2023 campgrounds

Another interesting summary of 2023 — the places we stayed during the year. See also the posts for 2022 and 2021.

Read to the end for some sneak peeks of places we stayed that I haven’t yet posted about!

For each location, I’ve included a link to the corresponding blog post, so you can click through to see a lot more information, and a picture of our site. Enjoy!

You can also see all of the campground-related blog posts via the campsite category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Lockhart State Park:

Thousand Trails Colorado River RV Campground:

Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV & Camping Resort:

Lake Whitney State Park:

Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground:

Abilene KOA Journey:

Las Cruces KOA Journey:

Tombstone RV Park & Campground:

NIRVC Phoenix service to fix DEF head failure and more:

Kingman KOA Journey:

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort:

Death Valley Furnace Creek Campground:

Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday:

Thousand Trails Palm Springs:

Orangeland RV Park:

Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay:

Orange Grove RV Park:

Sun Outdoors Paso Robles:

San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA:

Giant Redwoods RV & Cabin Destination:

Crescent City / Redwoods KOA Holiday:

Thousand Trails South Jetty RV & Camping Resort:

Armitage Park Campground:

Thousand Trails Whalers Rest:

Thousand Trails Seaside:

Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort:

Our Washington home:

LL Stub Stewart State Park, Dairy Creek East:

Mt Hood Village RV & Camping Resort, again:

Grande Hot Springs Resort:

Y Knot Winery RV Park:

Alpine Valley RV Resort:

Fishing Bridge Campground, Yellowstone National Park:

Cody KOA Holiday:

Buffalo KOA Journey:

Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey:

Medora Campground:

Spearfish / Black Hills KOA Holiday:

Badlands / White River KOA Holiday:

Hidden Lake Campground and Resort:

Ogallala Tri-Trails KOA Journey:

Circle Drive Campground, Lake Scott State Park:

Corral Drive-In RV Park:

Tucumcari / Route 66 KOA Journey:

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park:

Anton Chico Rest Area:

West Truck Services Center:

Tucumcari KOA Journey again:

Oasis RV Resort & Cottages:

Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday:

Lake Dardanelle State Park (post coming in January):

Our site

Catherine’s Landing (post coming in January):

Our site

Graceland RV Park & Campground (post coming in January):

Our site

Red Bay Acres RV Resort (post coming in January):

Our site

Meridian East / Toomsuba KOA Journey (post coming in February):

Our site

New Orleans RV Resort & Marina (post coming in February):

Our site

Meaher State Park (post coming in February):

Our site

Ho-Hum RV Park (post coming in February):

Our site

Lots of interesting (and not so interesting) places to stay this year.

Video

Video: 2023 motorhome travel timelapses

See a summary of driving our Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome throughout 2023!

This combines all of the motorhome travel timelapses for 2023 into one video, at 20x the speed of the original timelapse videos.

2023 travel days

I thought it’d be interesting and useful to include a summary of travel days. Here are links to blog posts, and a sample picture of the view of each, so you can see how the landscape changed as we travelled in our coach.

Read to the end for some sneak peeks of places we went that I haven’t yet posted about!

You can see all of the travel-related blog posts via the travel category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Travel from Corpus Christi to Lockhart, Texas:

Travel from Lockhart to Columbus, Texas:

Travel from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas:

Travel from Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas:

Travel from Lake Whitney to Dallas, Texas:

Travel days to US Virgin Islands:

Travel from NIRVC in Dallas to Gordonville, Texas:

Travel from Gordonville to Abilene, Texas:

Travel from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico:

Travel from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona:

Travel from Tombstone to Surprise, Arizona:

Travel from Surprise to Kingman, Arizona:

Travel from Kingman, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada:

Travel from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California:

Travel from Death Valley to Yermo, California:

Travel from Yermo to Palm Desert, California:

Travel from Palm Desert to Orange, California:

Travel from Orange to San Diego, California:

Travel from San Diego to Bakersfield, California:

Travel from Bakersfield to Paso Robles, California:

Travel from Paso Robles to Petaluma, California:

Travel from Petaluma to Meyers Flat, California:

Travel from Meyers Flat to Crescent City, California:

Travel from Crescent City, California to Florence, Oregon:

Travel from Florence to Eugene, Oregon:

Travel from Eugene to South Beach, Oregon:

Travel from South Beach to Seaside, Oregon:

Travel from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington:

Travel from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington:

Travel from Shelton, Washington to Buxton, Oregon:

Travel from Buxton to Welches, Oregon:

Travel from Welches to La Grande, Oregon:

Travel from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho:

Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming:

Travel from Alpine to Yellowstone, Wyoming:

Travel from Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming:

Travel from Cody to Buffalo, Wyoming:

Travel from Buffalo to Devils Tower, Wyoming:

Travel from Devils Tower, Wyoming to Medora, North Dakota:

Travel from Medora, North Dakota to Spearfish, South Dakota:

Travel from Spearfish to Badlands, South Dakota:

Travel from Badlands to Hot Springs, South Dakota:

Travel from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska:

Travel from Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas:

Travel from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma:

Travel from Guymon, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico:

Travel from Tucumcari to Albuquerque, New Mexico:

Ruined building

Travel from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa, New Mexico:

Overpass

Towed from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, New Mexico:

Towed from Santa Rosa to Moriarty, New Mexico

Travel from Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico:

Travel from Moriarty to Tucumcari, New Mexico

Travel from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas:

I-40

Travel from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma:

Travel from Choctaw, Oklahoma to Russellville, Arkansas (post coming in January):

Fun with zoom

Travel from Russellville to Hot Springs, Arkansas (post coming in January):

Overpass

Travel from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee (post coming in January):

Traffic camera

Travel from Memphis, Tennessee to Red Bay, Alabama (post coming in January):

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

Travel from Red Bay, Alabama to Toomsuba, Mississippi (post coming in February):

Tombigbee River

Travel from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana (post coming in February):

Twin span bridge over Lake Pontchartrain

Travel from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama (post coming in February):

Our coach via traffic camera

Travel from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida (post coming in February):

Road under water

That’s a lot of travel!

2023 modifications

Happy New Year! 🎉

As we begin 2024, let’s look back at 2023, as I did this time last year.

I will have a series of blog posts reviewing topics from last year. I schedule my posts following a pattern: Modification Mondays, Travel Tuesdays, Whereabouts Wednesdays, and To and Fro Thursdays and Fridays (okay, those last ones are bit of a stretch). So I will post my annual summaries in that order too, starting with modifications today.

We have done a number of modifications to our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome, to make it more comfortable as a full-time home, to improve the features, or to repair issues. This is a summary of some of the changes done in 2023; also check out the changes from 2022 and 2021.

For each modification topic I include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture; see the post for details. (Tip: you can click or tap on either the link or picture to go to the corresponding post.)

You can see all of the modification-related blog posts via the modifications category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Upgraded TST TPMS display:

New mattress:

Slide topper bracing to reduce flapping in wind:

Micro-Air EasyTouchRV smart thermostats:

Improved tow bar pins:

Govee smart thermometers:

Replaced more recessed lights:

Replaced carbon monoxide detector:

Dryer magnets:

Water softener regeneration and backflush hoses and adapters:

Professionally cleaning gray and black tanks:

Water filter bag:

Adding a bedside Spyder touch panel:

David’s lap desk:

Jenn’s movable height-adjustable desk:

Ceiling fan motor replacement again:

Phone holders:

Engine compartment door stop replacement:

Hat hooks:

Fridge latch repair:

A bubble level helps us check when leveling our coach:

Extended cup holders:

Fresh tank flush:

Replaced chassis batteries and more at Oregon Motorcoach Center:

Tire covers:

Dryer vent padding:

Flagpole for Starlink dish:

15 amp to 50 amp power adapter:

Truck canopy, slide tray, lift kit:

Basement subwoofer:

Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers:

SnapPads:

Replacing wiper blades:

Fixing windshield washer hose:

Fixing black tank flush:

Fixing bathroom vent lid motor:

360 camera mount on truck:

Replacing fuse for solar controller:

Replacing fridge drawer cover:

Braking: Bad:

I hope you found these posts interesting and useful.

Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday

We stayed at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A last-minute change to get us back on track with our scheduled stops after the brake issue.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-10-21
Check out: 2023-10-22
1 night

Weather:

Cloudy
High temp 86°F, low 58°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Distant freeway noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#B24, pull through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
Fairly level; used air leveling
Gravel driveway about 85 feet long by about 13 feet wide
Garden between sites about 20 feet wide
Big trees
Stamped concrete patio about 30 by 12 feet
Fire pit, Adirondack chairs, patio table and chairs, propane grill on patio
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Didn’t use sewer, since just one night, but was fairly conveniently located

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 39 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 20 Mbps down, 6-9 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
AT&T: 83-95 Mbps down, 7-10 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster by entrance
Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice wooded campground close to I-40

This was a last-minute change of plans along our travel on I-40, and we were happy to get a patio site for our one night. We could relax and have dinner outside without all the fuss of unpacking everything. Very nice patio on terraced sites, which is needed to accommodate the very hilly terrain of the park. Check-in was quick and easy, and they guided us to our site. Some of the interior roads could use a little TLC, and there are some tight turns for a big rig, but we managed. It’s convenient to I-40 but far enough away that there is minimal road noise. We enjoyed the park-like atmosphere and would happily stay here again. We camped at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

A nice patio:

Patio

We actually used the propane grill:

Grill

Burger and beans

Our downhill neighbor had an interesting setup, with a big rig to tow their fiver, and a smart car on the back:

Neighbor

Other sites:

Other sites

Closed pool:

Closed pool

Cabin:

Cabin

Bath House:

Bath House

Mmm, a sewage lagoon:

Sewage lagoon

Dog park:

Dog park

Quite a nice campground; I’d be happy to stay longer in the future.

Video

Video: Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 284 miles from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma.

Travel from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma

We drove our coach 284 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma.

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

Route

An interactive map:

Departing the RV park:

Departing the RV park

Texas likes to have frontage roads with onramps to freeways, which is actually a good system:

Texas service road with onramps to freeway

I-40:

I-40

Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

RV Ranch:

RV Ranch

Amarillo overpass, with boots in the name:

Amarillo overpass

The Big Texan Steak Ranch:

The Big Texan Steak Ranch

VW Slug Bug Ranch:

VW Slug Bug Ranch

Big cross:

Big cross

Leaning water tower of Texas:

Leaning water tower of Texas

Old building:

Old building

Wind turbines in a row:

Wind turbines in a row

Rest area:

Rest area

The rest area on the other side of the freeway had an underground shelter:

Rest area

Cotton field:

Cotton field

Welcome to Oklahoma:

Welcome to Oklahoma

Dinosaur:

Dinosaur

Our coach at the rest area:

Our coach at rest area

Elk City:

Elk City

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

A stop at Cherokee Trading Post:

Truck stop

Cherokee Trading Post

Super-relaxed Paladin:

Paladin

Oklahoma City:

Oklahoma

Interesting bridge art:

Interesting bridge art

Interesting building:

Interesting building

Air Force One:

Air Force One

Air Force water towers:

Air Force water towers

Our destination, the KOA entrance:

KOA entrance

Koi pond:

Koi pond

Guided to our site:

Guided to our site

Oasis RV Resort & Cottages

We stayed at Oasis RV Resort & Cottages in Amarillo, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A couple of nights in Texas on our journey east.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-10-19
Check out: 2023-10-21
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 83-88°F, lows around 53-59°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Some freeway noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#17, pull through, concrete
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Fairly level
Asphalt driveway with concrete pad, about 80 feet long by about 20 feet wide
Gravel between sites about 15 feet wide
Some trees
Picnic table on small concrete patio, about 13 feet by 6 feet
No fire pit
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 30-36 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
Verizon: 6 Mbps down, 7-12 Mbps up, 155 ms ping
AT&T: 58-80 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters (no garbage pickup, so not really a resort in my book)
Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop off I-40 in Amarillo

We needed a short stay while traveling through the Texas panhandle, and this place was perfect for that. It’s a large park with long, wide (mostly) pull-through sites. There are concrete pads perfectly placed if you’re a motorhome with tow, but not quite right if you pull a fifth wheel or trailer. So many places have it the other way around, so it was a nice change for us to be able to park in the optimal spot. Close to I-40, but not much noise. Disappointing that they close the pool seasonally regardless of what the actual weather is doing, and also that they are a “resort” and don’t offer trash pickup, which is the bare minimum to be a “resort,” IMHO. We camped at Oasis RV Resort & Cottages Amarillo in a Motorhome.

The map:

Map