A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 146 miles from Yermo to Palm Desert, California.
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Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Yermo to Palm Desert, California
We drove our coach 146 miles, about three hours of driving, from Yermo, California to Palm Desert, California.
Here’s the map route, heading south:
Interactive map, showing our stops and other potential stops:
Truck lane:
Fuel stop:
Paladin in the steps:
Highway CA-247:
Cafe 247, an interesting lunch stop with parking big enough for us:
They were having a motorcycle gathering, which made it feel like a biker bar, but wasn’t:
We bought a loaf from Banana Bread Man out front:
8% grade:
Highway CA-62:
Wind turbines:
Mountains:
Palm Springs:
Our destination:
Phone holders
While driving our coach, we refer to maps on our iPhones, in addition to the built-in one.
To position the phones conveniently, we use phone holders from Amazon.
Jenn’s phone usually shows Apple Maps directions, in a holder suction-cupped onto the panel to the right of the AC controls:
My phone is usually showing either the RV Life GPS or Google Maps, while my Mac shows the Google Maps route. My phone holder is suctioned to a plate that is stuck on the edge of the pull-out passenger workstation:
It is easy to adjust them to the desired angle, or rotate them out of the way when not driving.
Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday
We stayed at Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday in Yermo, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Rather short site, and too much freeway noise, but okay for a couple of days.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-03-23
- Check out: 2023-03-25
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny
- High temps ranging between 58-60°F, lows around 35-39°F
- Wind gusts to 37 MPH
Noise:
- Loud freeway noise; no train noise
Site:
- #39, pull-through, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Level
- Small site: about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Picnic tables, charcoal grill, gravel, shrubs
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 40 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 38 Mbps down, 42-69 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
- AT&T: 12-17 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 300 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage bins
- Closed pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient stop along I-15
We stayed for two nights, which was about the right length of time. It’s an older KOA in need of some TLC with convenient access to the interstate; which means you do get constant road noise. The sites are pretty short, and we definitely had to unhook the tow and park alongside the coach. The site also seemed a bit narrow, but that may have been because it had an excess of tables and chairs (2 picnic tables, a concrete table and benches, and a park bench). We camped at Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Check out the Calico Ghost Town and Peggy Sue’s Diner. Both were good, kitschy fun.
Interactive map:
Campground map:
Our site; we didn’t bother with the Magne Shade, since only a couple of nights:
Utilities:
So many tables and benches:
View of the freeway from our window:
Entrance:
Office:
Bike and archery rental (maybe in summer):
Mural:
Piano:
Artwork:
Playground:
Train car:
Deflated jump pad:
Pool:
Tent sites:
Cabins:
RV sites:
Video: Death Valley to Yermo, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 169 miles from Death Valley, California to Yermo, California.
Travel from Death Valley to Yermo, California
We drove our coach 169 miles, about three hours of driving, from Death Valley, California to Yermo, California.
Here’s the map route, heading south:
Interactive map, showing our stops:
Leaving the campground:
Leaving Death Valley:
Paladin sleeping:
Paladin in an unapproved place; he was freaking out a bit; sometimes he forgets about travel days:
“Thanks for Experiencing Your National Park”:
Bumpy road:
Motorcycles:
The sign could use a refresh:
A roadside stop for a break:
Interesting hills:
A straight road; using a high zoom really emphasizes the bumps:
Lunch stop in Baker, with a nice big truck/RV parking area; always appreciated:
The World’s Tallest Thermometer:
We had lunch at the Mad Greek Cafe:
The Thermometer again:
EddieWorld, apparently California’s largest gas station (looks pretty small compared to Buc-ees in Texas, but we haven’t actually visited either):
Ghost Town Road:
Our destination:
Ceiling fan motor replacement again
Last year I replaced the motor in the bedroom ceiling fan. Well, it started squeaking again, so I replaced it a second time. I guess this will be a regular thing.
My previous post on this replacement missed a few steps, so I took more pictures this time, so others can use it as a step-by-step guide.
The first step, of course, is to order the replacement motor from the Tiffin Parts Store. It is part number 5011771, “CEILING FAN MOTOR ONLY”, currently about $89 plus shipping. You’ll also need some connectors; I previously used wire nuts, but have since discovered a better technology, Wago lever connectors, available from Amazon.
Here’s the ceiling fan:
To begin, unscrew this nut:
Then remove this retaining clip and washer (which was one of the most difficult parts of the process for me), allowing the fan blades to drop off:
The removed nut, retaining clip, and washer:
Next unscrew the three screws near the ceiling to remove the housing:
With the cover removed, you can cut the wires from the motor (leaving them as long as possible), you don’t need to cut the wires coming from the ceiling, as they go to the direction switch on the cover. In my case, I had orange wire nuts from the previous replacement, so I just undid those.
Then unscrew the motor from the ceiling; remove three screws, plus loosen the fourth for the retaining wire:
The motor removed:
The retaining wire from the motor can then be attached to the ceiling, holding it up there, and the electrical wires connected.
