Posts featuring the coach.
We drove our coach 148 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ohio Key, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading back up the Overseas Highway out of the Keys:
An interactive map:
Leaving the resort:
Heading up the Overseas Highway:
Florida’s Turnpike toll road:
Rainy:
Service plaza lunch stop:
Paladin at the service plaza:
Roadworks:
Hard Rock hotel:
Turnaround:
Our destination:
We stayed at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina, in Ohio Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A large park in the Florida Keys.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Waterfront and road noise
We have a Thousand Trails Adventure membership, but that did not help us get a reservation here at all. Considering how hard it is to get a reservation in the Keys, we bit the bullet and paid retail for a two-week stay in a waterfront site that was the most expensive site we’d ever booked. I should point out that site 406 really shouldn’t be considered a “Premium waterfront” site. There is a peep of the water through the mangroves, but nothing like a panoramic view. However, we enjoyed watching the water and the ibises hunting in the mangroves from our front window, so I’ll let it slide.
While the peek of the water was nice, the constant highway noise was not. No matter where you are in the park, there is a constant hum of the Overseas Highway, although it’s somewhat reduced on the far edge and towards the marina.
The park has definite drainage issues. We arrived after a major thunderstorm swept through the Keys and there was a large lake at the entrance and in several other places around the park, including the road our site was on. They had pumps going to try and divert the worst of it out to sea, but it took days to completely dry up.
They allow motorhomes to front-in at the waterfront sites, which is nice even though the hookups were then on the wrong side of the coach. Luckily, we have pretty long power cables and hoses, so we’re able to reach across the nice wide site.
One downside of the waterfront site is that people think it’s okay to walk through your site on their way to the beach. It is not.
There are lots of activities and a robust social scene if you’re into that. We liked that it was convenient to everything we wanted to do in the Keys, but $300/night would be a dealbreaker if we wanted to visit the Keys again. We camped at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Our power and water hookups were on the passenger side, since we fronted in. Fortunately we have a long power cord and hoses, so it wasn’t a problem (I didn’t even need to use my power extension cord).
I flew my drone for some aerial views; this first one is above our site:
Entrance sign:
Direction sign:
Rental golf carts:
Rental Slingshot:
Mail room; quite well organized. People go in to claim their own packages:
They regularly had food vendors onsite:
Birds in front of our site:
Our coach next to a rental tiny home:
More tiny homes:
Rental trailers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
Swimming pool:
Marina:
Fish in the marina:
Sunset Pier, with a swimming area and fishing:
People checking out a grounded boat:
Beach access down from our site:
An old bridge, now a walking path:
The old bridge next to the newer Overseas Highway bridge:
A glimpse of our coach from the water:
A large, nice RV park. It would have been nicer if we could have stayed for free via our Thousand Trails membership, but the premium site was nicer.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 19 miles from Sugarloaf Key, Florida to Ohio Key, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
We drove our coach just 19 miles, less than half an hour of driving, from Sugarloaf Key, Florida to Ohio Key, Florida.
This was a late change, to avoid bad weather; we decided it was better to do most of the drive a couple of days earlier, then just a very short drive on the bad weather day. As a bonus, we got to experience another RV park in the Keys.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading back up the Overseas Highway in the Keys:
An interactive map:
A map showing the storm; the worst of it was past by the time we left:
Departing:
Toading up outside the resort — which we did out of habit, though it occurred to us after we’d done so that we didn’t really need to for such a short journey. But it doesn’t take us long, so doesn’t matter:
An Overseas Highway bridge:
Pelican:
Another bridge:
An old decaying bridge, slowly falling apart:
Arriving at our destination:
Arrival area, where I untoaded while Jenn checked in:
Heading to our site:
Pulling in to our site:
A big expense, but an important one: new tires. Motorhome and truck tires don’t wear out like car tires, but instead age out. Tires can last up to ten years, but the advice is to check them starting at five years, and aim for about seven years to replace them, or sooner if there are signs of cracking.
Our 2017 coach had the original tires, made in 2016, so were about due. And when we recently had our brake seize up, raising the temperature of the tire over the danger zone of 200°F, we decided it was time.
These big tires are over a grand each, and we have six of them, so it isn’t a trivial expense, but good tires are very important for the safety of the coach.
We went to Bay Diesel in Red Bay to get this done:
While there, we also got them to look at our generator, which had misbehaved earlier, but of course was working perfectly while they looked at it:
The rear wheel without the tires:
New tires:
New tires installed; they were all manufactured in late 2023, so they should be good for another 5-10 years:
We also did a test drive with a couple of techs to tweak the alignment of our Safe-T-Plus steering control system:
Yay for new tires:
We stayed at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Resort, in Sugarloaf Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A very nice resort, that actually lives up to the resort label. We wished we could have stayed longer.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Most resort-like KOA ever
This was a last-minute change as we had reservations at another place in the Keys, but needed to avoid a major storm and came down a couple of days earlier than planned. We only stayed two nights, but I wish we could’ve stayed for our entire trip in the Keys. We’ve stayed at lots of KOAs and lots of other so-called “resorts”, but this one felt the most like a true resort that we’ve ever stayed at. The pool and bar area were like something at a beachside resort in Cancun, with lush landscaping and attentive bartenders. It does get a bit loud in the evenings when they have live music, so if that’s not your scene, just be aware that you will hear it from your site.
We had a back-in along the perimeter, which we enjoyed. There is very nice landscaping between the sites, so it was relatively private. The site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, with our tow vehicle parked perpendicular at the front of the site. Since everyone does this, the road was a bit narrow when backing in and when we left, so make sure you have a reliable spotter.
The cost is a bit higher than we are used to, but it is what it is. It was cheaper than a less-fancy resort that was further away from Key West, so bear that in mind. We would definitely stay here again. We camped at Sugarloaf Key / Key West KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Office:
This KOA is different in that it has a couple of hotel buildings for non-RVers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
They have nice paths in the middle of rows, so people aren’t tempted to cut through unoccupied (or occupied!) sites:
Sothernmost KOA:
Marina:
Rentals:
Boat ramp:
Hammock:
Pools:
Always nice when there’s food onsite. They have a poolside pub:
Menus:
We tried some beverages:
Sandwiches and fries:
Second round:
The next day, more beverages:
And pizzas:
Cafe and store:
A path to a “beach”:
Bridge:
Mangroves:
“Beach”:
A nice resort. We’d be happy to stay here again.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 122 miles from Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida to Sugarloaf Key, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
We drove our coach 122 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida to Sugarloaf Key, Florida.
This was a late change; we had planned to stay a couple of days more, but decided to leave early to avoid some bad weather.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading down the Overseas Highway in the Keys:
An interactive map:
Leaving our site:
We stopped at the dump station, which was rather popular at that time:
A bird in Everglades:
Leaving next to the entrance station:
Road works:
Entering route 1:
Our coach in traffic cams:
Overseas Highway, with an adjacent fishing bridge:
Fuel stop:
Paladin sat on the dash at the fuel stop, but jumped down once underway again:
Turtle hospital:
Passing Encore Sunshine Key, where we stayed a couple of days later:
Our destination:
Guided to our site (even though it was literally right around that corner):
The insulation above the engine in our motorhome came loose. Apparently this is a fairly common issue, but not ideal:
I used some aluminum tape to temporarily repair it:
But while in Red Bay we got one of the after-hours vendors, Mark Tedford (662-706-0692), to properly fix it for us.
There is an access panel to the engine compartment in our rear bathroom (yes, the engine is at the back, commonly called a “diesel pusher”):
He removed that to enhance its insulation:
The first time I’ve seen inside that compartment on our coach, looking down on our Cummins ISL 450 diesel engine:
The default engine hatch insulation:
His enhanced insulation:
His improved insulation from the back:
Much nicer. The bathroom floor used to get quite warm after a drive, but it is now much cooler. And now we shouldn’t need to worry about it falling apart.
We stayed at Long Pine Key Campground within Everglades National Park, in Homestead, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A basic no-hookups campground within the national park. A little short for our coach, but we made it work.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Basic campground in the heart of Everglades NP
Pros: Beautiful, large, private sites within the national park.
Cons: Most sites much shorter than listed and facing the wrong way depending on your configuration (motorhome or trailer) so you have to think creatively to get orientated.
Neutral: No hookups of any kind, so be prepared. We camped at Long Pine Key Campground in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Not really long enough for our coach:
I got my bike out, for the first time in months (we sold Jenn’s a while ago):
A path to the nearby bathroom block:
Dish washing sink:
Inside the men’s bathroom:
We were staying inside Everglades National Park, and did a sailing trip in Biscayne National Park (posts coming on those in the next couple of days), so we added those stickers to our coach:
A snake on the road:
Entrance and dumpsters:
Info sign:
There were some solar-heated showers:
An interesting way to park a coach; perhaps a bit against the rules, but a good solution to cope with the sites being too short for big motorhomes:
Other sites:
Tent sites:
The campground had a path to an amphitheater, where they did ranger talks (with my bike in the foreground):
The Long Pine Key lake:
A nice campground, despite the lack of hookups. We’d be happy to stay here again.