A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 99 miles from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas.
Author: David
Travel from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas
We drove our coach 99 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
Leaving the campground (and taking out the trash):
Heading to I-40 east:
I-40:
Leaving New Mexico:
Texas state line:
Entering Central Time Zone:
Welcome to Texas:
Rest stop:
Fuel stop:
$321 of diesel:
Roadworks blocked our access to the campground; we had to detour through the Loves truck stop:
And duck between cones:
Our destination:
Oasis RV:
Our site:
Merry Christmas; New Orleans Celebration in the Oaks
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, or Happy Holidays!
To mark the occasion, here’s a post out of sequence. We stayed in New Orleans around Thanksgiving this year, and while there attended the New Orleans City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks holiday lights. The blog posts about New Orleans aren’t scheduled to be published until February (yes, I’m rather behind; we do things faster than I can post about them!). But I figured I could bring this one forward to a more appropriate time.
This holiday celebration has driving and walking options; we did both. Here’s a map of the routes:
We started with the driving portion, where one drives along roads in the park that have holiday light decorations:
A timelapse video from my 360 camera of the drive:
We then parked at the mini golf in the park, and played a round (Jenn won):
Then proceeded to the walking part, wandering around the New Orleans Botanical Garden and environs, with lots of holiday lights:
Jenn reaching for a star:
A cute narrated Cajun Night Before Christmas story, with synchronized lights:
An amusing New Orleans variation of 12 Days of Christmas:
Model trains:
Amusement park rides were also included, but we didn’t participate in any (considered the train, but it was full, and the carousel, but didn’t want to wait):
It is a nice historical carousel, though:
A fun festive evening. Always interesting to see local variations of holiday lights.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Tucumcari KOA Journey again
We stayed (again) at Tucumcari / Route 66 KOA Journey in Tucumcari, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
We still hate buddy sites, but needed to stop here to pick up a package that was delivered after we left, so figured we might as well stay one night.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-10-18
- Check out: 2023-10-19
- 1 night
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temp 76°F, low 47°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- Nearby freeway noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #37, pull through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
- Fairly level; used air leveling
- Gravel driveway about 65 feet long by about 10 feet wide
- Buddy grass about 20 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 7 feet wide
- Some trees
- Picnic table on grass
- No fire pit
- Did I mention buddy site! Do not like.
- Clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power didn’t work; used 30 amp instead, conveniently located
- We notified the office in the morning, and they promptly came to investigate the power issue
- 65 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 38-43 Mbps down, 3-8 Mbps up, 96-134 ms ping
- Verizon: 0.05-0.3 Mbps down, 0.5-5 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- AT&T: 83-95 Mbps down, 7-10 Mbps up, 32-61 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster by entrance
- Package delivery to site
- Cooked breakfast delivery to site (didn’t use this time)
Our review on Campground Reviews (from our previous visit):
Buddy sites, nuff said
This is an older KOA with new owners who are working on improvements. I see a lot of potential and will stay here again because it’s just so convenient to I-40, but the rates are a bit much for what it is currently. The staff here are all fantastic. Friendly, helpful, and on the ball when you report an issue. And who could argue with cooked breakfast brought right to your door? However, the biggest drawback is that most of the sites are buddy sites. They have nice, new concrete “patio” sites at the back of the park but ruined it by having them all be buddies. I cannot overstate how much I dislike buddy sites. We camped at Tucumcari KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Kix on 66 was very tasty and has that whole Route 66 retro vibe going on.
An interactive map:
Our site, facing another site:
We usually make sure we arrive before dark, but this was an exception; we decided to travel at night rather than stay at the truck service center another night, mainly to help catch up with our scheduled travels. Our coach on arrival:
Our site in the morning:
Utilities:
This was the first time we’d had a sewer hookup since we were here the previous time, before the Balloon Fiesta — 11 days. We did get a water top-up at the truck center, which was good as it was down to about 20%. After all that time, our gray tank was up to 67% and black to 83%, not too bad:
(We have since purchased a water bladder and sewer tote tank, and accessories, which will alleviate concerns about dry camping in the future.)
Other sites; the place was pretty full when we arrived, but emptied out early in the morning:
Video: Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 139 miles from Moriarty, New Mexico to Tucumcari, New Mexico. A rare night drive!
Travel from Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico
We drove our coach 139 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Moriarty, New Mexico to Tucumcari, New Mexico.
A rare nighttime drive! Our coach was finished being fixed at the end of the day; we could have stayed overnight again, but we were keen to get back on schedule. So we decided to head out, even though we normally avoid driving at night. It helped that we were familiar with the route, having done it (both ways) recently, plus were familiar with the destination RV park, since we stayed there on the way to Albuquerque.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
On the road again, back along I-40:
Not sure what that truck on the left is hauling:
Clines Corners truck stop:
Flying C Ranch billboards:
We stopped at Flying C Ranch again:
Sunset:
Lots of swag:
DQ for dinner:
Back to our coach:
Sunset reflected in our coach, plus a sliver of moon:
Driving in dusk:
The cameras weren’t overly useful when driving in the dark:
Going past the rest area where we were stuck for a couple of days:
Arriving at the KOA:
Paladin on the passenger chair:
In our site:
West Truck Services Center
We unexpectedly stayed at West Truck Services Center in Moriarty, New Mexico, after getting towed there due to a brake getting stuck on the way from the Balloon Fiesta.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-10-16
- Check out: 2023-10-18
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps ranging between 76-79°F, lows around 38-42°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- Some Route 66 highway and freeway noise
- No train noise
Site:
- Parking lot, gravel
- Toad was disconnected as the coach was towed
- Fairly level; used air leveling
- Some trash
Utilities:
- 15 amp power from the shop
- Water provided from the shop
- No sewer
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 1-73 Mbps down, 2-17 Mbps up, 65-146 ms ping
- Verizon: 24 Mbps down, 24 Mbps up, 64 ms ping
- AT&T: 20 Mbps down, 20-27 Mbps up, 64 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Truck repair
- Diner across the road
An interactive map:
We arrived after they closed, but one of the techs was still there, and provided a power cord and water hose for us, parked out front of the shop:
We walked across Route 66 to a truck center:
We had dinner at Lisa’s Grill, a diner in the truck center:
Back to our coach:
Sunrise the next day:
A tech unstuck our brake, and we moved the coach into the shop for more diagnosis:
We went back to the diner for brunch. On the wall, a history of Moriarty:
Our tow truck with another customer:
Another tow truck delivered another truck early in the morning:
Our coach getting worked on:
See the Braking: Bad blog post for a summary of the breakdown, tow, and repair.
Our stay here was as pleasant as one could expect from a repair situation. It was nice to be able to put out our slides, have power, and a diner across the road. Plus, of course, getting our coach back on the road!
Video: Braking: Bad. Our motorhome was towed!
A timelapse of our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, being towed 65 miles from Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Moriarty, New Mexico, after one of the brakes seized up. (With a badly synced picture-in-picture from our truck.)
Towed from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, New Mexico
Our coach was towed 65 miles, about 1 hour of driving, from Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Moriarty, New Mexico, to a truck service center that could fix our seized brake (see the previous post for details).
Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:
An interactive map:
The heavy-duty tow truck arrived:
Preparing:
The front tires were lifted off the ground; the best way to tow our coach, since we have independent front suspension (being on a lowboy trailer would be even better, but not feasible when the wheel wouldn’t turn):
The drive shaft was removed, so the rear wheels would freely turn:
The mudflap was held up, so wouldn’t scrape on the road:
Heading out:
We stopped on the side of the road about halfway along, as the strap holding a front tire had broken. Not ideal:
Re-secured, we started again:
Not a huge amount of clearance; our coach is 12 feet 7 inches feet high, plus lifted a foot or so:
Paladin wasn’t thrilled to be in his carrier in the truck:
Arrived at the truck repair shop:
A somewhat nerve-wracking process, getting our home towed, but done professionally, with no damage (and paid for by Coach-Net, our roadside assistance service). Stay tuned for the continuing story….
Video: Anton Chico Rest Area timelapse
A timelapse of our unplanned stay at Anton Chico Rest Area in New Mexico, when our brake got stuck.