As mentioned, this time I used Wago lever connectors to hook up the motor; they are much easier and more reliable; you just lift the lever, poke in the wire, and close the lever to secure the wire. Here you can see the white wires connected, and one black wire connected, with the lever open for the second one:
Once the wires are connected, the motor can be mounted to the ceiling. Like last time, I used a couple of washers to space it away from the ceiling to line up the cover holes correctly:
Another angle showing the Wago connectors:
Then screw the cover back into place:
Add the blades, the washer, and the retaining clip:
And finally the nut:
Done! Pretty easy. I’ll look forward to doing this again in about a year!
Where I have been
Lots of people on Micro.blog have been posting lists of places they’ve been, so I thought I’d join the fun.
Despite living full-time in a motorhome, I actually haven’t been all that many places yet. But we’re working on it.
My list, with emojis inspired by Jean’s much more impressive list:
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇨🇦 Canada:
- 🇬🇧 British Columbia
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇺🇸 United States:
- 🏜️ Arizona
- 🏄♂️ California
- 🏔️ Colorado
- 🏛️ DC
- ☀️ Florida
- 🥜 Georgia
- 🌈 Hawaii
- 🥔 Idaho
- 🎣 Montana
- 🎰 Nevada
- 🌶️ New Mexico
- 🗽 New York
- 🦫 Oregon
- ⭐️ Texas
- 🏝️ US Virgin Islands
- 🐝 Utah
- 🌲 Washington
- 🤠 Wyoming
We have a map on our coach for places we’ve visited since buying it, which is a shorter list — Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas:
We’ll pick up 10 more states later this year — North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida (I’ve been to Florida before, but not in the coach):
How we work full-time in our coach
While traveling around the US in our motorhome, we are continuing to work — we are still over a decade away from retirement age.
This has some challenges, but our jobs make it feasible, since we can both work remotely. I am a self-employed macOS and iOS app developer (Dejal), and Jenn is a technical writer for a big corporation that has a lot of remote employees — something that is more and more popular nowadays, especially since the pandemic.
I recently wrote about our workspaces. My lap desk:
And Jenn’s height-adjustable desk:
Another critical component in our ability to work as we travel is internet connectivity. We couldn’t do our work without reliable internet access; I need it to upload app builds, look up documentation, and communicate with my clients and customers; Jenn needs it to attend meetings and update her documents.
Since it is so important, we have as many options as possible. Including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon cellular connections, two AT&T iPhones (that we can tether to if nothing else works), plus Jenn has an iPhone on Verizon from her job, and we have Starlink satellite internet for when there’s no cellular coverage. And if all else fails, we can connect to campground Wi-Fi, which can be a bit hit-or-miss in quality and availability.
The somewhat messy internet cupboard, with a modem for AT&T and Verizon, mi-fi unit for T-Mobile, and other devices:
The Starlink dish:
When choosing RV parks, we always look at reviews and information to ensure there is internet connectivity; the Starlink dish gives us more options, but if we ended up in a cellular dead spot with too many trees blocking the dish and no Wi-Fi, we’d have to move.
Other than our workstations and internet, we just need the time to work. So we plan our travel days around that; we typically move between RV parks on Sundays, so travel days don’t interfere with Jenn’s workdays, and stay at each location for a week or two, working during the week, and exploring on weekends, and sometimes locally in evenings.
This works well for us, enabling us to continue to work while slowly exploring the country.
Death Valley Furnace Creek Campground
We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground within Death Valley National Park, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
The first time we’ve ever stayed inside a national park in our coach.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-03-20
- Check out: 2023-03-23
- 3 nights
Weather:
- Partly sunny, a couple days of drizzle
- High temps ranging between 61-73°F, lows around 43-50°F
- Wind gusts to 37 MPH
Noise:
- No road or train noise
- Some neighbor kid noise, not too bad
Site:
- #69, pull-through, asphalt
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind and in front of coach
- Level
- Large site: about 95 feet long by about 50 feet wide
- Picnic table, fire pit, gravel
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 55 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 43-148 Mbps down, 11-23 Mbps up, 29-40 ms ping
- T-Mobile: no service
- AT&T: no service
- Verizon: no service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- National Park!
- Visitor center
- General store
- Restaurant
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Great campground in the heart of Death Valley NP
There are two things I wish about this place: 1) That they had more full hookup sites, and 2) that we’d gotten to stay longer. We originally booked a dry camping spot but were lucky enough to snag a cancellation for a full hookup and I’m so glad we did. I would have stayed here either way, as it’s truly the best place to stay in or near the park. The pull-through sites are incredibly long and every site is large so you’re not cramped against your neighbor, which is appropriate when staying in the largest National Park in the contiguous 48 states. It’s also very convenient to all the “must-see” places in the park. If you need internet while staying here, you must have Starlink. Cellular data was non-existent for any carrier. There is WiFi at the Furnace Creek Ranch. We camped at Furnace Creek in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Gas in Stovepipe Wells was quite a bit cheaper than at Furnace Creek and the food was better at the restaurant there, too.
Interactive map:
The campground map:
Death Valley National Park is interesting in that it is mostly below sea level. The campground has an elevation of -190 feet:
Our site:
Death Valley is the hottest and driest national park… so of course it was cool and rainy:
Entrance:
Dishwashing station:
Other sites:
