While staying at Farragut State Park in Idaho recently, I flew my drone, and recorded some footage of our coach, the campground, and a view of Lake Pend Oreille.
aerial
Drone shots.
Gilmore West Campground in Farragut State Park
We stayed at Gilmore West Campground in Farragut State Park in Athol, Idaho. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Not a bad campground, but too expensive for out-of-staters.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-08-27
- Check out: 2022-09-01
- 5 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 77-95°F, lows around 49-60°F
- A little wind
Noise:
- No road noise, some train noise
- Not much neighbor noise
Site:
- #306, back in, asphalt
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
- Somewhat level
- Large site: about 90 feet long by about 70 feet wide
- Partial hookups:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 30 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
- No sewer connection
- Picnic table and fire pit on gravel
- Large trees
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 9-17 Mbps down, 5-10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- AT&T: 13-24 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
- T-Mobile: no service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Dumpsters
- No pool
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Basic state park site for a deluxe resort price
The Good: This is a beautiful park with easy access to Lake Pend Oreille. The sites are mostly tucked into the trees, and they’re decently sized.
The Bad: Only one loop of the Gilmore campground has full hookups, and we were not in it.
The Ugly: For a non-Idaho resident to stay here in a motorhome with a tow vehicle, they charge nearly double the camping fees, and then they charge an extra “day use fee” for the tow vehicle, bringing the total to $90/night for a site without sewer. We’ve stayed at deluxe RV resorts for less than that. We camped at Farragut State Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park maps:
Gilmore West and East… I think we hadn’t noticed that West doesn’t have sewer, which wasn’t ideal after another campground without sewer, but it was fine:
Our site was pretty spacious:
Utilities; no sewer:
The cell service wasn’t great, so we set up the Starlink dish; fortunately this site had lots of open sky:
A few lingering spiders from the previous campground:
Looking around the campground; the bathroom:
Other sites:
Not strictly part of the campground, but a coffee house in a nearby town:
Lake Pend Oreille. Which is apparently pronounced PONDER-RAY:
I flew my drone:
Edit to add: a few more aerial shots:
Alder Lake Park Rocky Point Campground
We stayed at Alder Lake Park Rocky Point Campground in Eatonville, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A delightful lakeside view.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-08-07
- Check out: 2022-08-09
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps 90°F, lows at 58°F
- No significant wind
Noise:
- Next to a highway, so a bunch of road noise; no train noise
- No significant neighbor noise
Site:
- #423, pull through, asphalt
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Not very level, sloped down from the driver side
- Smallish site: about 60 feet long by about 25 feet wide
- Partial hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- 55 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
- No sewer
- Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
- Several trees on the driver side for privacy
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 55 Mbps down, 22 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
- AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 682 ms ping
- Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage bin
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Lovely view of the lake and close to Mt Rainier
We stayed at the Rocky Point campground in site 423 and had the best view of the lake from our site. However, getting to the site was a little gnarly with our 40′ motorhome, as the road inside the park is very winding and narrow with many overhanging trees. The site was one of the few pull-throughs in the campground and just long enough for our motorhome and tow vehicle. There wasn’t a camp host on duty, but it was pretty easy to just go to our site and get settled. A ranger came by while we were at Mt. Rainier the next day and left our check-in paperwork under our wiper. There’s easy access to the day use area next door, so it was nice to cool off on a warm afternoon. The only limiting factor to this campground is the lack of a sewer connection at each site; otherwise, we would have happily stayed for much longer than two nights. We camped at Alder Lake Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
A delightful lake view from our site:
Our site:
Only electric and water hookups:
Not a sewer dump:
Lake view:
Dinner with a view:
View from our site:
Moon:
Another night:
Aerial views:
Day use area:
Entrance:
Campground full:
The road in the campground was a bit tight for our coach:
Tiny trailer and tent:
Gate to the day use area:
Day use area:
Mt Hood Village RV & Camping Resort
We stayed at Mt Hood RV & Camping Resort in Welches, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice Thousand Trails Encore park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-07-25
- Check out: 2022-08-07
- 13 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 77-98°F, lows around 54-67°F
- No significant wind
Noise:
- No road noise or train noise
- Not much neighbor noise (kids and dogs)
Site:
- Vine Maple Hollow #78, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach (on gravel)
- Fairly level, sloped up a little at the back
- Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- 50 PSI water pressure (we boosted from our tank); fairly conveniently located
- Reasonable sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)
- Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
- Several trees for privacy
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 53 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 72 ms ping
- AT&T: 6 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
- Verizon: 8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- T-Mobile: no service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Indoor pool
- Onsite restaurant
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice campground close to Mt Hood
This park has a nice mix of sites close to all sorts of outdoor activities in the area. We were grateful to be under the tall trees during the worst of the heat even if it meant the Starlink was pretty useless. There are newer sites that have no trees, but they were baking in the sun. You really need to weigh your priorities when making your site reservation. The roads are a bit narrow in spots, and they have a few trees that need to be trimmed, but overall we had no trouble getting our 40′ motorhome around to our site. We really enjoyed the on-site restaurant. Their breakfasts are awesome. We camped at Mt Hood Village RV Resort in a Motorhome.
