Starlink Mini mounted on our truck

We sometimes explore areas without cell service, as we travel around the US… plus we are exploring New Zealand in a van.

We really enjoy using Starlink with our coach, and wanted to bring a dish to NZ, but our gen 2 dish is rather bulky. We decided to get a Starlink Mini dish, which is much smaller, and has the router built in. It was small enough to fit in carry-on luggage for our NZ trip, and mounts on our truck and the NZ van via a magnetic mount, powered from a 12V outlet (aka cigarette lighter).

It isn’t needed all the time, so we can pause the dish when not needed. In fact, with Starlink’s current policies, they charge $5/month for Standby Mode, which has unlimited slow data (500 Kbps), so is still useful for occasional or minimal use.

Here’s the 12V power in our truck (the white USB dongle is a wireless CarPlay adapter):

12V power

The cable is routed out the rear window, which can still latch closed:

Cable out rear window

The cable is clipped to the roof, with a couple more clips on the edge to hold the cable when the dish is removed from the roof:

Cable and clips

The Starlink Mini dish is securely attached to the roof via a magnetic mount:

Starlink dish in magnetic mount

Handy!

Ephrata RV Park & Campground

We stayed at Ephrata RV Park & Campground in Ephrata, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our last stop on our way home. Good to be back in Washington!

Dates:

Check in: 2025-09-03
Check out: 2025-09-04
1 night

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 100°F, low 68°F
Little wind, gusts to 10 MPH

Noise:

Some highway noise
Occasional train horn noise (including overnight)
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#P23, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
Somewhat level site; a little high in the front; used air leveling, since only one night
Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
10 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 1,240 feet, front facing SW

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Didn’t connect sewer until departure; good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 111-240 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
RoamLink: 8-13 Mbps down, 1-3 Mbps up, 270 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 3 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 85-235 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop off I-90

We stayed for one night on our way through Washington, and it was just fine for that. I don’t think I’d stay any longer, though, between the narrow site and the aroma of cow manure. The internal roads and sites are gravel, making it difficult to distinguish between the site and road edges, and if we were parked within the boundaries of our site. We camped at Ephrata RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

A tight site, but a fine place for a brief stay. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Video

Video: Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 334 miles from Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington.

Travel from Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington

We drove our coach 334 miles, about six hours of driving, from Missoula, Montana to Ephrata, Washington.

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

Map

This map showing timezones, as we crossed from Mountain to Pacific time (west coast best coast), and the state borders between Montana (right), Idaho (middle), and Washington (left):

Timezones

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

I-90 West:

I-90 West

Clark Fork River:

Clark Fork River

Curves ahead:

Curves ahead

Truck stop:

Truck stop

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rest area closed due to roadworks:

Rest area closed due to roadworks

Trucker info:

Trucker info

Welcome to Idaho and Pacific Time Zone:

Welcome to Idaho and Pacific Time Zone

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Elevation 3,069 feet:

Elevation 3,069 feet

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Washington:

Welcome to Washington

Spokane:

Spokane

Train:

Train

Rest area:

Rest area

Sprague Lake:

Sprague Lake

Train:

Train

Another closed rest area:

Another closed rest area

Exit to Quincy:

Exit to Quincy

Field planting sign:

Field planting sign

Arriving at our campground:

Arriving

And our site:

Our site

Jim & Mary’s RV Park

We stayed at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

This is our fourth stay here; our first time with a trailer on our Yellowstone trip, and in our coach the following year and the year after. It’s a convenient stop on our way home, and a very pretty park.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-09-01
Check out: 2025-09-02
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 92°F, low 60-62°F
Little wind, gusts to 10 MPH

Noise:

Some road noise
Nearby train horn noise
No significant neighbor noise

Site:

#A2, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only two nights
Somewhat unlevel site; high in the rear, though might have been more level if parked towards the back; used air leveling, since only two nights
Gravel driveway about 72 feet long by 15 feet wide
20 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
One big tree
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, a little inconveniently located
60 PSI water, a little inconveniently located
Good sewer connection, a conveniently located (1.5 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 56-118 Mbps down, , 50 ms ping
RoamLink: 6-7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 200 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 55-100 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 10-14 Mbps down, 2-10 Mbps up, 13 ms ping

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Gardens

See our previous review on Campground Reviews.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

View of the office and entrance from our site:

View of office and entry from our site

Other sites:

Other sites

See our previous visits for more photos. We still like this RV park, and will likely stay here yet again in the future.

Video

Video: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Missoula, Montana motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 329 miles from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Missoula, Montana.

Travel from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Missoula, Montana

We drove our coach 329 miles, about five hours of driving, from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Missoula, Montana.

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

Map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

An interesting trailer:

An interesting trailer

Check-out box:

Check-out box

Crowd watching something on the hill; I couldn’t see anything:

Crowd watching something

A lone bison:

Lone bison

Thermal feature:

Thermal feature

Madison River:

Madison River

Leaving the park:

Leaving the park

Welcome to West Yellowstone, Montana:

Welcome to West Yellowstone, Montana

West Yellowstone

Hebgen Lake:

Hebgen Lake

Madison River:

Madison River

Ennis:

Ennis

We had originally planned to stay at Ennis RV Park, but decided to just push on through:

Ennis RV Park

Route 359 North:

Route 359 North

Truck parking closed on I-90 West:

Truck parking closed on I-90 West

… because they diverted traffic through the parking area due to road works:

Truck parking closed on I-90 West

Continental Divide:

Continental Divide

I-90 West:

I-90 West

Rest area:

Rest area

Wildlife escape ramp:

Wildlife escape ramp

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Arriving at Jim & Mary’s RV Park:

Arriving at Jim & Mary's RV Park

Our site:

Our site

Dashcams

If you’ve enjoyed my RV travel videos on YouTube, you may have wondered what I use to record them.

I use a dashcam, listed on Amazon as the “ROVE R2-4K Dash Cam Built-in WiFi 6 GPS Car Dashboard Camera Recorder with UHD 2160P, 2.4″ IPS Screen, 150° Wide Angle, WDR, Night Vision”.

I actually have four of these cameras: one in the coach windshield to record a timelapse of our travels, and a second one next to it to record real-time, in case of accident; one in a side window to record a timelapse of campground activities (which I occasionally post, but is usually not that excitng), plus a fourth in our truck, again recording real-time for accidents.

Here are the two in the coach windshield; the one on the left is the one used for timelapses, and the one on the right is for real-time (the box between them is the Mobileye sensor):

Dashcams

The left one is attached via Command Strips to ensure it remains straight:

Dashcam

Not the fanciest dashcams, but they get the job done.

Fishing Bridge RV Park, Yellowstone National Park

We stayed at Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our fourth stay in Yellowstone, our second in our coach and at this campground. The only place we can stay inside the park in our coach. It’s definitely worthwhile to stay inside the park; it’s a huge place, and the entry lines can be long.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-08-24
Check out: 2025-09-02
9 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, some rain
High temps 59-73°F, lows 45-50°F
Some wind, gusts to 20 MPH, sheltered by trees

Noise:

No road noise
No train horn noise
Lots of neighbor noise

Site:

#321, pull-through, concrete
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Somewhat level site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Concrete driveway about 70 feet long by 32 feet wide
54 feet to neighbors on both sides
Just grass between sites
Picnic table
Tall trees behind site
Unclean site; lots of small trash (which I picked up)
Elevation 7,790 feet, front facing south

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
80 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, but too low, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 200-219 Mbps down, 27 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
RoamLink: 8 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 130 ms ping (RoamLink uses whichever is best of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile)
AT&T: 12-30 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 150 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities: