A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 278 miles from Scott, Arkansas to Red Bay, Alabama.
Month: April 2024
Travel from Scott, Arkansas to Red Bay, Alabama
We drove our coach 278 miles, about five hours of driving, from Scott, Arkansas to Red Bay, Alabama.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
The tow bar was at a strange angle, due to toading up on a curve, but that’s fine (just need to pull forward slowly until it locks in place):
Don’t need the dump station on the way out this time:
I-440 East:
I-40 East:
Paladin in his safe spot next to the passenger chair… and saying get that phone out of my face:
Wide load:
Paladin asleep:
A lunch stop at a large Petro truck stop:
We were going go in to an IHOP, but decided we didn’t have time for that, with a long drive still ahead, so just ate in our coach:
I-55 Alt South:
Crossing the Mississippi River:
Tennessee welcomes you, unless you drive a truck:
Bass Pro Shops pyramid:
Only in Tennessee briefly in Memphis, then on to Mississippi:
“Orange You Going to Slow Down in Work Zones?”
I-269 North:
I-22 East:
Paladin asleep again:
Fun with zoom:
Paladin one more time:
Rest break at a truck stop we often visit on the way to/from Red Bay:
Fun with zoom again:
Our fourth state of the drive, Alabama:
Our destination, Red Bay Acres:
Our site next to a sibling coach (a 2018 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40AP; one year newer, and a different floorplan):
Replacing the cabin air filter
A periodic maintenance item for any vehicle is to replace the cabin air filter, for the dash AC.
I must admit, I thought our coach didn’t have a replaceable filter, until pointed out on my Tiffin Allegro Bus 2016-2018 Owners Facebook group. Oops.
Here’s a picture of where it is located in the generator compartment, for context:
It’s rather difficult to get out:
Ours was definitely overdue for replacement:
Willow Beach Campground
We stayed at Willow Beach Campground in Scott, Arkansas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A pleasant campground next to the Arkansas River. Our second of two stays here, on the way to and from the total solar eclipse celebration in Paris, Texas.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-04-14
- Check out: 2024-04-15
- 1 night
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temp 81°F, low 61°F
- Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- Distant train noise
- Distant plane noise
Site:
- #F21, back in, concrete
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Fairly level, a little high on the driver side; used hydraulic leveling
- Asphalt driveway about 38 feet long, plus concrete pad about 40 feet long by about 10 feet wide
- No neighbor on driver side, grass about 50 feet wide to bathroom parking area
- Grass and trees to passenger side neighbor about 160 feet wide
- Picnic table on concrete patio under shelter
- Fire pit, charcoal grill, small standing table
- Mostly clean site (some cigarette butts and bottle cap-sized trash)
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 35 PSI water, somewhat inconveniently located
- No sewer connection
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 38 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 64-128 ms ping
- Verizon: 24 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Dump station
- River
Our review on Campground Reviews (from our first stay):
A pleasant campground next to the Arkansas River
COE campgrounds are usually very picturesque and well-spaced. This one is no exception. Nestled between the river and a lake, there is a nice view either way. There’s lots of space between sites, although each site is not guaranteed to be very long or flat. Our site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, but our tow vehicle had to park diagonally to fit in front. The [first] site was very sloped front to back and required multiple pads on the front jacks to get it level. Water & electric only, so plan ahead if staying for a while and need to dump your tanks. The dump station was conveniently located on the way to the exit. We camped at Willow Beach in a Motorhome.
Campground map (from last time; since we’ve been here before, they didn’t give us a map this time; we were in site F21 this time):
Interactive map:
Our site:
A nice view out our side window:
See the previous stay for pictures of other campsites and more.
Video: Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 243 miles from Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas.
