2023 attractions, part 4

Concluding the summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023. With some sneak peeks of places we visited recently that haven’t been posted about yet!

This is part four of four, covering October through December, inclusive. Start with part one, or check out part two or part three, if you haven’t already.

October 2023

Yellowstone Lake area:

Sylvan Lake

Yellowstone Grant area:

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Yellowstone Old Faithful area:

Geyser

Yellowstone Madison area:

Grand Prismatic Spring

Yellowstone Norris area:

Norris Geyser Basin

Yellowstone Mammoth area:

Mammoth

Yellowstone Tower-Roosevelt area:

Tower Fall

Yellowstone Canyon area:

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone old west cookout and wagon ride:

Horses and wagons

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway:

Interesting landscape

Buffalo Bill Dam:

Dam

Buffalo Bill Center of the West:

Buffalo Bill museum

Bighorn scenic drive:

Bighorn Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon:

Crazy Woman Canyon

Devils Tower National Monument:

View from West Road

November 2023

Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit:

Scenery

Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit:

Wild horses

Pitchfork Steak Fondue and Medora Musical:

Medora Musical

Black Hills area:

Spearfish Canyon Highway

Jewel Cave National Monument:

Cave formations

Crazy Horse Memorial:

Crazy Horse Memorial

Mount Rushmore National Memorial:

Mount Rushmore

Badlands National Park:

Badlands

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site:

Delta-01 Launch Control Center

Wall Drug:

Wall Drug

Wind Cave National Park:

Bison

Custer State Park:

Cathedral Spires Trail hike

Iron Mountain Road:

Tunnels

December 2023

Kansas rocks:

Monument Rocks

Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico:

Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta morning sessions:

Balloons

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta evening sessions:

Balloons

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta flight:

Aerial view

Annular solar eclipse:

Eclipse

Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

Palo Duro Canyon State Park:

Canyon view

Hot Springs National Park (blog post coming in January):

Ozark

Garvan Woodland Gardens (post coming in January):

Anthony Chapel

Graceland (post coming in January):

Graceland mansion

Natchez Trace Parkway (post coming in February):

Laurel Hill Road

New Orleans (post coming in February):

French Quarter

New Orleans airboat swamp tour (post coming in February):

Alligator

New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation (post coming in February):

Big house

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise (post coming in February):

Steamboat Natchez

The National WWII Museum (post coming in February):

WWII museum

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve (post coming in February):

Chalmette Battlefield

New Orleans St Louis Cemetery Number 1 (post coming in February):

Cemetery tombs

New Orleans Celebration in the Oaks:

Holiday lights

Lambert’s Cafe (post coming in February):

Fried okra

Fort Morgan State Historic Site (post coming in February):

Fort

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park (post coming in February):

USS Alabama

Lots of fun activities!

2023 attractions, part 3

Continuing from yesterday, a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023.

This is part three of four, covering July through September, inclusive. Start with part one, or check out part two, if you haven’t already.

July 2023

San Diego and Balboa Park:

Museum of Us

San Diego Zoo:

San Diego Zoo

Paso Robles wineries: McPrice Myers Vineyards, Calcareous Vineyard, DAOU Vineyards, Parrish Family Vineyard, Le Cuvier Winery:

View

Hearst Castle:

Castle

Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio:

Field of Lights

Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center:

Charles M. Schulz Museum

Napa and Sonoma wineries: Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse, Korbel:

Steps

Mariners at Athletics baseball game:

Baseball

Muir Woods National Monument:

Muir Woods

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park:

Gould Grove Nature Loop Trail

August 2023

Battery Point Lighthouse:

Battery Point Lighthouse

Redwood State and National Parks:

Grove of Titans

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area:

Umpqua Beach

Newport, Oregon:

Newport

Oregon coast lighthouses:

Yaquina Head

Seaside, Oregon:

Seaside

Pacific coast food:

Mo's in Florence, Oregon

Ocean City beach:

Ocean City beach

September 2023

Olympic National Park beaches and rainforests:

Tree of Life

Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox baseball game:

Baseball

Ferry to Seattle, Mariners team store:

Mariners Team Store

Craters of the Moon National Monument:

Old lava

Grand Teton National Park:

Grand Teton National Park

Snake River whitewater rafting:

Rafting

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion, tomorrow.

2023 attractions, part 2

Continuing from yesterday, a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023.

This is part two of four, covering April through June, inclusive. Check out part one, if you haven’t already.

April 2023

Frontier Texas!

Exhibits

Tombstone, Arizona:

Tombstone

Bisbee, Arizona:

Bisbee buildings

May 2023

Mariners Spring Training:

Baseball

Grand Canyon West:

Skywalk

Kingman, Arizona:

Old police car

The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil:

Love show

Red Rock Canyon:

Red Rock Canyon

Valley of Fire State Park:

Valley of Fire State Park

Death Valley Furnace Creek Visitor Center and The Ranch:

The Last Kind Words Saloon

Death Valley Zabriskie Point:

Zabriskie Point

Death Valley Star Wars locations driving tour:

Artists Palette

Death Valley Badwater Basin hike:

282 feet below sea level

June 2023

Death Valley Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells:

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Calico Ghost Town:

Calico

Peggy Sue’s Diner:

Peggy Sue's Diner

Joshua Tree National Park day 1:

Dirt road, Joshua trees, mountains

Joshua Tree National Park day 2:

Arch Rock Nature Trail

Joshua Tree National Park day 3:

Barker Dam hike

Disneyland:

Rise of the Resistance ride

Disney California Adventure:

Cars Land

Cabrillo National Monument:

Lighthouse

Comic-Con Museum:

Comic-Con Museum

Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego:

Japanese Friendship Garden

Stay tuned for part three, tomorrow.

2023 attractions, part 1

One of the main reasons for traveling the United States in a motorhome is to explore the many wonders around the country. This is a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023. Again, you can also see the ones from 2022, and from 2021.

We’ve seen so much, I’ve split this topic into four parts, one for each quarter of the year. This is the first part, for January through March, inclusive.

As with the previous summaries, I’ll include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture. Click or tap the link or picture to see more.

You can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

January 2023

Lockhart, Texas:

Lockhart courthouse

Austin, Texas:

Austin

Columbus, Texas:

Columbus

February 2023

Space Center Houston:

Space Shuttle

March 2023

Dr Pepper Museum:

Dr Pepper Museum

Waco Mammoth National Monument:

Fossils

US Virgin Islands sailing & snorkeling:

Sailing

US Virgin Islands: Magens Bay Beach:

Pelicans

US Virgin Islands National Park:

Nice view

US Virgin Islands power boat circle of St. John:

Swag

Check out part two, coming tomorrow!

2023 campgrounds

Another interesting summary of 2023 — the places we stayed during the year. See also the posts for 2022 and 2021.

Read to the end for some sneak peeks of places we stayed that I haven’t yet posted about!

For each location, I’ve included a link to the corresponding blog post, so you can click through to see a lot more information, and a picture of our site. Enjoy!

You can also see all of the campground-related blog posts via the campsite category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Lockhart State Park:

Our site

Thousand Trails Colorado River RV Campground:

Our site

Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV & Camping Resort:

Our site

Lake Whitney State Park:

Our site

Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground:

Our site

Abilene KOA Journey:

Our site

Las Cruces KOA Journey:

Our second site

Tombstone RV Park & Campground:

Our site

NIRVC Phoenix service to fix DEF head failure and more:

Our site

Kingman KOA Journey:

Our site

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort:

Our site

Death Valley Furnace Creek Campground:

Our site

Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday:

Our site

Thousand Trails Palm Springs:

Our site

Orangeland RV Park:

Our site

Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay:

Our site

Orange Grove RV Park:

Our site

Sun Outdoors Paso Robles:

Our site

San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA:

Our site

Giant Redwoods RV & Cabin Destination:

Our site

Crescent City / Redwoods KOA Holiday:

Our site

Thousand Trails South Jetty RV & Camping Resort:

Our site

Armitage Park Campground:

Our site

Thousand Trails Whalers Rest:

Our site

Thousand Trails Seaside:

Our site

Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort:

Our site

Our Washington home:

Coach parked in front of the house

LL Stub Stewart State Park, Dairy Creek East:

Our site

Mt Hood Village RV & Camping Resort, again:

Our site

Grande Hot Springs Resort:

Our site

Y Knot Winery RV Park:

Our site

Alpine Valley RV Resort:

Our site

Fishing Bridge Campground, Yellowstone National Park:

Our site

Cody KOA Holiday:

Our site

Buffalo KOA Journey:

Our site

Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey:

Our site

Medora Campground:

Our site

Spearfish / Black Hills KOA Holiday:

Our site

Badlands / White River KOA Holiday:

Our site

Hidden Lake Campground and Resort:

Our site

Ogallala Tri-Trails KOA Journey:

Our site

Circle Drive Campground, Lake Scott State Park:

Our site

Corral Drive-In RV Park:

Our site

Tucumcari / Route 66 KOA Journey:

Our site

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park:

Our site

Anton Chico Rest Area:

Our coach

West Truck Services Center:

Our coach

Tucumcari KOA Journey again:

Our site

Oasis RV Resort & Cottages:

Our site

Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday:

Our site

Lake Dardanelle State Park (post coming in January):

Our site

Catherine’s Landing (post coming in January):

Our site

Graceland RV Park & Campground (post coming in January):

Our site

Red Bay Acres RV Resort (post coming in January):

Our site

Meridian East / Toomsuba KOA Journey (post coming in February):

Our site

New Orleans RV Resort & Marina (post coming in February):

Our site

Meaher State Park (post coming in February):

Our site

Ho-Hum RV Park (post coming in February):

Our site

Lots of interesting (and not so interesting) places to stay this year.

2023 travel days

I thought it’d be interesting and useful to include a summary of travel days. Here are links to blog posts, and a sample picture of the view of each, so you can see how the landscape changed as we travelled in our coach.

Read to the end for some sneak peeks of places we went that I haven’t yet posted about!

You can see all of the travel-related blog posts via the travel category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Travel from Corpus Christi to Lockhart, Texas:

Pump jack

Travel from Lockhart to Columbus, Texas:

Overpass

Travel from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas:

Exit and evacuation

Travel from Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas:

Sam Houston statue

Travel from Lake Whitney to Dallas, Texas:

Dallas, Texas

Travel days to US Virgin Islands:

USVI

Travel from NIRVC in Dallas to Gordonville, Texas:

Denton Buc-ees

Travel from Gordonville to Abilene, Texas:

Wide load

Travel from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico:

It would behoof you to slow down

Travel from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona:

Welcome to Arizona

Travel from Tombstone to Surprise, Arizona:

Picacho Peak

Travel from Surprise to Kingman, Arizona:

Josua trees

Travel from Kingman, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada:

Hover Dam and Lake Mead

Travel from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California:

Area 51 Alien Center

Travel from Death Valley to Yermo, California:

World's Tallest Thermometer

Travel from Yermo to Palm Desert, California:

Cafe 247

Travel from Palm Desert to Orange, California:

Green hills

Travel from Orange to San Diego, California:

Ocean and yellow flowers

Travel from San Diego to Bakersfield, California:

Flowers

Travel from Bakersfield to Paso Robles, California:

Vineyard

Travel from Paso Robles to Petaluma, California:

Roadside artwork

Travel from Petaluma to Meyers Flat, California:

Redwoods

Travel from Meyers Flat to Crescent City, California:

Ocean

Travel from Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon:

Bridge

Travel from Florence to Eugene, Oregon:

Tunnel

Travel from Eugene to South Beach, Oregon:

Newport bridge

Travel from South Beach to Seaside, Oregon:

Rock

Travel from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington:

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Travel from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington:

Narrow bridge

Travel from Shelton, Washington to Buxton, Oregon:

Fremont Bridge

Travel from Buxton to Welches, Oregon:

Glimpse of Mt Hood

Travel from Welches to La Grande, Oregon:

Columbia River

Travel from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho:

River

Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming:

Arco, Idaho

Travel from Alpine to Yellowstone, Wyoming:

Grand Teton National Park

Travel from Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming:

Bison

Travel from Cody to Buffalo, Wyoming:

More curves and slopes

Travel from Buffalo to Devils Tower, Wyoming:

Approaching Devils Tower

Travel from Devils Tower, Wyoming to Medora, North Dakota:

MT-7

Travel from Medora, North Dakota to Spearfish, South Dakota:

Sunflower field

Travel from Spearfish to Badlands, South Dakota:

Badland National Park

Travel from Badlands to Hot Springs, South Dakota:

Bison

Travel from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska:

Another zoomed perspective

Travel from Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas:

Large farm equipment

Travel from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma:

Wind turbine blade on a truck

Travel from Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico:

More fun with zoom

Travel from Tucumcari to Albuquerque, New Mexico:

Ruined building

Travel from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa, New Mexico:

Overpass

Towed from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, New Mexico:

Towed from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, New Mexico

Travel from Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico:

Travel from Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico

Travel from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas:

I-40

Travel from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma:

Leaning water tower of Texas

Travel from Choctaw, Oklahoma to Russellville, Arkansas (post coming in January):

Fun with zoom

Travel from Russellville to Hot Springs, Arkansas (post coming in January):

Overpass

Travel from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee (post coming in January):

Traffic camera

Travel from Memphis, Tennessee to Red Bay, Alabama (post coming in January):

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

Travel from Red Bay, Alabama to Toomsuba, Mississippi (post coming in February):

Tombigbee River

Travel from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana (post coming in February):

Twin span bridge over Lake Pontchartrain

Travel from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama (post coming in February):

Our coach via traffic camera

Travel from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida (post coming in February):

Road under water

That’s a lot of travel!

2023 travel route

Let’s look back at our coach travel in 2023. You may also want to check out the 2022 travel summary and the 2021 travel summary.

We bought our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP diesel pusher motorhome on September 2, 2021, and other than a few times when we’ve been out of it during servicing appointments or flying vacations, we’ve lived in it full-time since then.

When we bought the coach, it only had 5,161 miles on the odometer. In 2021 we drove it about 2,300 miles. In 2022 we drove another 8,772 miles. In 2023 we added 9,945 miles, so have driven it 21,017 miles on our adventures so far, for a grand total of 26,178 on the odometer.

One of our goals is to visit every state in the US. In 2023 we stayed in 11 new states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. These join Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas in 2022, and Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, California, and Arizona in 2021, for a total of 23. Not quite halfway! (We only count states visited since purchasing our coach.)

We also revisited several states last year, as we headed back to our Pacific Northwest domicile. So all the states we visited in 2023 — in order — were Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida; a total of 20 in the year.

Here’s a map of our coach travels and stays in 2023, via the excellent RV Life Trip Wizard website, using a variation of their maps that more clearly shows the state borders and color-coded time zones. We started the year in southern Texas, then the route headed north then west to the California coast, north to Washington, east to North Dakota, south to New Mexico (a detour for the Balloon Fiesta), then east to Alabama (barely), south to Louisiana, and finally east to the panhandle of Florida, where we finished the year:

Map with time zones

Another variation of the map, with more detail:

Map

Here’s the route map with the travel in 2022 and 2021 also displayed in different colors; our 2023 travel in purple, our 2022 travel in blue, our 2021 coach travel in green, and our 2021 Yellowstone rental trailer trip in brown:

Combined map

The same map as an animated GIF, adding each year:

Route map GIF

We actually revised our route a few times from what we planned for 2023; here’s an animated GIF that compares what we had originally planned (as shown in last year’s 2023 travel plans post), and what we ended up doing (as above):

2023 maps

Fascinating!

2023 modifications

Happy New Year! 🎉

As we begin 2024, let’s look back at 2023, as I did this time last year.

I will have a series of blog posts reviewing topics from last year. I schedule my posts following a pattern: Modification Mondays, Travel Tuesdays, Whereabouts Wednesdays, and To and Fro Thursdays and Fridays (okay, those last ones are bit of a stretch). So I will post my annual summaries in that order too, starting with modifications today.

We have done a number of modifications to our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome, to make it more comfortable as a full-time home, to improve the features, or to repair issues. This is a summary of some of the changes done in 2023; also check out the changes from 2022 and 2021.

For each modification topic I include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture; see the post for details. (Tip: you can click or tap on either the link or picture to go to the corresponding post.)

You can see all of the modification-related blog posts via the modifications category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Upgraded TST TPMS display:

Old and new units

New mattress:

Mattress

Slide topper bracing to reduce flapping in wind:

Cord and bungee

Micro-Air EasyTouchRV smart thermostats:

New units

Improved tow bar pins:

Tow bar pins and brake controller pins

Govee smart thermometers:

Living room sensor

Replaced more recessed lights:

Replaced lights

Replaced carbon monoxide detector:

Wires connected

Dryer magnets:

Door and dryer

Water softener regeneration and backflush hoses and adapters:

Regenerating

Professionally cleaning gray and black tanks:

Flushing

Water filter bag:

Filter and bag

Adding a bedside Spyder touch panel:

Panel

David’s lap desk:

SideTrak screen

Jenn’s movable height-adjustable desk:

Jenn's desk

Ceiling fan motor replacement again:

Motor mounted and connected

Phone holders:

Phone holder

Engine compartment door stop replacement:

Door stop

Hat hooks:

Hat hooks

Fridge latch repair:

Catches and latches

A bubble level helps us check when leveling our coach:

Bubble level

Extended cup holders:

Cup holder extender

Fresh tank flush:

Fresh tank drain

Replaced chassis batteries and more at Oregon Motorcoach Center:

New chassis batteries

Tire covers:

Tire cover

Dryer vent padding:

Dryer vent

Flagpole for Starlink dish:

Starlink on flagpole

15 amp to 50 amp power adapter:

Extension cord

Truck canopy, slide tray, lift kit:

Slide tray

Basement subwoofer:

Subwoofer

Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers:

Old and new faucets

SnapPads:

SnapPads

Replacing wiper blades:

New and old blades

Fixing windshield washer hose:

T-junction

Fixing black tank flush:

No-Fuss Flush

Fixing bathroom vent lid motor:

Wires

360 camera mount on truck:

360 camera on mount

Replacing fuse for solar controller:

Working solar controller

Replacing fridge drawer cover:

Replacement part

Braking: Bad:

Brake repair

I hope you found these posts interesting and useful.

Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday

We stayed at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A last-minute change to get us back on track with our scheduled stops after the brake issue.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-10-21
  • Check out: 2023-10-22
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Cloudy
  • High temp 86°F, low 58°F
  • Negligible wind

Noise:

  • Distant freeway noise
  • No train noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • #B24, pull through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
  • Fairly level; used air leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 85 feet long by about 13 feet wide
  • Garden between sites about 20 feet wide
  • Big trees
  • Stamped concrete patio about 30 by 12 feet
  • Fire pit, Adirondack chairs, patio table and chairs, propane grill on patio
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Didn’t use sewer, since just one night, but was fairly conveniently located

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 39 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • Verizon: 20 Mbps down, 6-9 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 83-95 Mbps down, 7-10 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster by entrance
  • Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice wooded campground close to I-40

This was a last-minute change of plans along our travel on I-40, and we were happy to get a patio site for our one night. We could relax and have dinner outside without all the fuss of unpacking everything. Very nice patio on terraced sites, which is needed to accommodate the very hilly terrain of the park. Check-in was quick and easy, and they guided us to our site. Some of the interior roads could use a little TLC, and there are some tight turns for a big rig, but we managed. It’s convenient to I-40 but far enough away that there is minimal road noise. We enjoyed the park-like atmosphere and would happily stay here again. We camped at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A nice patio:

Patio

Patio

Patio

We actually used the propane grill:

Grill

Burger and beans

Our downhill neighbor had an interesting setup, with a big rig to tow their fiver, and a smart car on the back:

Neighbor

Neighbor

Neighbor

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Closed pool:

Closed pool

Cabin:

Cabin

Bath House:

Bath House

Mmm, a sewage lagoon:

Sewage lagoon

Dog park:

Dog park

Quite a nice campground; I’d be happy to stay longer in the future.