A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 80+ miles from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington.
RV
Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington
We drove our coach 80+ miles, about two hours of driving, from Ocean City, Washington to our home base in Shelton, Washington.
Here’s the map route, heading north (exact destination omitted for privacy):
Interactive map (to Shelton instead of our actual destination):
We had no sewer at the campground, and hadn’t been particularly careful, so our grey and black tanks were both very full, as indicated on the main control panel:
We dumped the tanks on the way out (I didn’t get any photos of that, as there was a line).
But before that, here’s our coach preparing to leave; if you look closely, you’ll see the step partway closed; I had just closed the door, as water was dripping from the slide topper:
A closer view of the dripping water; that always happens after it has rained:
On our way, with a curvy road (kinda looks like the Sinclair Trails logo!):
Chehalis River delta:
Paladin watching my iPad:
Hoquiam:
A rather narrow bridge; we drove down the center of the two lanes:
Artwork:
International Mermaid Museum:
Mural:
More bridges:
A fiver pulled over after a tire blowout:
The Elma rest area, with four lanes of dump stations:
A very spacious rest area:
Bear artwork:
Entering Mason County, our home county:
Exit to Shelton:
We’re not a fan of this narrow bridge, but it’s doable:
Rail bridge work:
Bay:
Flagpole for Starlink dish
The Starlink service is a great option when we don’t have cellular service (or when we only have a network with limited data). But not so great when there are trees or other obstacles that block the signal.
RVs with a ladder will often use a FlagPole Buddy kit, that enables mounting a flagpole on the ladder. But our coach doesn’t have a ladder, so I needed a different solution.
Inspired by a post by Rick in my Tiffin Allegro Bus 2016-2018 Owners community on Facebook, I purchased a 20 foot telescoping flagpole and accessories to mount it on our coach, so we can raise the dish above our coach, giving it a better chance of a clear signal.
Another nice benefit of this system is that I can position the pole and dish anywhere around the coach, to have the most clear view of the satellites.
I bought the items Rick suggested:
- 20 foot telescoping flagpole from Harbor Freight
- TEYOUYI adapter bushing for Starlink from Amazon
- FCHO glass suction cups from Amazon
- Wrap-It heavy duty velcro straps from Amazon
To attach the adapter to the flagpole, I removed the two screws that hold the top of the flagpole on, then the adapter simply slips in. I used the same screws to attach the adapter, only screwing one of them in partway, to avoid intruding into the tube space:
The Starlink dish simply slides into the adapter and clicks in place on the pole:
On this occasion, I put the Starlink modem in the wet bay, running the cord through the hose space:
The cable and the flagpole sitting on the ground:
Suction cups and velcro straps holding the flagpole:
The dish has a nice clear view of the sky:
The dish on the flagpole:
Later, the flagpole with the Starlink dish and a Mariners flag, mounted at the front of the coach:
With a US flag:
At another campground, mounted lower without a flag (more stable that way):
Second anniversary of buying our motorhome
Today marks the two year anniversary of purchasing our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome!
Check out the one year anniversary post for a tour of what the coach was like when we bought it. One day I’ll get around to doing an updated tour; much has changed.
Here are some previously unpublished pictures of the exterior of our coach from when we first saw it and paid a downpayment, contingent on an inspection:
And at our first campground with the coach, on the day we paid the remainder, and took possession — two years ago today:
We’ve certainly put lots of miles on the coach since then! We’ve explored a lot, and changed a lot of things on the coach. What will the next two years bring? Follow along on our travels!
Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort
We stayed at Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort in Ocean City, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Another Thousand Trails park, with a path to the beach. Quite nice, other than only being 30 amp and no sewer.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-06-04
- Check out: 2023-06-11
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 58-66°F, lows around 47-53°F
- 37 gusts on first day, less on subsequent days
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #C31, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
- A little unlevel, but not too bad
- Medium site: about 50 feet long by about 40 feet wide
- Picnic table on gravel
- Tall trees
- (This site is planned for a cabin, but they haven’t installed it yet)
Utilities:
- Only 30 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 40 PSI water, very inconveniently located
- No sewer
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 5-7 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 30-130 ms ping
- Verizon: 6 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Dumpsters
- No pool
- Path to beach
Our review on Campground Reviews:
30A, no sewer, still loved it
Thousand Trails parks are a study in compromise. We could have had a 30A FHU site at the front of the park by the main road but opted for a larger site without sewer, away from the noise. There are minimal 50A sites, and they were all taken; they also have no sewer. So we watched our power consumption and our tank levels while still thoroughly enjoying our location. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, but the pathway to the beach absolutely made this park a favorite. The mosquitoes do get a bit ravenous, so make sure to pack your repellent. We camped at Thousand Trails Oceana RV Campground in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: There are several units of Olympic National Park nearby that make for excellent day trips. Be prepared for a gnarly wait if you go to Hoh Rainforest.
Interactive map (zoom out a bit to see how close it is to the beach):
Campground map; the three circled sites were apparently the only 50 amp ones:
Our site:
The water tap wasn’t very close; technically in a tent site that isn’t on the map:
Only 30 amp power available:
So I used a “dogbone” plug adapter to connect our 50 amp surge protector and cord:
The power, water softener, and water filter:
Entrance:
Dump station:
Other sites:
Long-term sites:
Tent sites:
Bridge:
Games:
Playground:
Path to the beach:
Video: Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 119 miles from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington.
Travel from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington
We drove our coach 119 miles, about three hours of driving, from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington.
Here’s the map route, heading north:
Interactive map, with potential stops marked; we didn’t stop at any:
We drove to an open area to hook up our truck to our coach:
Another RV toading up; they started before us, and finished after us; with our weekly practice, it doesn’t take us long to do:
Leaving the campground:
Crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge from Oregon to Washington; a little nerve-wracking, with a curved approach and high bridge, but it was fine:
Low tide exposing the sandbar:
Entering Washington state:
We could have gone left or right, but I had decided on left to avoid some roadworks (planning the route pays off):
Lighthouse:
Tunnel:
Another bridge:
Aaaargh! COFFEE!
Artwork in Raymond:
An advantage of a motorhome is I can get up and use the bathroom while Jenn is driving — a very rare occurrence, since there is some risk in moving about while in motion, and we prefer to take rest stops so we can both take a pee break, but on this occasion Jenn didn’t need to stop:
Pilings:
Rusty building and structures in Aberdeen (a rather ugly city):
A mural helps a little:
Rusty bridge:
We paused in a slow vehicle turnout to let other vehicles pass:
Bridge:
Our destination, Thousand Trails Oceana:
Checking in:
Our coach in front of our site, preparing to back in:
Dryer vent padding
Our coach includes a washer and dryer, which is very convenient when we’re living in it full-time. But in strong winds at certain angles, the flap that covers the dryer vent would bang in the wind. It is sheltered with a hood, but that doesn’t always help:
The flap under the hood, that covers the vent outlet:
To avoid that annoying banging, which would disturb us at night, I added some strips of self-adhesive felt around the flap, to muffle the sound:
That solved that little annoyance quite satisfactorily.
Thousand Trails Seaside
We stayed at Thousand Trails Seaside in Seaside, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice Thousand Trails park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-05-28
- Check out: 2023-06-04
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 58-65°F, lows around 46-51°F
- A little wind
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train noise
- A little neighbor noise
Site:
- #158, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
- Rather unlevel; took us a few tries, and needed blocks under the front jacks
- Medium site: about 50 feet long by about 40 feet wide
- Picnic table and fire pit on grass
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, inconveniently located
- 65 PSI water, inconveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 25-29 Mbps down, 4-10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- AT&T: 4 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- Verizon: 4 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Dumpsters only by entrance
- Indoor pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Large, busy park
First, a very important tip, especially when staying at a Thousand Trails or other first-come park: Do not arrive on the Sunday of a three-day weekend. We forgot about Memorial Day when we planned our route, and trying to find an open 50A site was diabolical on Sunday afternoon. Another rig that pulled in behind us was faster unhooking their toad and zipped ahead of us to take the last available site. Rude. So we drove around the north section (where the 50A sites are) for quite a while with no joy. Fortunately, a seasonal resident was just about to move from their temporary site to their permanent one and flagged us down. We waited while they packed up and moved, then we were able to pull into a nice end site near the bathroom block. Normally, I don’t like being so close to the bathrooms, but we needed to sanitize our water system, so it was very convenient. The site itself was incredibly unlevel and it took us quite a while to get as close to level as possible but never got completely there. Once we got situated, it wasn’t a bad place to stay, however. We camped at Thousand Trails Seaside in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Pizza delivery from Angelina’s right to your site. Drive up to Washington and check out the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. Dinner at Mo’s and a walk along the promenade are great ways to spend an evening.
Interactive map:
The map, with all available north-side sites when we checked in circled:
Our arrival experience wasn’t ideal, but mostly on us: we foolishly arrived on Sunday of Memorial weekend, when almost all sites were occupied. The only vacant sites were reserved for seasonal sites. But the people that had reserved one of those directed us to the site they were moving from, which was quite a nice location, albeit not very level:
Painted rocks left on the picnic table by the previous occupants:
Utilities:
A large grassy area next to our site; not having a neighbor on the driver side was nice:
Another nice thing is Angelina’s Pizza delivery on travel day:
Other sites:
Cabins:
Tent sites:
Oops, a trailer took a corner too sharply and hit a rock (with a loud crunch):
Tennis courts:
Indoor pool:
Clubhouse:
Playground:
Bathrooms across the grassy area from our site — we usually don’t use campground bathrooms, but this time having them nearby was helpful, as we sanitized our fresh water tanks, which means not using our own bathrooms for several hours:
Pet exercise area:
Video: South Beach to Seaside, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 125 miles from South Beach, Oregon to Seaside, Oregon.