Travel from Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas
We drove our coach 243 miles, about four hours of driving, from Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
Depressions in the grass from our neighbor’s jacks and tires, due to rain making the ground a little soft:
Our coach:
I put a couple of tiles below the AquaHot exhaust, but the surrounding grass still got a little singed:
Our jack pads got embedded in the soft ground; not too difficult to pull out. The larger pads help spread the load, though, and better than having the jacks get stuck in the ground:
Leaving the full hookup area:
Solar section:
Onto I-30 East:
A fuel stop:
As usual, we paid less than this, due to our fuel discount card:
Back on I-30 East:
The Texas overpasses had the Lone Star and state outline:
Texarkana water tower:
Welcome to Arkansas:
The Arkansas overpasses had a less distinctive state outline (reminded me of a Solo cup):
A lunch stop at Southfork Restaurant in Gurdon, Arkansas:
Truck parking:
Paladin on the passenger chair:
Our coach parked with trucks:
Into the restaurant:
Menu (they also have burgers and such, but we were in the mood for breakfast):
Super slow service, but over an hour later we got our breakfast for lunch:
We’d ordered biscuits with our breakfast, but they only had one, so provided extra potatoes and lots of toast instead:
Back to our coach:
Back on I-30 East:
Arkadelphia water tower:
Fun with zoom:
Oversize load:
Rough road:
Fun with zoom:
Narrow road due to roadworks:
Slow truck:
Overpass:
Arkansas River:
Exit to Scott:
An unmarked turn to the park:
Residential road:
Entering Willow Beach Park:
Park entrance station:
Campsites:
Our site (the back-in with the shelter):
Our coach after untoading:
Our site; a bit of a slope on the driveway, but a flat concrete pad:
Total solar eclipse
Last year we saw the annular solar eclipse while at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This year, we changed our travel route to witness the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the last in the US until 2044.
We originally booked a state park within the totality zone, but then the Escapees RV Club announced a gathering in Paris, Texas, also in the totality zone, and we decided to change our route to attend that.
Jenn with her camera, wearing eclipse glasses:
The day started very cloudy, so we were bracing for disappointment:
A glimpse of the sun as the eclipse nears totality:
Clouds clearing away just in time (with a drone watching things):
Jenn taking photos:
A selfie:
Almost there:
Total solar eclipse:
Looking around during the four minutes and three seconds of totality:
A panorama:
Via my iPhone:
This panorama was taken as totality was ending, so the left is darker than the right:
Diamond ring:
The eclipse ending:
Group photo:
A magical experience.
Paris Fairgrounds for Escapees/Xscapers gathering
We stayed at Paris Fairgrounds in Paris, Texas for an Escapees/Xscapers total solar eclipse gathering.
Not a normal campground, but the fairgrounds does have a few full-hookup sites, along with a bunch of dry camping. We managed to snag one of the full-hookup sites.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-04-05
- Check out: 2024-04-14
- 9 nights
Weather:
- Mix of sunny, cloudy, rainy
- High temps 68-82°F, lows 52-62°F
- Some wind, gusts up to 30 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- Distant train horn noise on weekdays
- Other camping sections had generator noise, but not audible from our full-hookup section
- Some people noise and music
Site:
- Rally parking, full-hookup, on grass
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked nearby
- Unlevel, high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
- Site about 45 feet long by about 15 feet wide
- Mostly clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 80 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 30 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
- AT&T: 110 Mbps down, 40 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Verizon: 25 Mbps down, 9-24 Mbps up, 85 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage bins
- Food trucks
- Rally
Campground map; we were in the “FHU Section” (Full HookUp):
An interactive map:
Our spot in the full-hookup section:
Utilities:
Other full-hookup sites:
A couple of aerial views, from someone else’s drone:
And some aerial views from my drone, a few days later; several rigs had left by then:
Our coach is the second-from-right one:
In downtown Paris, they have a 65-foot Eiffel tower, with a cowboy hat on top, of course:
Paris downtown lights:
Opening announcements:
Burgerland food truck:
Unremarkable burger, and nice fries:
Mexican food truck:
Mexican food:
One of the activities at this gathering was an all-day “lot crawl”, where each section takes turns to host food and/or beverages, and people from other sections visit to sample them and chat. Some people dressed up in costumes:
Bus conversion and old Beetle:
Food:
Facehugger:
Beverages:
Alien lifeblood:
Eclipse plates:
Jenn with our contribution, rather strong “astronaut martinis”, made with vodka, triple sec, and Tang:
Homemade camper:
On eclipse day, most of the participants gathered to view it:
The day started rather cloudy:
But the clouds moved off in time to get a great view of the total eclipse:
Some more photos in tomorrow’s post.
A couple of group photos after the eclipse:
We don’t go to rallies like this very often, and don’t participate with all activities when we do, but this was a good one.
Video: Texarkana to Paris, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 93 miles from Texarkana, Texas to Paris, Texas.
Travel from Texarkana to Paris, Texas
We drove our coach 93 miles, about two hours of driving, from Texarkana, Texas to Paris, Texas.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:
An interactive map:
Frontage road to I-30 West:
I-30 West:
Exit 199:
Water tower:
Building transport:
US Highway 82:
We stopped at a picnic area for lunch:
Stillhouse Road exit:
Arriving at the Paris fairgrounds for an Escapees/Xscapers gathering for the total solar eclipse:
Heading to our spot:
