Replacing cover on light under sink

Under the kitchen sink is a cupboard with a big slide-out drawer, where we keep garbage and recycling bins, plus dish cleaning supplies and more.

At the top of this cupboard is an LED, and a switch that turns on the light when the cupboard is opened.

However, in our coach the cover of the light was missing. I’m not sure if it’s always been missing, or it was knocked off without our noticing early in our ownership. I only discovered the loss when something knocked the bulb out into the garbage. Fortunately, I noticed that and fished it out before taking out the garbage:

Light

Anyway, to avoid that happening again, I wanted to order a replacement cover for the light. I found the light in the online Tiffin parts store, part number 5032143, “LIGHT WARDROBE BROWN LED”. Of course, they don’t sell just the cover, but the whole unit was pretty cheap:

Light

I didn’t need to replace the light, so I just pried off the cover, and kept the remainder as a spare part:

Light

The old light with the new cover:

Light

Much better!

Steering wheel cover

To protect the steering wheel in our coach, we added a cover that fairly well matches the wheel:

Steering wheel with cover

Graceland

We visited Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, in Memphis, Tennessee.

An interactive map:

Gate to the visitor center:

Graceland gates

Welcome to Graceland:

Welcome to Graceland

We had a reservation for a self-guided tour of the Graceland mansion. We each had a somewhat trashed iPad and headphones with an audio and video guide for the tour:

iPad tour guide

Shuttle bus across the road to the mansion:

Shuttle bus to mansion

Graceland mansion:

Graceland mansion

Upstairs was not included in the tour; it’s private to the family:

Graceland mansion

Backyard:

Graceland mansion

The manager’s office:

Graceland mansion

Elvis's birthplace

More exhibits, starting with Elvis as a child and his parents:

Parents

Graceland

Pool

Gym:

Graceland

Horses:

Graceland

The Presley graveyard, where Elvis and his family are buried:

Graceland

Graveyard

Graceland

Graveyard

Graceland mansion

Then we shuttled back over the road to the museum area, and lunch at Gladys’ Diner:

Glady's Diner

We of course had to have grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches:

Glady's Diner

Gift store:

Gift store

Elvis exhibits:

Elvis exhibits

Graceland mansion

Elvis pic

An interesting experience.

Graceland RV Park & Campground

We stayed at Graceland RV Park & Campground in Memphis, Tennessee. (Campground Reviews listing.)

An RV park right next to the museum for Elvis Presley’s Graceland.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-11-05
Check out: 2023-11-07
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 77-79°F, lows around 54-59°F
A little wind, gusts to 23 MPH.

Noise:

Nearby road and city noise (sirens etc)
No train noise (though might have heard one once)
Occasional plane noise
A little neighbor noise

Site:

#7-17, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Unlevel front-to-back and side-to-side; used hydraulic jacks
Gravel driveway about 73 feet long by about 12 feet wide
Nobody on driver side, grass about 14 feet wide
Grass between sites on passenger side about 10 feet wide
Picnic table on grass; no fire pit
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
67 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, too recessed (though I have a fix for that), conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 6-18 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Verizon: 6-9 Mbps down, 13-16 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site
Seasonally closed pool
Gate to Graceland

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Basic park on Graceland’s doorstep

This was a reasonably basic, no-frills RV park close to Graceland and the associated museum exhibits, which was our main reason for coming to Memphis. It was tough to get a reservation, not because they were full, but because it was impossible to get anyone to answer the phone. It took three days of calling multiple times a day before I reached them. Upon arrival, the office was closed (in the middle of the day), so we went through the extremely old-school check-in process of filling out a carbonless paper form and submitting our payment information through the “night” slot before going to our assigned site. A bit later, we noticed the office was open, so we went in and finished the registration process. It was a little confusing, but we got there in the end. Being able to walk over to Graceland made it all worthwhile. Despite being in the middle of the city, we found it to be pretty quiet at night. We camped at Graceland RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Definitely plan on spending half a day in Graceland in order to see all the exhibits. Marlowe’s is like a BBQ version of Hard Rock Café, but with all-Elvis swag.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

