Here’s an animated GIF showing our RV travel routes: the Yellowstone rental trailer trip last year, adding travel in our coach last year, travel so far this year, and finally the planned route for much of the remainder of the year.
RV
Posts featuring the coach.
Thousand Lakes RV Park
We stayed at Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey, Utah. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-05-08
- Check out: 2022-05-11
- 3 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging around 60°F, lows around 30°F
- Sub-freezing overnight some nights
- Very windy most afternoons, with gusts up to 60 MPH
- We kept our slides in most of the time
Noise:
- No road noise, no train noise
- Quiet neighbors
Site:
- #31, pull-through, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
- Smallish site: 55 feet long by about 25 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- Low water pressure, 30 PSI, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located
- Didn’t connect water or sewer other than to fill and dump, since it got below freezing
- Picnic table and fire pit
Internet:
- Campground Wi-Fi: available, not used
- T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 27 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
- AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- Verizon: 16 Mbps down, 28 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
- Starlink: not used, since short stay
Amenities:
- Garbage bins and dumpster
- Small pool, not used
- Nice store and BBQ restaurant
Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:
Good base camp for Capitol Reef
Nice park with trees between each site and views of the surrounding red cliffs. Sites were a little on the small side for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle; we had to park the truck next to the rig, and the door hit our slide when getting in or out. Very conveniently located to Capitol Reef National Park, which is the main draw. Torrey has some good restaurants, and the onsite bbq was just so nice and close after a long day in the park. The shop had a great selection of souvenirs and basic necessities, as well. We camped at Thousand Lakes RV Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
Satellite map:
A couple of GIFs of our coach leveling itself, captured by the truck dashcam:
Our site; it was so windy that we kept our slides in for most of the time:
A nice view of red cliffs beyond the park:
This is what our coach looks like inside with the slide-outs in; a bit cramped:
Paladin sitting on the back of the driver chair:
He was interested in jumping up to the top of the slide-out, though didn’t actually do so:
As mentioned above, one nice thing about this park is that it has an on-site BBQ; here’s the menu:
BBQ info:
The restaurant:
BBQ dining room:
BBQ food:
They also have a nice gift shop and general store on site:
Let’s walk around. Here’s the entrance sign:
Play area:
RV park store and gift shop:
Even a hair salon, apparently:
Some tent sites, populated by a group (who regretted their choices, being so windy):
RVs:
A small pool; we didn’t use it, since it wasn’t very warm:
Cabins:
A nice view:
More RVs:
Cows:
Those sites along the back would have a great view, though were very small:
More cabins:
A hall with seating:
Our site again, after we put out three of the four slides:
Video: timelapse of motorhome coach driving from Hatch, UT to Torrey, UT
A timelapse of driving our Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome 124 miles from Hatch, Utah to Torrey, Utah.
Travel from Hatch to Torrey, UT
We drove our coach 124 miles, about 3 hours, from Hatch, Utah to Torrey, Utah.
Here’s the map, heading northeast:
Heading down the highway:
Paladin spent much of the time in his safe space next to my chair, as usual:
Some nice old buildings in Panguitch (I’m going to try to take more pictures of interesting towns we pass through):
Nice houses:
I worked on my laptop while Jenn drove:
Butch Cassidy’s childhood home:
An old building:
Junction, our turn:
Mountains:
Interesting rocks:
The Otter Creek Reservoir:
Lots of straight portions of the highway:
Which are a convenient and fairly safe time for me to get up and grab a snack from the fridge:
Mountains:
Never Rip Overalls:
Some horses crossing the highway:
More road and mountains:
Up and down:
Interesting rocks:
Arriving at our destination for a few nights:
Paladin on the dash while Jenn is checking in:
Internet cupboard
I previously posted about our internet services, with a picture of the cupboard above the entry door that contains the cellular modem:
I decided to consolidate the internet stuff into this cupboard. So I hatched a plan to run a power cord from the outlet above the windshield to that cupboard:
I removed panels in those cupboards:
The mess of cables behind the panel in the front cupboard:
I used my drill with a large bit:
…to cut a hole in the panel:
…to fit a grommet:
…for the power cord, which I pulled through by tying a strap to it:
Getting the cord through the small gap behind this speaker was rather tricky (I lost a bunch of skin):
…but I managed in the end:
I installed another grommet in this panel:
The cord then plugged in to the power outlet (the front TV also plugs in there, and for some reason the top outlet only receives power when the ignition is on… maybe I should plug my dashcam into that?):
The other end of the cord has a power strip with electrical and USB outlets:
Then I moved the other internet devices into the cupboard:
In addition to the modem, it contains the MiFi hotspot:
The power strip:
A fan to cool the modem, as it gets rather hot:
And the security camera base unit, that has an Ethernet connection to the modem:
I subsequently removed the door of this cupboard, since I was leaving it open for airflow:
It’s not super tidy, but it’s nice to have everything in one place.
The Riverside Ranch
We stayed at The Riverside Ranch in Hatch, Utah. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-04-24
- Check out: 2022-05-08
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny, a little drizzle
- High temps ranging between 51 and 72°F, lows around 20-40°F
- Sub-freezing overnight several nights
- Windy most afternoons
Noise:
- Minimal road noise, no train noise
- Quiet neighbors
Site:
- #5, pull-through, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Somewhat large site: 55 feet long by about 45 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- High water pressure, 100 PSI (need a regulator), conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located
- Didn’t connect water or sewer other than to fill and dump, since it got below freezing
- Picnic table
Internet:
- Campground Wi-Fi: 27-32 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 15 ms ping; not used
- T-Mobile: 93 Mbps down, 10-35 Mbps up, 70-80 ms ping
- AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
- Verizon: 75-85 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
- Starlink: 12-23 Mbps down, 2-14 Mbps up, 34-54 ms ping
Amenities:
- Package delivery right to each site
- Garbage dumpster
- No pool
Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:
Great home base for exploring southern Utah
We stayed here for two weeks, and it was a great base camp to see Bryce, Zion, several state parks (that were just as good as the national parks), national monuments, and scenic drives. Very quiet and scenic spot, right off the highway. We would have liked to stay in one of the riverside spots, but they don’t have sewer hookups and we can’t go that long without dumping the tanks, alas. Still, the pull-through sites in the upper part of the park had a lovely view over the valley and the pink cliffs in the distance. We had several packages delivered and the camp hosts brought them right to our site, which was very convenient. The staff were all very helpful and friendly, beginning with check-in where we were given a lot of tourism info about the area. It does get windy, but that’s been our experience everywhere in the southwest at this time of year, so we didn’t get to spend as much time outside as we would’ve liked, but that’s offset by how much exploring we got to do in the area. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at The Riverside Ranch in a Motorhome.
The weather forecast for our stay:
And the second week:
The campground map. We stayed in the upper area, as the lower (riverside) area doesn’t have sewer hookups:
Satellite view:
They gave us a bunch of tourist info for the area:
Once we spent a night here, we could add Utah to the map on the side of our coach:
Our site:
100 PSI water pressure; a regulator is definitely required (I have mine set to 60 PSI):
Dinner outside:
Paladin looking out a window:
It was too windy to work outside most days, but I did a few times:
Setting sun:
We were visited by Jenn’s Uncle Todd; our first visitors at a campsite:
An interesting window in a coach next to us for a few days:
Let’s walk around the park, starting with the sign out front:
There’s a Mexican restaurant and country store out front, but unfortunately they were closed; not sure if just for the season, or permanently:
The Riverside Ranch also includes a motel:
Downhill to the RV park:
RVs (with a glimpse of ours):
The river (more of a stream, but still):
RVs by the river:
They have some tent sites, too:
A nice corner for religious services (this is Utah, after all):
The RV office:
Group fire pit:
Bathroom:
BBQ area and RV office:
Finally, the sign lit up at night:
Video: timelapse of coach driving from Caliente, NV to Hatch, UT
A timelapse of driving the coach 177 miles from Caliente, Nevada to Hatch, Utah.
Travel from Caliente, NV to Hatch, UT
We drove our coach 177 miles, 4.5 hours, from Caliente, Nevada to Hatch, Utah. Yay, another state!
Here’s the map, heading east:
An interesting point about this route is it isn’t the most direct route — that would be highway 14. However, as the map indicates, there is a portion with a too low clearance for our coach, plus that route is very twisty and across a mountaintop. We did drive that route in our truck later, and were very glad we didn’t try to take our coach that way. This is an important part of route planning; making sure it is feasible for our RV. The RV Life Trip Wizard really helps with this.
Anyway, on with the travel pics. Caliente is a fairly cute small town; here’s Company Row:
Turning onto 319 East:
An interesting house in Panaca, and fellow RV traveler:
A curvy highway:
The GPS mirrored on the TV, approaching the Utah border, represented by the horizontal dotted line:
Entering Utah:
Interesting rocks:
Train:
The clouds looked fake:
Utah highway:
Hey there Paladin:
Snowy mountains:
Getting on to I-15:
Where the speed limit was 80 MPH, not that we go that fast in our coach:
Paladin sleeping in his safe spot next to my chair:
We didn’t really need fuel, but were concerned that truck stops would be less common out in the wilds of Utah, so stopped at T/A to top up:
We topped up the DEF, too:
A first for us, we parked with the trucks:
And headed in to Subway for lunch:
A couple more Paladin pics:
I noticed a bunch of these interesting ramps along the freeway; presumably to let animals escape the road:
Our exit:
Cattle guard:
Curvy road:
Highway leading to snowy hills:
Snow by the side of the road:
7,920 feet summit, with more curves and steep downhill ahead:
Sharp curve and mountain vista:
Interesting rocks:
“River”:
Arriving at our next destination:
Paladin watching birds while Jenn checks in:
Cellular internet
We are both still working as we travel the country in our motorhome, so having reliable internet access is essential.
To that end, we have six internet options: two cellular plans (AT&T and Verizon) in a cellular modem, one cell plan (T-Mobile) via a Wi-Fi hotspot device, two iPhones (AT&T), and (very recently) Starlink satellite internet.
And sometimes we connect to campground Wi-Fi, when available, though our various options are usually faster and more reliable.
Having four different networks and a variety of devices ensures that almost anywhere we are, we can connect to the internet.
Some details about the plans:
- T-Mobile (via 5G Wi-Fi hotspot): unlimited data; plan provided by the Calyx Institute. This is what we’ve used the most, being truly unlimited.
- AT&T (LTE SIM in cellular modem): 800 GB data; plan provided by Mobile Must Have. A good backup option, though often not very fast.
- Verizon (5G SIM in cellular modem): 150 GB data; pre-paid plan from Verizon. Often the fastest cellular option, but very limited data, so we don’t use it much.
- AT&T (iPhones): unlimited data; plans and phones provided by Apple Upgrade Program. We use these a lot as standalone devices. They only have 40 GB data as a personal hotspot, so we don’t tether other than emergencies.
- Starlink (satellite): unlimited data; plan and dish provided by Starlink. We’ll probably use this the most going forward, if it proves to be reliable enough (and if our campsites can see enough of the sky).
I’ll cover Starlink in a separate post later, once we’ve spent more time with it — as of this post, we’ve only had it for a few days.
This is the T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot; we can connect to it directly, but most of the time we go via the modem, which also connects to it:
The modem has a roof-mounted antenna (the white fin in the following picture), which we got from Mobile Must Have, and installed by NIRVC; a Poynting 7-in-1 Roof Antenna. It contains 4 cell antennas, 2 WiFi antennas, and a GPS antenna:
Zoomed out a bit:
The antenna connects to the Pepwave MAX Transit modem (also from MMH), which contains the AT&T and Verizon SIMs (and can support two more). NIRVC mounted it in a cupboard above our entry door:
See a later post about some further modifications to this cupboard.
Young’s RV Park
We stayed at Young’s RV Park in Caliente, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-04-21
- Check out: 2022-04-24
- 3 nights
Weather:
- Windy, rainy, cloudy
- High temps ranging between 60 and 72°F, lows around 32-44°F
- Very windy the first day (wind is common in Spring)
Noise:
- No road noise, occasional train noise
- Quiet and noisy neighbors on different days
Site:
- #38, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Medium site: no marked edges, but about 60 feet long by about 25 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power conveniently located
- Good water pressure, 55 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located
- Picnic table
Internet:
- Campground Wi-Fi: 0.5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 45-145 ms ping; not used
- T-Mobile: no service
- AT&T: 3-8 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- Verizon: 3-9 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 80-128 ms ping
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- No pool
Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:
Good basic campground
We stayed for a few nights on our way to Great Basin National Park. Our site was level and easy to get in and out of. Seems like a very popular spot for gatherings as I got the impression everyone else staying there knew each other, but at least everyone obeyed the quiet hours. We camped at Young’s RV Park in a Motorhome.
The weather forecast for our stay:
This park was unusual in that there was no paper map or other information provided, just a credit card receipt (that had the Wi-Fi password on it). Here’s the map from their website:
The satellite view:
Our site:
A tumbleweed blowing in the wind:
Conveniently located utilities:
55 PSI water pressure:
It was very windy on our first day; here’s a GIF of the slide topper flapping in the wind:
Our site and neighbors:
Other RVs:
The office:
Bathroom and laundry:
More tumbleweeds:
It rained on our second day; the first time we’ve had real rain in about a month:
A side-by-side on the back of a pickup; an interesting arrangement:
