A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 103 miles from Orange to Palm Desert, California.
Month: April 2026
Travel from Orange to Palm Desert, California
We drove our coach 103 miles, about two hours of driving, from Orange to Palm Desert, California.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Leaving our site; it was a bit tight, so we backed out, which meant we were facing the wrong way:
Toading facing the wrong way; I walked around the corner to make sure the coast was clear before we headed out:
CA-57:
Entering CA-55 North:
CA-91:
“100 Years of Freedom”:
Interesting hills:
Overpasses:
Exit to Indio:
Snowcapped mountains:
Uphill:
Rest area:
Wind turbines:
Exit to Washington Street:
Hills:
Arriving at TTPS:
We were assigned a site that didn’t have 50 amp power, despite the gate agent assuring us that it did:
Then we got a new site assignment, and moved to a site that actually has usable power:
Actually getting into our site was a bit of a challenge, as it always is at TTPS (due to all the palm trees and other obstacles), but we managed it without too much difficulty.
Disney California Adventure Christmas
We visited Disney California Adventure to see their Christmas decorations. Not as many as Disneyland, but some. We also ate a lot of churros.
No line for the tram from Pixar Pals parking structure; a much more pleasant experience than the Toy Story parking lot:
Tram selfie:
DCA Christmas tree in daylight:
DCA had six special holiday churros around the park, so we decided to sample all of them:
Starting with the carrot cake churro:
Cannoli churro; we ordered one, but they (intentionally) gave us two — a little Disney magic:
Jenn had a craving for Mickey waffles:
Guardians of the Galaxy skit:
Loki:
Captain America:
Strawberry basil churro:
Cars Land Christmas:
We were waiting for another churro when the neon lights came on in Cars Land:
Apple pie churro:
More festival food:
Yet more food:
Fresas con crema churro:
Jenn got a Christmas necklace:
Firefly lights:
Fluffernutter churro:
Christmas tree:
Disneyland Christmas
We went back to Disneyland after New Zealand, to see their Christmas decorations.
We accidentally went to the Toy Story parking lot, which we regretted, due to the very long and slowly moving line for the shuttle bus:
An hour later, arriving at the entrance:
Christmas tree:
Main Street and castle with Christmas decorations:
Dinner with holiday stuff:
It’s a Small World:
We wanted to take a train ride, but they announced that it’d be stopping for fireworks, so didn’t:
Dessert:
Fake snow:
Christmas Mickey:
Back to the parking lot:
We popped back into Disneyland a couple of days later, after visiting DCA, just to do the train ride:
Christmas tree from train station:
On the train:
Orangeland RV Park
We stayed at Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our fourth stay here; our favorite place to stay somewhat near Disneyland.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-12-07
- Check out: 2025-12-14
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps 69-82°F, lows 49-55°F
- Negligible wind, gusts to 11 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- No train horn noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #96, pull-through, asphalt
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
- Asphalt driveway about 50 feet long by 14 feet wide
- 20 feet to road on passenger side
- 9 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Fence between sites
- Patio table and chairs on asphalt patio
- An orange tree
- Clean site
- Elevation 170 feet, front facing SE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 90 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 118-161 Mbps down, 11-24 Mbps up, 29-39 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: 10 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 15 ms ping
- RoamLink: 8-24 Mbps down, 20-24 Mbps up, 95 ms ping
- AT&T: 113-125 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 29-45 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Pool
- Package delivery to office
- Just a few miles from Disneyland
See our previous reviews on Campground Reviews.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
I forgot to take photos of our site, but it was the same site we stayed in back in 2023, so here are pictures from back then:
Still a nice RV park. We’ve already booked another stay here.
Video: Northridge to Orange, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 59 miles from Northridge to Orange, California.
Travel from Northridge to Orange, California
We drove our coach just 59 miles, about an hour of driving, from Northridge to Orange, California. Picking our coach up from storage.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with the drive from the airport parking included:
Leaving Walnut RV Park, where we stored our coach during our NZ trip:
Entering I-5 South:
LA traffic:
A pickup carrying half a car:
Sunset:
Katella Ave exit:
Arriving at Orangeland RV Park after sunset; later than we usually like to arrive, but we’ve been here several times before:
NZ: flights from Christchurch to Auckland then LAX
All good things must end, and so it was with our New Zealand trip.
Checking in to Air New Zealand in Christchurch:
Our plane from Christchurch to Auckland:
In Auckland International Airport, love NZ with Buzzy Bees:
Last meat pie, caramel slice, and L&P soda:
Our international flight:
Menu:
Seat selfie:
The flight was delayed over an hour:
Dinner:
Breakfast:
Arriving over Los Angeles:
LA freeway:
Looking back at our plane:
Welcome to the United States:
Welcome to Los Angeles:
Shuttle back to the parking garage:
Our truck was still there!
We then drove to pick up our coach from storage, which will be in tomorrow’s post. But this concludes the posts about our New Zealand trip. It was great to visit my family, see old and new places, eat favorite foods, and try van life.
As discussed in the 2026 travel plans post, this year will be a bit different than previous ones, including another big trip, this time through Canada to Alaska (twice!). Stay tuned for our continuing adventures!
NZ: returning van; Christchurch exploring
We traveled from our last campsite to return the rental van, then got dropped off at a hotel in downtown Christchurch, and did some touring around the central city.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with the stops marked:
A pile of things to donate to Red Cross:
A pile of our luggage:
McRent Christchurch:
Other campers:
Our van:
No problems dropping off the van (unlike a German family that returned their camper at the same time as us, that had thousands of dollars of damage!). McRent arranged an Uber to our downtown hotel for the night, Distinction:
Hotel room:
We went to the Tramway Cafe for lunch:
We did a city tour tram ride:
Tram route:
A must-do in Christchurch — punting on the Avon:
A brief walk through part of Christchurch Botanic Gardens:
Then more walking around looking at Christchurch buildings:
And back on the tram:
Coffee and a slice:
Christ Church Cathedral reconstruction; it was significantly damaged in several earthquakes:
More buildings and art:
A very nice city.
NZ video: Hokitika to Christchurch campervan travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our rental campervan from Hokitika to Christchurch in New Zealand.