit the attractions of the city and come home to a nice, quiet place. We really enjoyed looking for turtles along the creek (you have to be sneaky as they dive under the water at the first sign of people). Our site wasn’t particularly level front-to-back, but with enough blocks under the front jacks, we were able to make it work. Cell service was good, and Starlink had a good view of the sky for a connection. We camped at Hidden Valley RV Park in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the RV park:

The campground map; our site was in the “creekside” section, a bit separated from the main part:

Map

Our site:

Our site

The site was rather unlevel, so we needed to use blocks under our front jacks to get the coach level:

Jack blocks

The utilities were all conveniently placed:

Utilities

The cellular service was a little weak, and we had wanted to exercise the Starlink anyway, since it had been a few months since we used it last, so we put that out (with no sky obstructions):

Starlink