A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 219 miles from Tombstone, Arizona to Surprise, Arizona, to visit NIRVC.
Author: David
Travel from Tombstone to Surprise, Arizona
We drove our coach 219 miles, about four hours of driving, from Tombstone, Arizona to Surprise, Arizona, to visit NIRVC there.
Here’s the map route, heading northwest:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
There wasn’t room to “toad up” (connect our truck to our coach) at our site, so we drove separately to an open area by the entrance of the RV park:
Toading up:
An animated GIF of the brake controller operating; an air hose connected to the air brakes of our coach pushes the brake pedal in our truck for proportional braking:
On our way, with distant mountains:
A multi-vehicle accident at an immigration inspection station, caused by a car-jacking a few hours earlier:
Four visible crunched vehicles (apparently there was a fifth):
Hey, fellow Tiffin motorhome:
Overpass art:
We parked at a truck stop for lunch:
Jenn’s French dip lunch:
My BLT lunch:
Passing through Tucson:
Picacho Peak:
Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch below Picacho Peak:
A rest area stop:
Phoenix Sky Harbor airport:
Tunnel:
Arriving at NIRVC:
Heading to a campsite:
Water filter bag
We have a three-stage external water filter to ensure clean water for our coach, but it was getting a little scuffed up. So I decided to get a custom-fit bag to protect it:
The bag includes a convenient handle, making it easier to move, and ports for the connections:
Much nicer:
Bisbee, Arizona
South of Tombstone, near the border with Mexico, is a cute little historic town called Bisbee, Arizona. We went there for a drive and dinner.
An interactive map:
The historic Mule Pass Tunnel:
Entering Bisbee:
Bisbee buildings:
We had Mexican for dinner at Contessa’s Cantina:
Jenn’s dinner:
My dinner, stuffed potato:
Jenn’s dessert, sopapillas:
My dessert, Mexican deep fried ice cream:
More Bisbee buildings:
Back through the tunnel:
Sunset:
A cute artsy town; we quite liked it.
Tombstone, Arizona
We visited Tombstone, Arizona, which has a few blocks of downtown devoted to an old west theme.
An interactive map:
And promotional map:
A classic old courthouse:
Wyatt’s saloon and hotel:
Horse-drawn mail coach:
Four Deuces Saloon:
Dirt road:
Ice cream parlor:
Good Enough Mine tour:
Library and railway:
Trolly tours:
We got some jerky and dried fruits from this shop:
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon:
Longhorn Restaurant:
More shops:
Hotel Tombstone:
Bird Cage Theatre:
Jenn enjoys her pressed pennies:
Crystal Palace:
The famous OK Corral:
We initially were going to have lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, but it was too busy:
So we headed to Crystal Palace, since they had outdoor seating:
A real touristy town.
Tombstone RV Park & Campground
We stayed at Tombstone RV Park & Campground in Tombstone, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)
An uncomfortably short site.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-03-04
- Check out: 2023-03-08
- 4 nights
- We were going to stay 7 nights, but left early to go to NIRVC (see upcoming posts)
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 68-73°F, lows around 36-45°F
- Negligible wind, yay!
Noise:
- Some road noise, no train noise
- Occasional loud neighbors
Site:
- #45, pull-through, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Fairly level
- Small site: about 38 feet long by about 25 feet wide
- Picnic table; no fire pit
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 35 PSI water, conveniently located
- Fair sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 6-23 Mbps down, 3-8 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 17-23 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- AT&T: 16 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
- Verizon: no service
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Heated pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Good spot to stop close to Tombstone
This was a really nice, well-run park and a great launching point for all the area has to offer. The hosts were all very friendly and helpful from check-in, to guiding us to our site, to helping us with package deliveries. Our site was clean and level. On the other hand, it was also pretty short for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle. Usually, if we have a pull-through site it’s okay if we unhook the tow after we park the coach. Here, we really should have unhooked beforehand as the truck was completely blocking the lane until we unhooked it and parked alongside the coach. Even so, the motorhome was poking out to the front and rear. We had to use our safety cones for the first time to help demarcate our corners. We camped at Tombstone RV Park and Campground in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site are a good day trip away and shouldn’t be missed.
Interactive map:
Tombstone newspaper and RV park map:
Guided to our site:
Our site; it was rather short, so we put out mini cones to help prevent people hitting our coach:
The tombstone theme: “here lies [site] 45”:
The cellular services weren’t great, so we used Starlink:
The entrance at sunset:
Office:
Activity center:
Swimming pool:
Cart:
Other sites:
It was fine, though the site was too short for comfort, and the roads a bit tight in places.
Video: Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 247 miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona.
Travel from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona
We drove our coach 247 miles, about four hours of driving (and a couple of hours of stoppage), from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
We usually toad up (aka connecting the truck to the coach) by our site, but there wasn’t a great place to do that this time, so we went over by the office. So Jenn drove the coach, and I followed in the truck:
Toading up; hooking up the tow bar and cables, switching the truck transmission to neutral, disconnecting the battery (via a push button), and connecting the brake controller:
The brake controller:
On our way; there were lots of signs like these for several tchotchke shops:
Fireworks and tchotchkes:
Inspection station, with nobody staffing it:
One of several billboards for The Thing?
Our first stop, at a parking area (i.e. like a rest area, with no bathrooms):
Nice to see mountains:
Another tchotchkes shop, with a fun fence painted like storefronts:
Fuel stop:
A third of a tank (we actually paid less than this, thanks to the TSD fuel discount card):
Filling the Diesel Exhaust Fluid:
Then we parked at this truck stop for lunch:
Heading out:
Continental divide:
Lots of signs about dust storms; this one sensibly worded as “caution dust storms”:
Another sensible sign, “zero visibility possible”:
But “dust storms may exist”; yes, indeed, but kinda a clumsy way to say that:
Welcome to Arizona:
Another truck stop, just for a stretch and bathroom break (in our coach, of course):
An interesting and very sketchy-looking homemade trailer:
Benson, Arizona:
One lane roadworks:
Uncomfortably narrow for our coach:
St. David:
Our destination:
Professionally cleaning gray and black tanks
The gray and black holding tanks in RVs can get a bit dirty over time, so it is generally recommended to get them professionally cleaned out every year or so, depending on usage. We also have had issues with odors and sensor mis-reads, so thought getting them cleaned might help.
While in the LA area, we engaged All Pro Water-Flow So Cal to flush our tanks; we found them via an ad on the campground map. I can’t whole-heartedly recommend them, though, as they didn’t solve the sensor mis-reads. I’m not sure if the issue was something other than dirty tanks, or perhaps they didn’t do a good enough job. I’ll try to get the sensors looked at during an upcoming service.
The mechanism is simple enough: a hose connects to a pressure washer, with another hose with spray heads that is inserted into each of the tanks in turn, and manipulated to move around inside the tanks, washing their internal surfaces:
Video: Pikes Peak dashcam timelapse
A timelapse dashcam video of driving up and back down Pikes Peak in Colorado (back in September).