A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 185 miles from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
Month: December 2023
Travel from Tucumcari to Albuquerque, New Mexico
We drove our coach 185 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to attend the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:
An interactive map, with our two stops (a rest area and a fuel stop), plus several waypoints for a detour and the exact route to the balloon fiesta RV lot:
Turning left to I-40 West:
Tucumcari Mountain:
I-40:
A rather rough road surface:
Lots of trucks:
A motorhome and trailer:
Fun with camera zoom:
An interesting load:
Another oversize load (smaller than we experienced on the previous travel day on a highway):
Ruined building:
Mountain:
More fun with zoom:
A rest stop with parallel truck parking; not ideal:
Flying C Ranch got a bit carried away with their billboards:
More fun with zoom:
A fuel stop:
I noticed that there was significant stoppage on I-40, so quickly found an alternative route (that was still RV-safe). We took exit 187 onto Route 66:
A view of the miles of stopped traffic on I-40:
The map shows the traffic, not just the red of heavy traffic, but almost black of totally stopped:
Route 66 Travel Center:
Old US Highway 66:
When we were in Albuquerque, of course we had to play Weird Al’s epic song Albuquerque (or music video):
Approaching Balloon Fiesta Park:
We regretted taking the right lane, as the trees brushed against our coach:
Arriving at the VIP North RV lot:
Passing through the raceway:
While Jenn checked in, I untoaded, then followed the coach to our site:
Parking the coach in the site:
Stay tuned for lots of pictures from the balloon fiesta!
Holiday lights in our coach
An out-of-sequence special post. We don’t do a lot of Christmas decorations in our motorhome, since we have to carry them around all year with our limited storage space, but we do have a string of programable color-changing lights that we put around the ceiling, plus a little Christmas tree:
Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico
While staying in Tucumcari, New Mexico, we explored their portion of the famous mother road, Route 66:
We had dinner at Kix on 66, a classic Route 66 diner:
Then cruised along Route 66, to take pictures of the classic architecture and signs:
Tucumcari / Route 66 KOA Journey
We stayed at Tucumcari / Route 66 KOA Journey in Tucumcari, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Buddy sites. We hate buddy sites. But they deliver breakfast, so there’s that.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-10-06
- Check out: 2023-10-08
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Drizzle, partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 73-74°F, lows around 43-50°F
- Afternoon wind, gusts up to 26 MPH
Noise:
- Nearby freeway noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #99, pull through, concrete
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Somewhat level, a little front-to-back slope (weird for concrete)
- Concrete driveway about 70 feet long by about 10 feet wide
- Buddy “patios” and grass about 20 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 15 feet wide
- No trees
- Picnic table on small concrete patio, about 25 feet by 10 feet
- No fire pit
- Did I mention buddy site! Do not like. (A buddy site is when our living area faces another living area.)
- Clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 70 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 38-43 Mbps down, 3-8 Mbps up, 96-134 ms ping
- Verizon: 0.05-0.3 Mbps down, 0.5-5 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- AT&T: 83-95 Mbps down, 7-10 Mbps up, 32-61 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster by entrance
- Package delivery to site
- Cooked breakfast delivery to site
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Buddy sites, nuff said
This is an older KOA with new owners who are working on improvements. I see a lot of potential and will stay here again because it’s just so convenient to I-40, but the rates are a bit much for what it is currently. The staff here are all fantastic. Friendly, helpful, and on the ball when you report an issue. And who could argue with cooked breakfast brought right to your door? However, the biggest drawback is that most of the sites are buddy sites. They have nice, new concrete “patio” sites at the back of the park but ruined it by having them all be buddies. I cannot overstate how much I dislike buddy sites. We camped at Tucumcari KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Kix on 66 was very tasty and has that whole Route 66 retro vibe going on.
The map:
An interactive map:
Our site, facing another site:
Better after they left:
The next evening, a fiver arrived in that site, which was even worse, since their door and our door were sharing the same “patio” and table (fuzzy picture from my front door cam in the morning; they left as we were getting up):
Driver sides facing each other is fine:
Empty sites:
Other sites:
Cabins:
The site was concrete, but was still a bit unlevel, surprisingly:
A nice feature of this campground is cooked breakfast delivery to the site, which we sampled:
The office:
With a couple of young cats outside:
Office:
Tucumcari Mountain behind the campsite; as mentioned yesterday, the inspiration for the Radiator Cap mountain in the Cars movie:
This campground was fine for a couple of nights stay, but we wouldn’t want to stay longer. It is under new ownership, so my main feedback would be to eliminate the buddy sites (easier said than done, of course). Or at least space out the RVs to every other site when not busy.
Video: Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 165 miles from Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico, with a picture-in-picture of the view from the truck being towed behind our coach.
