Shed

As mentioned, we bought a shed for our Washington home, to store stuff we want to keep for the future, but not carry around the country with us (storage space even in a 40 foot motorhome is limited!).

We got the shed from Home Depot, a 10 x 8 foot wooden shed with shingles on the roof. The purchase included delivery and installation, since we would not be home at the time; we wanted to have it ready for when we arrived.

Here’s the shed as installed, unpainted:

Shed

With the doors open:

Doors open

Inside:

Shed

Roof rafters

Window in door

Door latch

I caulked the joints:

Caulked

Then Jenn and I painted it, starting with the main color:

Painting

And the trim:

Shed

Nice.

Our Washington home

We stayed at our official domicile, aka Mom’s house, in Shelton, Washington.

It was good to be home! An opportunity to catch up on dentists, doctors, optometrists, etc, and of course with family.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-08-03
Check out: 2024-08-25
22 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, rain
High temps ranging between 68-88°F, lows around 52-60°F
Wind gusts to 20 MPH in the area, though much less when sheltered amongst trees

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
Occasional neighbor noise

Site:

Front in, concrete in front, gravel in back
Disconnected toad; parked next to coach
Fairly level; high in front; used hydraulic leveling

Utilities:

50 amp power, located on house in front of coach, used extension cord
37 PSI water from the house
No sewer hookup; used tote or macerator and hose to dump into house septic system

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 11-18 Mbps down, 9-11 Mbps up, 45-65 ms ping
House Wi-Fi: 9-11 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
Verizon: 3-5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-75 ms ping
AT&T: 0.5 Mbps down, 0.01 Mbps up, 120 ms ping, negligible service
T-Mobile: no service

Amenities:

House

Our coach parked in front of the house:

Our coach by the house

We added an RV electrical outlet box on the house, so were able to have 50 amp power:

Electrical outlet

Starlink dish on a flagpole:

Starlink dish on flagpole

Nice to have full hookups at home. (I’ll have a blog post about the sewer options in a couple of weeks.)

Video

Video: Quincy to Shelton, Washington motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 248 miles from Quincy, Washington to Shelton, Washington.

Travel from Quincy to Shelton, Washington

We drove our coach 248 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Quincy, Washington to Shelton, Washington.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west (with exact destination omitted, for privacy):

Route map

An interactive map:

Columbia River:

Columbia River

Upside-down vehicle:

Upside-down vehicle

Eastern Washington hills:

Eastern Washington hills

Columbia River:

Columbia River

Vantage Bridge over Columbia River:

Columbia River bridge

Columbia River

Rest area:

Rest area

Truck with corn:

Truck with corn

Wildlife bridge:

Wildlife bridge

I-90 along Keechelus Lake:

I-90 along Keechelus Lake

Guye Peak:

Guye Peak

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Joining I-5 South:

Joining I-5 South

Tacoma Dome:

Tacoma Dome

Heading into Shelton:

Shelton

Narrow bridge entering Shelton:

Shelton

(Probably the last time we go this way; we found an easier route.)

You should vacuum out under the fridge occasionally

Under the fridge in our coach is a vent and some radiator fins. We hadn’t previously cleaned it out, and noticed our fridge making weird noises, so I removed the cover and investigated (a couple of screws and some clips). The fins were chock full of dust and cat fur. Oops! I’ve added a recurring reminder to vacuum that out in the future.

Vent under fridge

Vent cover

Vacuum

Dusty

Thousand Trails Crescent Bar

We stayed at Thousand Trails Crescent Bar in Quincy, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A Thousand Trails campground overlooking the Columbia River.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-08-02
Check out: 2024-08-03
1 night
We had booked two nights, but decided to leave after one, since it was so hot, and we just wanted to get home

Weather:

Partly cloudy
High temp 102°F, low 71°F
Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#81, back-in, sandy gravel
Needed to disconnect toad
Fairly level site; a little high at the back; used air leveling, since only one night
Sandy gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
15 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
Fire pit
A tall tree
Somewhat clean site (some paper trash)

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 15 Mbps down, 5-12 Mbps up, 108 ms ping
AT&T: 230 Mbps down, 28 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
Verizon: 12-18 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Typical older TT, but killer views

This park is typical of an older Thousand Trails park and needs some TLC. As usual, it’s first come, first served, which is not our favorite. We were lucky to find a 50A site that was 1) in working condition, 2) large enough for our 40′ motorhome, and 3) had a peek of the Gorge. All the best sites with views of the Gorge seem to be taken up by seasonals, but it was nice to see what we could between them. All the short-term sites are a bit run down, with sparse landscaping. We camped at Thousand Trails Crescent Bar in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

There’s a clip for the tag, but it’s broken, so they’ve replaced it with shoelaces, rather than replacing the clip; really says something about Thousand Trails maintenance:

Shoelose to attach tag

Other sites:

Other sites

Gorge view:

Gorge view

Sunset:

Sunset

A campground in a nice location, though the access road is rather steep. But we’d be happy to stay here again.

Video

Video: Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 338 miles from Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington.

Travel from Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington

We drove our coach 338 miles, about six hours of driving, from Missoula, Montana to Quincy, Washington.

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

Map route

An interactive map:

Clark Fork:

Clark Fork

45 MPH next 4 miles:

45 MPH next 4 miles

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Idaho; Entering Pacific Time Zone:

Welcome to Idaho; Entering Pacific Time Zone

6% grade:

6& grade

Rest area:

Rest area

Welcome to Washington:

Welcome to Washington

Spokane:

Spokane

Bridges:

Bridges

Truck stop:

Truck stop

Iron Skillet for lunch:

Iron Skillet for lunch

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on dash

Dust devil:

Dust devil

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin in his dash bed while leaving the rest area:

Paladin in his dash bed

The farms along I-90 in Quincy had signs on their fences indicating what the crop was; we’ve sometimes not recognized a crop and wondered, so wish everyone would do this. Beans:

Beans

Potatoes:

Potatoes

Sweet corn:

Sweet corn

Timothy:

Timothy

Mural in Quincy:

Mural in Quincy

Heading down into the Columbia River gorge:

Columbia River

Our destination, Thousand Trails Crescent Bar:

Thousand Trails Crescent Bar

Our site:

Our site

Jim & Mary’s RV Park

We stayed at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

That name may ring a bell, as this is actually our third stay here; our first time with a trailer on our Yellowstone trip, and in our coach the following year.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-08-01
Check out: 2024-08-02
1 night

Weather:

Sunny
High temp 93°F, low 61°F
Little wind, gusts to 11 MPH

Noise:

Some road noise
Nearby train horn noise
No significant neighbor noise

Site:

#A8, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
Perfectly level site; used air leveling, since only one night
Gravel driveway about 72 feet long by 15 feet wide
20 feet to neighbors on both sides
Picnic table
One small tree
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat inconveniently located
65 PSI water, somewhat inconveniently located
Didn’t connect sewer until departure; good sewer connection, a little inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Campground Wi-Fi: 33-37 Mbps down, 3-13 Mbps up, 10 ms ping
Verizon: 13-18 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 55 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 150 ms ping
T-Mobile: 4-5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 60 ms ping, unreliable
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Gardens

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Third time, still a charm

This was the third time we’ve stayed here, as it’s convenient along I-90. We’d be happy to drive further afield because it’s so lovely; the landscaping brightens things up after a long day of travel. Our site was on the exit row, so it was easy to get in and out. It was also perfectly level, and the utilities all worked well, but they were a little far back with our tow vehicle attached. We camped at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map