The sewer was a little too recessed, so I used a handy new extension for the first time. And the water faucet was in an irrigation valve box, which was rather unusual:

Sewer and water

Other sites:

Other sites

Gazebo

The park emptied out quite a bit the next morning (a Monday):

Other sites

Office/store:

Store

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Picnic shelter and tenter cooking area:

Picnic shelter

Closed pool:

Closed pool

Gate to the parking lot for Graceland:

Gate to Graceland

A basic but decent RV park, super-convenient to Graceland, and only minutes to downtown Memphis. We’d be happy to stay here again, and probably will, since we didn’t have time to explore downtown and the many other attractions.

Food bonus:

We went to Marlowe’s Ribs and Restaurant for an Elvis-themed dinner:

Marlowe's

Jenn had ribs:

Ribs

I had baked potatoes with pulled pork:

Baked potatoes and pulled pork

Our first time trying fried green tomatoes (we liked them):

Fried green tomatoes

Crispy Crème Banana Foster Sundae for dessert:

Crispy Crème Banana Foster Sundae

A swag shop in the restaurant:

Swag

Tasty food, and I’m sure we didn’t need those years it knocked off our lives.

Video

Video: Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 196 miles from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee.

Travel from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee

We drove our coach 196 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map:

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving RV park

Bubba’s, where we got tasty food during our stay:

Bubba's

An uncomfortably narrow lane due to roadworks:

Narrow lane

A break at some truck parking:

Truck parking

I had fun watching traffic cameras to spot us driving by; yes, that’s our coach and truck in the right lane at the bottom:

Traffic camera

Another traffic camera showing us:

Traffic camera

And another one, showing us from the other direction:

Traffic camera

Another snapshot:

Traffic camera

Another stop at truck parking:

Truck parking

A snapshot:

Traffic camera

A bridge over the Mississippi River into Tennessee; a big milestone for us, crossing this major river for the first time:

Bridge over Mississippi River

Dissapointingly, there was no sign marking the occasion. Probably due to roadworks (with uncomfortably narrow lanes again):

Roadworks

Our destination, Graceland RV Park:

Graceland RV Park

The office:

Office

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Garbage bin hanging on back of driver chair

Sometimes my Modification Monday posts are about significant projects, sometimes they’re a simple addition. Today is one of the latter.

On travel days we often have snack packaging or other garbage we want to throw away while driving down the road. So we added a small garbage bin (like this one on Amazon), hanging off the back of the driver chair:

Garbage bin

Easily reachable from the passenger chair, and doesn’t get in the way of the slide-out when it’s in:

Garbage bin

(It’s hanging off the strap for a lumbar cushion… which I could also cover in one of these Modification Monday posts. But it could easily be attached to the pocket on the back of the chair instead.)

A simple but satisfactory solution.

Garvan Woodland Gardens

We visited Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Map:

Map

An interactive map:

An impressive architectural feature is Anthony Chapel, which we had to quickly visit as it was about to be closed for a wedding:

Anthony Chapel

A waterfall:

Waterfall

Model trains:

Model trains

This was in early November, so they were in the process of adding holiday decorations:

Holiday decorations

Gardens

Holiday decorations

Gardens

An impressive treehouse:

Treehouse

Gardens

Treehouse

Tiny

Holiday decorations

Waterfall

Holiday decorations

Japanese garden

A very nice garden, highly recommended.

Hot Springs National Park

We visited Hot Springs National Park, an urban park in the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Map:

Sign

Hot Springs

Convenient free parking:

Free parking

The main feature of this national park is “Bathhouse Row”, a series of historic bathhouses that used the natural hot water of the area; some of which still operate today.