The RV park map; it a large park, with multiple campgrounds within it, separated into short-term and long-term RVs, plus cabins:
An embedded map (that you can zoom and pan around):
Weather:
Our site:
Our bikes:
The screen tent:
We moved the picnic table out of the way, since we have our own in the tent:
A big rock on the neighboring site:
Utilities:
I got out my ladder to access the roof; I attached knee pads to it to protect the edge of the roof:
The main reason for the ladder was to remove a branch that I’d noticed was wedged up there:
I also took some pics of the roof, since this was the first time I’ve used the ladder to access it (and I’ve still never been on the roof):
We took Paladin out into the screen tent:
Some aerial photos from my drone:
The village has a restaurant and store:
Village store:
Dragonfly Cafe and Bakery:
Breakfast:
Dinner:
Plus a game room:
And indoor pool:
We were in the Vine Maple Hollow campground (a bit harsh to call the children slow):
Our neighbor had a catio:
Another catio:
Some campgrounds were a bit more exposed:
Monthly sites available:
More campsites:
Tiny homes and cabins:
A nice park. We’ll likely be back here again in the future.
LL Stub Stewart State Park, Dairy Creek West
We stayed in the Dairy Creek West campground of LL Stub Stewart State Park in Buxton, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A pleasant state park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-07-11
- Check out: 2022-07-25
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 73-90°F, lows around 49-62°F
- No significant wind
Noise:
- No road noise or train noise
- Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs), mostly quiet
- Crows making a racket on the roof
Site:
- #46, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach (on asphalt)
- Fairly level, once we moved the coach away from the edge
- Large site: about 64 feet long by about 45 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- 30 PSI water pressure (we boosted from our tank); conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)
- Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
- Several trees for privacy
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 4 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
- AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 23 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage compactor and recycling outside campground entrance
- No pool
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Huge sites in a beautiful park
We loved our stay at this campground. Our site was beautifully tucked into the trees, and it just felt like what a campground should be. The place has an awesome vibe. It feels like a rustic campground but has full hookups. It feels like you’re a long way from anywhere, but it’s pretty convenient to Hwy 26, so you can head to Portland or the Coast for an easy day trip. The camp hosts are really on top of things; they rake and tidy things up almost as soon as the previous occupant has left. And the sites are just massive. We had room for our 40′ motorhome, tow vehicle, screen tent with table and chairs, plus the campground-provided picnic table and firepit, with room left over. I can see why this park is popular with groups. We saw several campers with multiple sites booked, who all hung out at one site in the evenings.
We stayed in the West campground, which has a lot more trees around the loop than the East one and has a few that need to be trimmed along the road because they twanged the antenna on top of our rig, but it’s a minor thing because we will stay here again when we’re in the area. We camped at L.L. Stub Stewart Memorial State Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
An embedded map, that you can zoom and scroll around:
Our site before parking:
Our coach in our site:
From the hill behind the site (and yes, the tent is new; I’ll do a separate post about that):
A peek of the roof:
Woods behind our site:
A murder of crows; they had an annoying habit of walking on our roof, making a racket:
The crows did enjoy the drip tray of our griddle:
Another recent addition was a milk crate to help carry and stabilize the propane cylinder:
Griddle breakfast for dinner:
More pics of our site:
Another dinner:
Oh deer:
Levitating squirrel:
Butterfly:
Another deer:
Aerial views of our site:
Let’s explore. The welcome center:
The campground didn’t have any garbage bins or dumpsters, but did have a trash compactor just outside:
And it being Oregon, of course there were lots of recycling bins, too:
Self registration station for late arrivals:
Bathrooms:
More bathrooms:
Tent sites:
Other RV sites:
We will probably come back here in the future, but might like to stay on the opposite side of the road, for better shade. Site 41 could be a good choice:
Or site 43:
Or site 45:
Behind site 45:
A seating area by a path to the adjacent campground:
We were in Dairy Creek Campground West; the East campground is nearby:
Both campgrounds have a couple of Park Hosts:
Dairy Creek Campground East is a bit more open:
This campground might be better for our coach; it brushed some of the foliage in the west campground. Sites 82, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, and 92 would all be excellent choices for afternoon shade and a decent amount of privacy:
A very nice couple of campgrounds. We’ll likely stay here again when visiting Portland.
Cellular internet
We are both still working as we travel the country in our motorhome, so having reliable internet access is essential.
To that end, we have six internet options: two cellular plans (AT&T and Verizon) in a cellular modem, one cell plan (T-Mobile) via a Wi-Fi hotspot device, two iPhones (AT&T), and (very recently) Starlink satellite internet.
And sometimes we connect to campground Wi-Fi, when available, though our various options are usually faster and more reliable.
Having four different networks and a variety of devices ensures that almost anywhere we are, we can connect to the internet.
Some details about the plans:
- T-Mobile (via 5G Wi-Fi hotspot): unlimited data; plan provided by the Calyx Institute. This is what we’ve used the most, being truly unlimited.
- AT&T (LTE SIM in cellular modem): 800 GB data; plan provided by Mobile Must Have. A good backup option, though often not very fast.
- Verizon (5G SIM in cellular modem): 150 GB data; pre-paid plan from Verizon. Often the fastest cellular option, but very limited data, so we don’t use it much.
- AT&T (iPhones): unlimited data; plans and phones provided by Apple Upgrade Program. We use these a lot as standalone devices. They only have 40 GB data as a personal hotspot, so we don’t tether other than emergencies.
- Starlink (satellite): unlimited data; plan and dish provided by Starlink. We’ll probably use this the most going forward, if it proves to be reliable enough (and if our campsites can see enough of the sky).
I’ll cover Starlink in a separate post later, once we’ve spent more time with it — as of this post, we’ve only had it for a few days.
This is the T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot; we can connect to it directly, but most of the time we go via the modem, which also connects to it:
The modem has a roof-mounted antenna (the white fin in the following picture), which we got from Mobile Must Have, and installed by NIRVC; a Poynting 7-in-1 Roof Antenna. It contains 4 cell antennas, 2 WiFi antennas, and a GPS antenna:
Zoomed out a bit:
The antenna connects to the Pepwave MAX Transit modem (also from MMH), which contains the AT&T and Verizon SIMs (and can support two more). NIRVC mounted it in a cupboard above our entry door:
See a later post about some further modifications to this cupboard.
Xscapers Bash video: drone flight
Flying my drone over the Xscapers Annual Bash, held in the Lake Havasu Rodeo Grounds, Arizona. Hundreds of RVs attending the annual celebration of working-age RVers.
Xscapers Bash: aerial photos
It’s been months since I last flew my drone, in part due to not being permitted in some locations, or just not thinking of it. But at the Xscapers Bash seemed like a good opportunity, so I had a quick flight. Actually two: the first was just vertically above my coach, the second was a little further.
Let’s head up:
Looking towards the main event area; all the Bash events were held in the structures beyond the arena:
Looking towards the entrance, and the mountains beyond:
Back down:
I think our solar panels may be a bit dusty:
My second flight, the next day, I flew from one end of the Xscapers Bash site to the other. But first, a closer look at the dusty solar panels:
The nearby mountain:
A view of the rodeo grounds from the entrance, and flying towards the back, looking in various directions:
Nearby BMX course:
Stay tuned for a video flyby tomorrow!
Valley of the Rogue State Park drone shots
While at the Valley of the Rogue State Park in southern Oregon, I flew my drone above the campsite. In part because it’s a fun thing to do, but also for a practical reason: to check the roof and slide toppers for branches, since we were parked amongst trees.
Here’s our campsite, with our coach and truck:
From higher up:
From this height, you can see most of the campground loop (and nice fall foliage):
A little higher to see the whole loop; not quite as bright, as starting to get into clouds (this was at just below the legal height limit for a drone):
Tilting upwards, a view of the Rogue River and the next-door campground loops, which are being used for FEMA trailers from last year’s wildfires:
Looking to the left:
The campground is right next to the I-5 freeway (as seen from the base of cloud level), which was a bit noisy at night:
Heading back down again:
Views of our coach roof, showing all the leaves. This was also my first look at our two extra solar panels, installed by Poulsbo RV:
I was particularly interested in the slide toppers, to make sure no branches were going to damage them. Though we don’t have a ladder, so it would have been difficult to remove them if there had been any:
I did fly my drone low over the toppers, which blew off most of the leaves. You can see me flying by looking at the screen:
Aerial pictures of our coach
Our coach is currently being serviced at an RV dealer, but I recently flew my drone above it while it was parked at Mom’s place. Since this coach lacks a ladder, this was the first time I’ve seen the roof, other than via the pictures from the inspector.
Here’s an aerial shot of the coach from the passenger-side front:
From the driver-side front:
From the driver-side back:
From the passenger-side back:
From the front:
Higher up:
A closer look at the roof, starting from the front (right side), with the two radio antennas, the front AC, and the awning:
Next, again from the front, the TV antenna, a solar panel, the kitchen vent, the middle AC, and the half-bath vent:
The satellite dish, the back AC, the shower skylight, and the bathroom vent:
The same as above, plus the back cap:
A lower view, showing a puddle on the living room slide topper. Not a problem; it’ll drain off when the slide is closed:
Same on the other side:
