A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 104 miles from Emporia to Gloucester, Virginia.
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Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Emporia to Gloucester, Virginia
We drove our coach 104 miles, about two hours of driving, from Emporia to Gloucester, Virginia.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:
An interactive map:
I-95 North:
Exit to I-295 North:
Bridge over James River:
James River:
Exit to I-64:
Virginia Welcome Center:
“Virginia is for Lovers”:
Brochures:
I collected a bunch:
Back to our coach:
Route 33 east:
Bridge by a packaging products plant:
Mattaponi River:
Route 198:
Arriving at Thousand Trails Cheaspeake Bay:
This was the first day the campground was open for the season, so there was a long line to check in. We joined the line at 12:53 (check in started at noon):
At 13:00:
At 13:21:
Guided to our site (unnecessarily, it wasn’t hard to find) at 13:30:
Our site:
Using a sewer tote tank and macerator pump to dump waste tanks from the back of our truck again
I previously posted about using a sewer tote and macerator pump to empty our waste tanks. Here’s another example of doing this, with a variation to cope with parking in front of our coach.
I dumped when our gray and black waste tanks reached 50%; we could have been conservative and made it the week with that space, but it was nice not to need to do so:
The wet bay, with the power for the macerator hooked up, along with the sewer pipe:
The macerator pump, hooked up to a sewer hose and a garden hose dedicated to this purpose:
When parked in front of the coach, it’s a bit longer to get from the wet bay to the truck:
The hose into the tote in the back of the (pollen-y) truck:
Filling the tote:
8% gray and 13% black after the first dump; I fully emptied them the day before we departed, which took another two dumps (with the liquids added after the first dump):
Dumping from the truck at the dump station:
The tote in the back of the truck while dumping:
It’s nice to have this option when we don’t have a sewer hookup.
Emporia / I-95 KOA
We stayed at Emporia / I-95 KOA in Emporia, Virginia. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A convenient stop on the way north. This is described as a KOA Holiday, but is more of a Journey. This is a reasonable place to stop (if you don’t mind the train horns at all hours), but I wouldn’t call it a holiday destination.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-03-30
- Check out: 2025-04-01
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy, some rain
- High temp 79°F, lows 49-64°F
- Some wind, gusts to 25 MPH
Noise:
- Little road noise
- Nearby train horn noise, about every half hour, day and night
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #126, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t since only two nights
- Somewhat level site; high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 80 feet long by 13 feet wide
- 11 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 22 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Just grass between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- No trees
- Somewhat clean site
- Elevation 120 feet, front facing NE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, conveniently located
- Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 226-244 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 14-21 ms ping
- AT&T: 90-146 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 62 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 85 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters and bins
- Closed seasonal pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Good for a quick stop
It’s my understanding that a KOA Holiday is supposed to be the destination and reason for going there. Why this is listed as a Holiday is beyond me. It was perfectly fine for a short stay, but the train noise all day and night would preclude me from wanting to stay any longer than necessary. Our nightly rate was because I used $50 in KOA reward points for a two-night stay. Otherwise, this would have been far too expensive for what it was. We camped at Emporia / I-95 KOA in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities; rather high sewer, with no thread, so I used the water bag weight:
Other sites:
Seasonally closed pool:
Not too bad a stop for a day or two, other than the train horn noise; if we come this way again, we might look for another option.
Video: Wake Forest, North Carolina to Emporia, Virginia motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 111 miles from Wake Forest, North Carolina to Emporia, Virginia.
Travel from Wake Forest, North Carolina to Emporia, Virginia
We drove our coach 111 miles, about two hours of driving, from Wake Forest, North Carolina to Emporia, Virginia.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map:
Leaving the campground; a nice view:
Falls Lake:
Route 1 North:
I-85 North:
Welcome to Virginia:
Welcome center:
Rest area lunch stop:
Route 58 East:
Brodnax water tower:
Fun with zoom:
I-95 North:
Exit to KOA:
Arriving at KOA:
Guided to our site:
Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA
We stayed at Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA in Wake Forest, North Carolina. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A very nice lakeside campground, but the spring tree pollen was horrendous.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-03-23
- Check out: 2025-03-30
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny, a little rain
- High temps 62-77°F, lows 37-55°F
- Little wind, gusts to 23 MPH, but sheltered by trees
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
- Regular plane noise (on the flightpath of Raleigh-Durham International Airport, 10 miles away)
Site:
- #69 (loop 2), back-in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Mostly level site; slightly high on front driver side; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
- About 30 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- About 50 feet to road on driver side
- Trees between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- Lantern hook
- Tall trees
- Mostly clean site (one bit of trash)
- Elevation 290 feet, front facing North
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 70 PSI water, conveniently located
- No sewer; we used our tote and the dump station
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 30-35 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 30-100 ms ping
- AT&T: 49-60 Mbps down, 0.25-0.75 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 100 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Lake
- Dump station
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Beautiful park, but beware the pollen in spring
It turns out that camping in the middle of a hardwood forest during the week the trees come alive in the spring is a fantastic way to find out if you have terrible allergies. The pollen in this part of NC is no joke. Besides the trees trying to kill me, this was a beautiful campground. Our site was plenty long enough for our 40-foot motorhome and tow vehicle. However, some sites looked like they would have been too sloped to work, so be sure to check the details of the specific site you’re booking. Site 69 had a great view of the water through the trees and was close to the small beach/picnic area. We camped at Holly Point Campground – Falls Lake SRA in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
View of the lake out our window; fortunately the intervening site was empty most of the week, and only used as a day-use site on the weekend (which I have mixed feelings about, taking a site from an overnight camper):
View of sunrise over the lake from our site:
A peek of our site from the swimming beach, and a goose:
Geese on the beach:
Boat on the lake:
Swimming beach:
We used the dump station via the tote in the back of the truck three times:
Dumpsters at the dump station:
On the flight path, 10 miles from Raleigh-Durham International Airport:
Bathrooms:
Lakefront:
Boat on the lake:
This trailer was backing itself into the site, not hooked up to the car:
Tent sites:
Other sites:
Many not very level:
A very nice campground, other than the pollen. We’d be happy to be back, in the same site, at a different time of year.
Video: Charleston, South Carolina to Wake Forest, North Carolina motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 301 miles from Charleston, South Carolina to Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Travel from Charleston, South Carolina to Wake Forest, North Carolina
We drove our coach 301 miles, about five hours of driving, from Charleston, South Carolina to Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map:
Preparing to leave our site:
Nice looking but mildly concerning trees overhanging the road:
Approaching Charleston:
Roadworks:
Exit to I-95 North:
Rest area, unusual in that truck parking is through the car parking:
Paladin looking at Lake Marion bridge:
Petro fuel stop:
$206.27 for 57 gallons of diesel before discount:
Iron Skillet lunch:
Back to our coach:
Hello fellow Tiffin Allegro Bus:
Welcome to North Carolina:
Sleepy Paladin:
Rest area:
An interesting building:
Arriving at Holly Point Campground in Falls Lake State Recreation Area:
Entrance station:
Arriving at our site:
Loose mudguard above rear wheels
I noticed that a mudguard panel above the driver-side rear wheels was loose, falling down onto the tire. Not ideal. It looked like it was only held up by one bolt, buried in foam insulation, which had come loose. So I reattached it. I also got some more bolts to better attach it, though I haven’t bothered to do that yet, since that one bolt seems sufficient. But I’ll keep an eye on it.