Buckstaff Baths is one that still offers bathing; Jenn did a traditional bath and massage package here:

Buckstaff Baths

Ozark:

Ozark

Quapaw Baths is another that still operates; Jenn did a more modern spa package here:

Quapaw Baths

Lamar:

Lamar

This bathhouse contains a gift store:

Gift store

The Maurice:

The Maurice

The Hale:

The Hale

The Fordyce contains the park visitor center:

The Fordyce and visitor center

Floor plan:

Floor plan

Stained glass windows:

Stained glass windows

Historic bathhouse exhibits:

Bathhouse

Machinery in the basement:

Machinery

Tanks

Spring in the basement:

Spring in the basement

Locker room:

Locker room

Ladies lounge:

Ladies lounge

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Gym:

Gym

Info exhibits:

Exhibits

A handy reference model of Bathhouse Row:

Exhibits

Outside

Superior Baths contains a restaurant and brewery — the only brewery on national park land:

Superior Baths

Superior restaurant

Menu:

Food

Dessert

Trolley:

Trolley

Hot fountain:

Hot fountain

Hot spring:

Hot spring

The Grand Promenade:

The Grand Promenade

Hot spring:

Hot spring

Arlington Hotel:

Arlington Hotel

We also visited the nearby Hot Springs Mountain Tower, with a view of downtown.

Approaching the tower:

Approaching the tower

A switchback road to the tower:

Switchback road

Tower

Info sign:

Info sign

Token to go up the elevator:

Token to go up the elevator

There are two viewing levels; the lower one is enclosed:

Enclosed viewing level

Upstairs is an outdoor viewing level:

Outdoor viewing level

Parking area:

Parking area

View of downtown:

View

A bit different than the usual national park.

Catherine’s Landing

We stayed at Catherine’s Landing in Hot Springs, Arkansas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A pleasant resort near Hot Springs National Park and Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-10-29
Check out: 2023-11-05
7 nights

Weather:

Rain on first couple of days, then sunny
High temps ranging between 52-66°F, lows around 30-51°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
A little neighbor noise

Site:

#123, back in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front
Very level; used hydraulic jacks
Asphalt driveway 30 feet long, concrete RV pad 40 feet long by about 16 feet wide
Diagonal offset sites, with grass about 14 feet wide
Concrete patio extension of RV pad, with picnic table and charcoal grill
Fire pit
Lots of cigarette butts in fire pit

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
45 PSI water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 15-73 Mbps down, 6-12 Mbps up, 56-99 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 8 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 36 ms ping
T-Mobile: 2 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
Verizon: 5-10 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 140 ms ping
AT&T: 105 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 70 ms ping

Amenities:

Trash pickup from site
Package delivery to office
Closed pool
Lake/river

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Lovely down by the water

This is a large, well-maintained campground near everything Hot Springs has to offer. We went for one of the Executive back-in sites by the water and loved watching the peaceful scenery. Since it was the off-season, most of the amenities were closed, so $110/night seems a bit much, but the view and serenity were worth it. Our site was perfectly level, which you expect with a concrete pad. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Catherine’s Landing in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Bubba’s Catfish was really good and just up the road.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities (before hooking up the sewer, but you can see the sewer cap immediately opposite the wet bay):

Utilities

The Power Watchdog had the red light that indicated that the power neutral was missing, which is apparently not a fatal problem (since the dog face wasn’t red), but not ideal:

Power Watchdog

The site was perfectly level:

Level

After visiting Hot Springs National Park, we added its sticker; the last National Park of 2023:

National Park stickers

Ouachita River / Lake Catherine:

Ouachita River / Lake Catherine

Office:

Office

The pool was closed:

Pool

Ouachita River / Lake Catherine

Rental boat docks; they removed the pontoon boats for the winter during our stay:

Boat docks

A guest’s pontoon boat:

Boat

Ouachita River / Lake Catherine:

Ouachita River / Lake Catherine

Morning mist:

Morning mist

The motorhome that was next to us when we arrived made an annoying compressor noise every few minutes; we were glad when they left about halfway through our stay:

Motorhome next to us