A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 163 miles from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma, with some additional footage from my 360 camera, mounted on the truck being towed behind our coach.
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Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma
We drove our coach 163 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Scott City, Kansas to Guymon, Oklahoma.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map:
Our coach by the lake, before hooking up our truck:
Toaded:
We stopped by the dumpsters to take out the trash on the way out:
Departing the park:
Paladin in his safe space next to the passenger chair:
Scott City:
A clever idea to use the water tower as a cell tower:
There were lots of oversize load trucks on this route, including several with really long wind turbine blades:
And other things:
A brief bathroom stop (using the bathroom in our coach, of course):
More wind turbine blades and farm equipment:
Presumably a radar sphere:
Another one:
A lunch stop at a Subway at a gas station:
Another oversize load:
Paladin in his safe spot:
A pedestrian bridge in the ironically named Liberal, Kansas:
Oklahoma state line, and some roadworks:
Oklahoma sign:
This water tower reminded me of the famous Warner Bros one:
Hooker, Oklahoma (the Wikipedia article says the motto is “It’s a location, not a vocation”):
Half the main road through town closed for roadworks:
Our destination:
Replacing fridge drawer cover
It’s said that an RV is a rolling earthquake, as things bounce around while driving down the road. Every time we open the fridge for the first time after (or during) a drive, we are careful to do so slowly, in case anything fell, like this occasion:
Heavy stuff like that OJ and wine landing on the cover of the bottom drawer in the fridge cracked it down the middle:
I temporarily patched it with glue:
But that obviously wasn’t a very satisfactory solution. Fortunately, I was able to find the replacement part on Amazon:
Which was trivial to swap out:
Much better!
Circle Drive Campground, Lake Scott State Park
We stayed in the Circle Drive Campground of Lake Scott State Park near Scott City, Kansas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A pleasant oasis by a lake.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-09-26
- Check out: 2023-10-01
- 5 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps ranging between 86-93°F, lows around 55-68°F
- Some wind most days, gusts up to 37 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise; more so when it filled up more on the weekend
Site:
- #40, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
- Somewhat level, a little side-to-side slope
- Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by about 8 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 40 feet wide
- Big trees
- Picnic table
- Some minor trash in the site
- Lots of biting flies and gnats
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, conveniently located
- Too recessed sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 7-101 Mbps down, 5-10 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- Verizon: 27 Mbps down, 11-21 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 31 Mbps down, 16-25 Mbps up, 65 ms ping, unreliable
- AT&T: no or negligible service
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Lake
- Garbage dumpsters in central (inconvenient) location
- Historic park
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Hidden oasis in the prairie
This park is a hidden gem amongst the rolling prairie of western Kansas. The lake was lovely, and there was plenty to see and do in the area. We had a back-in site close to the water in the Circle Drive campground with full hookups, which was a definite bonus. The only downside to our stay was the multitude of biting insects, so come prepared with repellent. We would definitely stay here again. We camped at Lake Scott State Park in a Motorhome.
No paper map; here’s an interactive map; we were in the Circle Drive Campground:
Some side-to-side slope before leveling:
Our site:
Picnic table and our griddle:
We added Kansas to the state stickers on our coach:
A playground behind our site (a little distance away):
A smoker at a picnic area:
U-shaped picnic table:
The lake:
Beach House, closed for the season:
Swimming beach:
Sunset:
Old playground:
Docks:
Tent area:
“Even good dogs must be on a leash”:
Self-pay station and map:
Full moon:
A nice state park (and very affordable). We’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 209 miles from Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas.
Travel from Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas
We drove our coach 209 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Ogallala, Nebraska to Scott City, Kansas.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with potential stops:
Sunrise:
Leaving the campground:
Spaceship water tower across the highway:
Lots of fields of corn:
Old car store:
Silos:
Not sure what this was? Perhaps for grain loading?
Tractor:
Paladin asleep:
Truck with hay bales:
More silos:
We stopped in a large gravel area at this gas station for a bathroom break:
Zoomed highway:
Welcome to Kansas:
Zoomed view of the highway, emphasizing some big dips:
Paladin mostly asleep:
Fuel and lunch stop:
Almost 90 gallons for $412; we saved $47 on this fuel up via our Open Roads discount card:
We then parked:
And had some tasty IHOP breakfasts for lunch:
An unusual thing; the napkin-wrapped silverware came with a straw; haven’t seen that before:
Paladin asleep again:
Cornfield and pump jack; two great tastes that taste great together:
Paladin asleep yet again:
Wind turbine blade:
Large farm equipment:
Lake Scott State Park:
Our site:
Ogallala Tri-Trails KOA Journey
We stayed at Ogallala Tri-Trails KOA Journey in Ogallala, Nebraska. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A campground that recently became a KOA. A Journey, i.e. high turnover of people passing through. We were in a new section without any landscaping.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-09-24
- Check out: 2023-09-26
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps ranging between 77-82°F, lows around 45-49°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- Somewhat distant highway noise
- Train noise with horns
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #46, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
- Somewhat level, slight side-to-side slope
- Gravel site about 70 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- No grass or trees on these sites, some on other sites
- Picnic table
- Mostly clean site; a couple of minor bits of trash
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located at the rear of the site
- 40 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 40-77 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- AT&T: 20-30 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
- Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Closed pool
- Garbage dumpsters
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient stop along I-80
We stayed two nights; the $40 rate is after using $50 in KOA rewards. $65/night would have been a bit much for what it is. The newer section of the park is pretty much a gravel parking lot, which is fine for a short stay. If staying longer, I’d look at the patio sites in the front part of the park. The staff were very friendly and helpful and escorted us to our site, which is always a nice touch. Close enough to I-80 to be convenient, but it’s far enough away that you don’t get a lot of noise. We camped at Ogallala Tri-Trails KOA in a Motorhome.
The campground map:
An interactive map (our section is not in the satellite image as of this writing):
Our site:
Utilities:
Jenn has started taking a photo of the leveling panel as the coach starts lowering the jacks; this shows that the site was level front-to-back, but unlevel side-to-side:
After our first night in Nebraska, we could add another sticker to the states map on the side of our coach:
The entrance:
Office:
They have several decorations like this old cart:
Dog park:
Playground:
Bathrooms:
Laundry:
The pool was closed for the season (despite highs in the 80’s; arbitrary season closures are stupid):
A very nice skoolie (school bus conversion); fancier than most skoolies:
Other sites; when I walked around, there were only two short-term guests in the campground, two long-term stays, and two staff RVs; later, many of the sites filled up; typical for a Journey park, with high turnover:
Solar panels behind the campground:
A spaceship water tower across highway from campground:
A basic KOA; fine for a couple of days stay.
Video: Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 232 miles from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska.
Travel from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska
We drove our coach 232 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Ogallala, Nebraska.
Here’s the map route, heading southeast:
An interactive map, with potential stops:
A rabbit watched me pack up:
A stream of water from slide topper as we brought in the slides, from the rain we had during our stay:
Leaving the campground:
Hot Springs:
US-385:
A bridge over a river:
Rail crossing:
Entering Nebraska:
A seemingly endless long straight highway:
Zoomed view:
Another rail crossing:
A lunch stop; we took up several parking spots in the back of the parking lot:
Hay trailer:
So many fields of corn:
US-385 highway disappearing into the distance:
We paused for a bathroom break in an empty weigh station lane:
Another zoomed perspective:
Jail and Courthouse Rocks:
Paladin asleep:
Broadwater:
Silo:
My gosh, it’s Oshkosh (but not the famous one):
Long coal train:
Oh look, more corn. So much corn:
Another hay trailer:
Not your ordinary town!
Welcome to Ogallala:
We were going to fuel here, but most of the lanes were closed, with a huge line, so we bailed:
Our destinaton:
Guided to our site:
Replacing fuse for solar controller
Our coach came with one solar panel on the roof, and we had a couple more 190W panels added shortly after purchasing it.
Early last year I noticed that the solar controller was not receiving a charge, showing the moon icon during the day, and no amps coming in. I got NIRVC to look into that at my next service appointment, and they fixed it by replacing the fuse.
Recently, when the campground we were at had a power cut, I noticed that the problem had recurred:
I removed the panel and found the fuse:
The fuse had indeed blown again:
I didn’t have any mini fuses, so I bought an assortment from Amazon:
Since it had blown twice, I figured that the increased capacity of the two extra panels was the cause, and decided to upgrade the fuse from 25 amps to 30 amps, since that is what the controller is rated at. I have no idea if that was the appropriate choice; if anyone has any guidance, let me know:
The solar controller is now working, with the sun icon and showing 11.6 amps coming in (on a somewhat cloudy day):
The controller re-mounted:
Good to have that working, especially with a week without hookups at the Balloon Fiesta coming up.