Travel from Oregonia, Ohio to Lebanon, Tennessee

We drove our coach 335 miles, about six hours of driving, from Oregonia, Ohio to Lebanon, Tennessee.

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

Route map

This was our first time crossing timezones for several months, in fact since December 22nd, 2024 (it was July 20th, 2025 when we did this travel day; yes, I’m currently a couple of months behind live).

Here’s a map showing part of our route and colors for the Mountain, Central, and Eastern timezones:

Route timezones map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Paladin on the dash when leaving the campground:

Paladin on the dash when leaving the campground

I-71 South:

I-71 South

Cincinnati:

Cincinnati

Welcome to Kentucky:

Welcome to Kentucky

Rest area:

Rest area

Bridge roadworks:

Bridge roadworks

Stuff on the road; Google Maps usually gives me a heads-up of things like this, which is very useful:

Stuff on the road

Exit to I-264 West:

Exit to I-264 West

More stuff on the freeway; someone didn’t secure their load:

More stuff on the freeway

Exit to I-65 South:

Exit to I-65 South

Rest area:

Rest area

Coach broken down:

Coach broken down

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Entering Central Time Zone:

Entering Central Time Zone

Perhaps a bad end of a vacation:

Perhaps a bad end of a vacation

Tennessee Welcomes You:

Tennessee Welcomes You

Junk cars being towed:

Junk cars being towed

Heavy traffic:

Heavy traffic

Nashville:

Nashville

Nashville

Exit to I-40 East:

Exit to I-40 East

Arriving at NIRVC for the annual servicing of our coach (we arrived on a weekend, but they had sent a link to open the gate):

Arriving at NIRVC

We were originally going to stay in our coach while it was being serviced, but we were feeling sick with Covid, so decided it’d be more comfortable to stay in a nearby pet-friendly hotel instead. So we did that, and were very glad we did.

Olive Branch Campground

We stayed at Olive Branch Campground in Oregonia, Ohio. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Just a one night stop on the way to NIRVC.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-07-19
  • Check out: 2025-07-20
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Rainy
  • High temp 86°F, low 71°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 23 MPH, but sheltered by trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #124, pull-through, gravel
  • The office told us the site was 55 feet and we’d need to unhook our toad, so we did, but we really didn’t need to do so; annoying
  • Somewhat level site; high on driver side; used air leveling, since only one night
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 20 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 970 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 80 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Didn’t hook up the sewer until departure, but it was a little inconvenient.

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • RoamLink: 45 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 90-135 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
  • AT&T: 125 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 85 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A bit expensive, but convenient

We needed a one-night stay on short notice, and this campground worked. It was a fairly basic site for $100. If we were staying longer and making use of the amenities, it would feel more worth it. Slightly annoying that the camp hosts told us we’d need to unhook our tow vehicle because it wouldn’t fit in the site, which was wrong–there was plenty of space to remain hooked up, and we would not have been in the road on either side. Site was mostly level and the utilities all worked well. We camped at Olive Branch Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Just a one night stop, so no real opinion on whether or not we’d stay here again; probably so, though we’d ignore the office saying their site wasn’t long enough to remain toaded if we did.

Travel from Tarentum, Pennsylvania to Oregonia, Ohio

We drove our coach 279 miles, about five hours of driving, from Tarentum, Pennsylvania to Oregonia, Ohio.

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

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Our coach, driving to a place to toad up:

Our coach

Narrow windy road:

Narrow windy road

Fort Pitt Tunnel:

Fort Pitt Tunnel

Fort Pitt Tunnel

I-376 West:

I-376 West

Exit to I-79:

Exit to I-79

Rest area:

Rest area

Exit to I-70:

Exit to I-70

I-70 West:

I-70 West

Welcome to West Virginia:

Welcome to West Virginia

Truck stop:

Truck stop

Country Pride for lunch:

Country Pride for lunch

Country Pride for lunch

5% downgrade:

5% downgrade

Exit to I-470 West:

Exit to I-470 West

Bridge:

Bridge

Welcome to Ohio:

Welcome to Ohio

Rest area:

Rest area

I-270 South:

I-270 South

I-71 South:

I-71 South

Olive Branch Campground:

Olive Branch Campground

Olive Branch Campground

Olive Branch Campground

Mountain Top Campground

We stayed at Mountain Top Campground in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A campground on a mountain top… it’s right in the name. A downside of being on a mountaintop (or what passes for mountains on the east coast) is a narrow windy road to get to it. And the sites with the best view are crowded together.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-07-13
  • Check out: 2025-07-19
  • 6 nights

Weather:

  • Thunderstorms, rain, mostly cloudy
  • High temps 81-87°F, lows 68-72°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #41, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Unlevel site; high on passenger side and back; used hydraulic leveling with extra blocks in front
  • Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 0-18 feet (wedge-shaped) to neighbors on both sides
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees behind site
  • Mostly clean site
  • Mountain top view behind site
  • Low tree branches behind site prevented going back further
  • Elevation 1,150 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, inconveniently located behind site; needed to use a provided Hughes Autoformer voltage booster instead of my Watchdog due to low voltage (but still cut out a few times, not great for our electrical systems); also had 1.5 hour area power cut due to thunderstorms
  • 50 PSI water, inconveniently located behind site
  • Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed); campground has rules about avoiding heavy water use like flushing tanks

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 84-93 Mbps down, 26 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
  • RoamLink: 105 Mbps down, 45-56 Mbps up, 150 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used)
  • AT&T: 120 Mbps down, 45 Mbps up, 102 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters by entrance

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient to Pittsburgh

The access roads into the park are twisty and narrow, making for some tense driving in a big rig. The dirt road into the campground itself was so dusty when we arrived that it set off a malfunction indicator light in our diesel pusher (the alert cleared after we left and drove on the freeway for a while, so it was definitely a combination of the hill and dust).

When hooking up to the power, there was a voltage booster attached to the pedestal, which we weren’t sure about, but one of the camp hosts (owners?) came by and explained that the power is a bit weak in the corner, so we could use that if there were issues. There were, and we did, but even with the booster, we were getting fluctuations.

In retrospect, we would have asked to be moved to a different site, as the weather was not conducive to taking in the view anyway. Also, the corner sites with the best views are very narrow, while the sites on the straight side are more spacious. During our stay, there were massive thunderstorms in the vicinity, which knocked out the power to the campground, and we got several text messages with the ETA of power restoration, which was very appreciated. We camped at Mountain Top Campground in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Take in a game at PNC Park, one of the prettiest MLB parks! Also, near enough to check out the historic/iconic Fallingwater house by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site; would have been much better as a front-in site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

View behind our site:

View

View

Autoformer electrical voltage booster:

Autoformer electrical voltage booster

Voltage error before I switched to the provided voltage booster:

Voltage error

ECM SPN 3058 FMI 18 error code when arriving, due to a steep climb up a very dusty road:

ECM SPN 3058 FMI 18

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Given the narrow dusty roadway, tight sites, flaky power, and excessive rules, we would not stay here again.

Travel from Bellefonte to Tarentum, Pennsylvania

We drove our coach 148 miles, about four hours of driving, from Bellefonte to Tarentum, Pennsylvania.

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

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

One-way road due to roadworks:

One-way road due to roadworks

Towards I-80:

Towards I-80

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

I-80 West:

I-80 West

“Use Flashers Below 50 MPH”; weird:

Use Flashers Below 50 MPH

“All Trucks Must Use Left Lane”; also weird:

All Trucks Must Use Left Lane

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rest area:

Rest area

Punxsutawney:

Punxsutawney

New Bethlehem:

New Bethlehem

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Route 28 South:

Route 28 South

Exit to Millerstown:

Exit to Millerstown

Narrow windy road:

Narrow windy road

Narrow driveway into campground:

Narrow driveway into campground

Mountain Top Campground:

Mountain Top Campground

Self check-in:

Self check-in

Self check-in

Our site:

Our site

The Bellefonte Campground

We stayed at The Bellefonte Campground in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A convenient stop on our journey.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-07-12
  • Check out: 2025-07-13
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Mostly cloudy, some drizzle
  • High temp 87°F, low 70°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 15 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • LIttle neighbor noise

Site:

  • #68, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
  • Somewhat level site; a little high in the rear; used air leveling, since only one night
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 15 feet wide
  • 15-50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 20 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 1,070 feet, front facing SE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • Didn’t connect water or sewer, but conveniently located

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Campground Wi-Fi (Starlink powered): 24-30 Mbps down, 12-25 Mbps up, 28-38 ms ping
  • RoamLink: 80 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 156-185 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
  • AT&T: 85 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 100 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop on I-80

We stayed one night on our way through PA, and this was a nice stop along the way. We were in site 68, which wasn’t very level, but it was long enough before the steepest part of the slope that we didn’t need to unhook our tow vehicle (which is always annoying for one night). Some of the turns getting into the site were a bit sharp, and we had to thread the needle between the turn and a bunch of cars parked at the group site. I do so love navigating a tight turn with 20 people gawking at my skills, so I’m glad I could put on a show for them. Anyway, this was a nice quiet spot and we’d stay here again if we were in the area.

Be aware that there was massive construction on Hwy 26, with only one lane open the entire length of it, which made for some white knuckle driving to get in and out of the campground. We camped at The Bellefonte Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

We enjoyed pizza delivery from Pizza Mia in Bellefonte; always nice when we don’t need to cook on a travel day:

Pizza

Pizza

We’d stay here again, though might look for alternatives if the road construction is still underway.