Travel from Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico
We drove our coach 165 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:
An interactive map:
The drive-in screen as we depart the RV park:
Oversize load:
Welcome to Texas:
A very long train:
Big cowboy:
We stopped at a basic rest area for a bathroom break:
Seeing triple; three seemingly identical tractors driving down the road:
Railway crossing:
A mural in Dalhart:
Tatty Texas flag:
Dalhart:
We passed several feed lots; miles of smelly cattle:
I thought this was a clever idea: the start of a passing lane is marked with a dotted line, encouraging people to move right. More places should do this:
More farm equipment:
Long straght road:
Fun with the phone zoom, making it look like we’re about to drive off a cliff:
We stopped for lunch at a picnic area; “watch for rattlesnakes”:
Paladin was enjoying a box:
A rail bridge by the picnic area:
Our coach:
I got out to plug the 360 camera into a battery pack, since it was about to run out of power:
(On the passenger seat in that picture you can see stuff used for hooking up the truck to the coach.)
More fun with zoom:
Entering Mountain time zone:
We were in Mountain time, then had a couple of weeks in Central time, and now back to Mountain for a week, before returning to Central until the end of the year, when we’ll enter Eastern. Such fun.
Welcome to New Mexico, our third state today:
Nara Vista, a rather run-down town:
Bard, ditto:
Paladin asleep in his safe spot:
Lots of long straight roads on this trip:
More fun with zoom:
Canadian River?!
Tucumcari Mountain, the inspiration for Radiator Cap mountain in the Cars movie:
Our destination:
Our site:
Corral Drive-In RV Park
We stayed at Corral Drive-In RV Park in Guymon, Oklahoma. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice RV park, other than the highway and train noise.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-10-01
- Check out: 2023-10-06
- 5 nights
Weather:
- Rain, thunderstorm, partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 70-81°F, lows around 49-62°F
- Lots of wind, gusts up to 32 MPH most days
Noise:
- Nearby highway noise
- Nearby train noise (with lots of horns)
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #36, pull through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Somewhat level, a little side-to-side slope
- Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by about 20 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 30 feet wide
- This was an end site, with horseshoe pits next to it
- Medium-sized trees
- No picnic table (but available upon request)
- No fire pit
- A few bottlecap-sized bits of trash in the site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 42 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipe and a 2-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 237-282 Mbps down, 35-60 Mbps up, 67-260 ms ping
- Verizon: 2-4 Mbps down, 10-14 Mbps up, 115 ms ping
- AT&T: 95 Mbps down, 52 Mbps up, 49 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: 10-13 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 4 ms ping
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster by entrance
- Package delivery to office
- An old (discontinued) drive-in movie screen
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Beautiful campground with a retro vibe
This campground was a great place to stop while traveling the Oklahoma panhandle. The sites are long and well-spaced, the utilities are in good working order, and everything is lovingly cared for. The vintage playground (and movie screen) from its previous life as a drive-in is a great touch we really enjoyed. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. The only drawback is the road and train noise at all hours, so be prepared with earplugs or white noise if you’re a light sleeper. We camped at Corral Drive-In RV Park in a Motorhome.
The map:
I don’t usually post the RV park rules, but these were amusingly worded:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Horseshoe pits next to our site:
Another new state, so after our first night we could add another sticker to our coach, completing a column. It looks like we’ve visited over half the country geographically, but only 17 of 50 states; the east coast has much smaller states:
Inside, the board for stickers and pins is also filling up:
There were several days of thunderstorms during the first half of our stay here:
An unpleasant midnight wakeup:
The entrance:
Bowling ball garden:
Office:
Vintage movie projector:
Projection house:
Movie screen and ancient playground:
Behind the screen:
Car shell:
Old truck:
Horse statue:
Other sites:
A weird one: a truck with hay bales and an Airstream trailer. Taking their hay on vacation?
The movie screen again:
We’d be happy to stay here again, but best suited for a couple of nights, due to the road and train noise.
Video: Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 163 miles from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma, with some additional footage from my 360 camera, mounted on the truck being towed behind our coach.
Travel from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma
We drove our coach 163 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map:
Our coach by the lake, before hooking up our truck:
Toaded:
We stopped by the dumpsters to take out the trash on the way out:
Departing the park:
Paladin in his safe space next to the passenger chair:
Scott City:
A clever idea to use the water tower as a cell tower:
There were lots of oversize load trucks on this route, including several with really long wind turbine blades:
And other things:
A brief bathroom stop (using the bathroom in our coach, of course):
More wind turbine blades and farm equipment:
Presumably a radar sphere:
Another one:
A lunch stop at a Subway at a gas station:
Another oversize load:
Paladin in his safe spot:
A pedestrian bridge in the ironically named Liberal, Kansas:
Oklahoma state line, and some roadworks:
Oklahoma sign:
This water tower reminded me of the famous Warner Bros one:
Hooker, Oklahoma (the Wikipedia article says the motto is “It’s a location, not a vocation”):
Half the main road through town closed for roadworks:
Our destination:
