RV

Posts featuring the coach.

Travel from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio

We drove our coach 323 miles, about six hours of driving, from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio.

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

Map

An interactive map:

Preparing to toad up:

Preparing to toad up

Geese and goslings on the road:

Geese and goslings on the road

Entering the Pennsylvania Turnpike:

Entering Pennsylvania turnpike

The first of several rather narrow toll plazas:

Toll plaza

I-76 West, aka the turnpike:

I-76 West

Another toll plaza to exit the turnpike for fuel:

Another toll plaza

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Back onto the turnpike:

Another toll plaza

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

The first of several tunnels:

Tunnel

This U-Haul driver wasn’t very good at lane placement:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Out of the first tunnel and straight into the second one:

Tunnels

The third tunnel:

Tunnel

Service plaza:

Service plaza

Paladin on the dash at the service plaza:

Paladin on dash at service plaza

The fourth-and-last tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Another service plaza:

Service plaza

Bridge construction:

Bridge construction

Welcome to Ohio; a frame from the dash cam, as the photo was too obscured by rain (not that this is great):

Welcome to Ohio

Huge welcome center parking:

Service plaza

The last toll plaza:

Another toll plaza

Yay for E-ZPass:

Another toll plaza

A steep arching bridge over a rail line:

Steep arching bridge over rail line

West Branch State Park:

West Branch State Park

Check-in office:

Check-in office

Our very sloped site:

Our site

Mirror head replacement

Back in 2022 a truck clipped the driver-side mirror on our motorhome, smashing the mirror glass. I replaced the mirror glass, which made the mirror usable again, but unfortunately the motor that allows adjusting the position would only work three of the four directions, so I’d have to manually push the mirror if it drifted out of position (which seemed to happen regularly).

We were going to get it replaced when doing the annual service, but the pandemic supply chain issues made the part unavailable at the time.

It wasn’t a super urgent issue, so we put it on the back burner, but it continued to annoy us. Eventually after much research I determined that one could buy a replacement head for the mirror, which (in theory) could be easily plug-and-play replaced. The part is manufactured by Valvac, and the part number is 719853, “Euromax-XL Replacement Head w/Camera, Lighted, Left Side, Chrome”.

I purchased this part:

Mirror box

The new mirror head:

New mirror head

New mirror head

It looked like an easy job, but we were about to be in Red Bay, so I got a mobile tech to look at replacing it for me. Good thing I didn’t try it myself, as it was too hard for that tech; he couldn’t fish the wires out of the mirror arm.

So later while at Thousand Trails Orlando I got a local RV tech, Charles Sutton of CS Mobile RV Repair LLC, to have a go at it. He also had lots of difficulty with it, but eventually managed it (and was very generous in not charging extra for it, too; I’d highly recommend him for any RV services!).

Here’s the old head removed:

Old head removed

He had to remove a bunch of excess insulation in the generator compartment to access the wires to get enough slack to reach the plugs:

Removed insulation to access bolts

Finally able to reach the plugs:

Wires

The replaced mirror head:

Replaced mirror head

So nice to have that working again. And if we ever need to replace it again, it should be a much easier job next time.

Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

If you don’t mind the occasional farm smells and being woken up by geese, this is a delightful campground. And convenient to Hershey. You know, the chocolate place.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-20
  • Check out: 2025-05-03
  • 13 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, a little rain
  • High temps 65-75°F, lows 44-56°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise (dogs, a few kids)
  • Lots of bird noise (mostly geese)
  • Not noise, but an unpleasant smell sometimes, probably from nearby farms

Site:

  • #B97, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 25 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Mostly clean site
  • Elevation 550 feet, front facing NW
  • Backing on to lake

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 70 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 25-64 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 10-12 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-70 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2-5 Mbps up, 30 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Seasonally closed pool
  • Small lake

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park close to Hershey

This was a very nice park by Thousand Trails standards. The roads in the park are easily navigable, but the access roads are a bit narrow, so you’ll be fine once you get to the park. Our site was somewhat level, but the hydraulic levelers coped well. Utilities were all good, with 70 psi water pressure, so bring a pressure regulator. We enjoyed the view of the lake and the waterfowl wandering about. The Canada Geese are a bit of a hazard to navigation and sleeping in (better than an alarm clock), but seeing the goslings out and about was nice. This park no longer allows mail or packages of any kind, but the post office in Campbelltown accepts general delivery and was the cutest, friendliest, and most homey post office I’ve ever been to.

The most annoying thing about our stay was the check-in process. They took my TT membership card and held onto it until I trekked back and handed in the (unnecessary and redundant) paperwork where I had to give them my license and registration information for my RV and truck and any guests I might be expecting and pledging the soul of my firstborn child (or something to that effect), whereupon they deigned to give me my gate pass and return of my membership card. After a long travel day through the PA turnpike, dealing with asinine bureaucracy and being held hostage is one of the last things I want to deal with. I sure hope that once they get used to the assigned site situation, they sunset this ridiculous policy. Nevertheless, we’d be happy to stay here again. We camped at Thousand Trails Hershey RV Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Nice view:

Nice view

Utilities:

Utilities

Ducks below birdfeeders on our neighboring site:

Ducks below birdfeeders on our neighboring site

Tortoise crossing the road:

Tortoise crossing the road

Geese and goslings:

Geese and goslings

Geese and goslings

Geese and goslings

Gosling

Geese and goslings

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabins

Welcome center:

Welcome center

Closed swimming pool:

Closed swimming pool

Game court:

Game court

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Lake:

Lake

Lake

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Ocean View, New Jersey to Lebanon, Pennsylvania

We drove our coach 162 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ocean View, New Jersey to Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

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

Map

An interactive map:

Taking out the trash on the way out of the campground:

Taking out the trash on the way out of the campground

Tollway:

Tollway

Bridge over Great Egg Harbor Bay:

Bridge over Great Egg Harbor Bay

Walt Whitman Bridge over Delaware River:

Walt Whitman Bridge over Delaware River

Wide toll plaza:

Wide toll plaza

Philadelphia:

Philadelphia

Heavy traffic:

Heavy traffic

St John the Baptist church:

St John the Baptist church

Another toll plaza:

Another toll plaza

Very close roadworks barrier:

Very close roadworks barrier

Paladin on the dash leaving a rest area:

Paladin on the dash leaving a rest area

Another super-narrow toll plaza:

Another super-narrow toll plaza

Heading towards Hershey:

Heading towards Hershey

Chicken:

Chicken

Thousand Trails:

Thousand Trails

Following our coach to our site:

Following coach to our site

Our site:

Our site

Compact garbage bin fits next to toilet

There isn’t a lot of room in the rear and mid bathrooms of our coach, so we looked for a compact garbage bin that would fit next to the toilet.

We found one on Amazon (but it isn’t available there anymore; there are similar ones if you search):

Garbage bin

It has a handle to remove the inner bin:

Garbage bin

And a built-in toilet brush:

Garbage bin

A compact solution for a small space.

Thousand Trails Lake & Shore

We stayed at Thousand Trails Lake & Shore in Ocean View, New Jersey. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A fairly typical Thousand Trails campground, mostly full of park models and annual sites, with a small section for transients.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-04-13
  • Check out: 2025-04-20
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny
  • High temps 53-71°F, lows 40-56°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise
  • Industrial noise from a mine next to the campground during working hours (and sometimes overnight)

Site:

  • #E16, back-in, sand
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Unlevel site; high on rear and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Sand site about 50 feet long by 45 feet wide
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 20 feet, front facing NW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located at back of site
  • 60 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located at back of site
  • Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 430-630 Mbps down, 45 Mbps up, 19 ms ping
  • AT&T: 220-280 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters near entrance
  • Pool
  • Beach
  • Water park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park close to Jersey Shore activities

Most of this park is occupied by annual sites/park models, with a small area for “transient” visitors like us. We arrived not long after they’d opened for the season, and there was a bit of a hassle as they adjusted to the new way of assigning sites. The gate that’s supposed to be used by RVs checking in was out of commission, so we had to go through the car gate, which doesn’t have a keypad high enough to reach from the RV. The girl at the front desk said she’d keep an eye out and let us in, but she’d obviously forgotten or gone somewhere else in the 5 minutes it took us to unhook the tow vehicle, so we were stuck. I saw at least one other camper have the same problem a couple of days later, as well.

Once we got to our site, it was long enough for our motorhome and wide enough to park beside it. The site was a little unlevel, but better than some others. Nice little lake and beach on the property, and during the hot months, I imagine the pool and splash pad areas are super busy. Trash disposal is very far from the camping area, so slightly inconvenient if you don’t have a golf cart or take it in your car when you go out. There was also some low hum of nearby industrial noise, but it wasn’t too loud inside the RV. We camped at Thousand Trails Lake & Shore in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our first new state of the year, we were able to add the New Jersey sticker to our map:

New Jersey sticker

State stickers

Lake and sunset:

Lake

Lake

Lake

Lake

Seasonally closed water park:

Seasonally closed water park

Seasonally closed water park

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Nothing too exciting about it, but we wouldn’t mind staying here again.

Travel from College Park, Maryland to Ocean View, New Jersey

We drove our coach 164 miles, about three hours of driving, from College Park, Maryland to Ocean View, New Jersey.

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

Map

An interactive map:

Fort McHenry Tunnel, under the Baltimore harbor:

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Fort McHenry Tunnel under the Baltimore harbor

Roadworks with a very close barrier on I-95 North:

Roadworks with a very close barrier on I-95 North

Rest stop:

Rest stop

Crab for lunch… a mistake, as it took about 25 minutes to get the food:

Crab for lunch

Crab for lunch

Susquehanna River:

Susquehanna River

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Welcome to Delaware, blink and you’ll miss it:

Welcome to Delaware, blink and you'll miss it

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

Delaware Memorial Bridge:

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Welcome to New Jersey:

Welcome to New Jersey

Truck rest area:

Truck rest area

Muffler man statue:

Muffler man

Our destination:

Our destination

Using magnets to hold a cupboard door out of the way

Under the galley/kitchen sink in our coach is a cupboard with a large pull-out drawer, where amongst other things we store our garbage bag, held open with clips. (We used to use a couple of bins there, but a single large bag is more convenient).

That’s all very good, but the right-hand cupboard door swings wide, and gets in the way when standing in front of the dishwasher (to the right of this cupboard):

Cupboard doors and drawer

To solve that, I added a magnet to the drawer, held on by a Command Strip:

Magnet held on by Command Strip

An opposite polarity magnet is stuck on to the cupboard door by a glue dot (I originally used a glue dot for both, but it didn’t stay stuck to the wood of the drawer):

Magnet held on by glue dot

The two magnets are positioned so that they join to hold the door against the drawer:

Magnets joined to hold the door

Much better:

Door held against the drawer

I also have another magnet further back on the drawer:

Another magnet further back

Which holds the door in place when the drawer is fully extended:

Drawer fully extended

A small thing, but a nice improvement.