Coach changes after a year

A month ago I celebrated the one year anniversary of buying our coach, and mentioned that I’d do an update on it. Here ya go — some pictures of the what our coach looks like now, after a year of modifications.

Here’s the 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP floorplan, edited to show our options and modifications:

2017 40SP floorplan with our mods

The outside is much the same, but we now have Sinclair Trails stickers on the side of the slide-out, along with a map showing the states we’ve visited, plus the Magne-Shades on the windscreen and side windows:

Our coach

Looking down a bit, another addition visible there is a foldable wagon, and an extra step:

Our coach

On the other side of the coach, we have National Park stickers for parks we’ve visited on the slide-out:

National Park stickers

Heading inside, the cockpit area has a few changes:

Cockpit

For example, the steering wheel table and plants (the boxes contain our keys etc, to avoid Paladin knocking them off the table):

Steering wheel table

Speaking of the boy, he enjoys his boxes on the dash, and sitting on the carpeted dash cover:

Paladin

Above the entry door is now a small cupboard full of internet devices, with the door removed:

Internet cupboard

We added hooks for hats and bike helmets:

Hooks for hats and bike helmets

On the passenger side, in front of the lift TV is a top-entry cat litter box and waste bin, plus IKEA drawers and cupboards, where there was originally a couch, and later a desk:

Cat litter; IKEA drawers and cupboards

Here’s the main TV active (with Jenn’s video game), and the smaller TV over the windscreen (showing a baseball game):

TVs

Opposite that is new theater seating and cabinets, where there was originally an L-shaped couch, and later recliner chairs:

Theater seating and cabinets

Here’s a view of the living area:

Living room

The dining table and chairs are unchanged, though we have Paladin’s food, water, bed, and a scratcher on the cabinet behind the table, and alcohol storage in the rightmost cupboard below:

Dining table and chairs

Next to the fridge is a framed wooden map and sticker board that we recently added:

Fridge

The kitchen / galley area has modifications like the towel rail, and a drying rack over one of the sinks:

Kitchen

A closer look at the kitchen counter:

Kitchen counter

The two sinks, with a drying rack and bottle rack on the right-hand one:

Sinks

In the sinks are handy strainers, better than the stock ones:

Sink strainers

Continuing back, the half bath:

Half bath

The thermostat and Spyder control panel in the bedroom; upgrading this control panel was a huge improvement:

Controls

In the bedroom, we’ve added hooks for actively worn clothes:

Bedroom

Another cat bed, plus gaming headphones and controllers, a projection clock, and device chargers:

Cat bed and electronics

In the media cupboard, Jenn’s PS5 etc:

PS5 etc

The bed is much the same, just different covers:

Bedroom

The bathroom:

Bathroom

The sink area has necklace hooks and under-cabinet lights:

Bathroom sink

The shower has extra hooks and dispensers, and we added towel rods next to the shower:

Shower

A look at the living area from by the half bath:

Living area

 And a similar view with the slides in — somewhat smaller:

Slides in

Still enough room to get by the couch, though:

Slides in

The bedroom with slides in; can’t really get past the bed without difficulty; we pile the steering wheel table, air cleaner, etc on it for travel:

Slides in

 Heading outside, the basement cooler is the same; we have it unplugged, and just use it to store spare beverages:

Basement cooler

The next basement compartment has houseware supplies, plus a box with the Starlink dish:

Basement storage

The next compartment has my tools:

Basement storage

A small one next to it has bottled water and less-commonly used camping supplies:

Basement storage

Continuing back, next is the air and hydraulic compartment:

Air and hydraulic compartment

The last compartment on the passenger side has chassis batteries and stuff; the only change there is the addition of a tire pressure monitor repeater, to enable sensors on the truck to reach the display in the front of the coach:

Chassis compartment

In the back, the engine compartment, unchanged other than replaced filters etc:

Engine compartment

The DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) compartment; I do have a DEF simulator as insurance against a somewhat common failure:

DEF compartment

The electrical compartment, home to a Power Watchdog smart surge protector when traveling (and a cloth I use to wipe the cord while winding it):

Electrical compartment

The wet bay has the water hose and sewer stuff; here’s what it looks like when in use:

Wet bay

And when packed up:

Wet bay

Next is the Aqua-Hot system, unchanged other than topping up the boiler antifreeze fluid:

Aqua-Hot system

The other side of the basement storage contains the water filters and hoses, plus the Blackstone griddle:

Basement storage

With the griddle and filters in use, you can see less-commonly used stuff behind:

Basement storage

The next storage, which also goes all the way across, contains the fold-up wagon, jack pads, etc:

Basement storage

The battery compartment:

Battery compartment

We did upgrade the batteries to AGMs:

Battery compartment

At the front of the driver side are fuses and such; I hope not to have to access this compartment often:

Fuses etc

In front of the coach is the generator:

Generator

There have of course been lots of other changes, like getting ebikes, a pop-up gazebo, and other stuff. And a couple of extra solar panels on the roof:

Bikes, gazebo, solar

I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. No doubt we’ll continue making improvements to our coach as we continue our adventures.

Anniversary of buying our motorhome

Today marks the one year anniversary of us purchasing our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome!

(The Allegro Bus brochure, if you’re interested in the stats and options.)

One year ago today, we drove four hours to Kennewick, Washington and met the private seller at a KOA campground, where we handed over the cashier check payment, signed the title transfer, and got the keys. We then stayed in the coach that night, marking the first night of our full-time RVing adventure.

To celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d re-publish the first pictures of the coach from a year ago. Many aspects have changed over the past 12 months, so it’s good to look back on where things started.

A couple of pictures of the coach exterior at the Kennewick KOA (the slide-out looks so naked without our stickers!):

2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP

2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP

My tour of the interior of the coach:

Here’s a floor plan (note that the living room layout is a bit different):

40SP floorplan

The entry door and steps (the exterior steps automatically slide out when the door is opened); welcome aboard:

Entry door and steps

In front of the passenger chair is a pull-out workstation surface:

Passenger workstation

Thusly:

Passenger workstation

The driver cockpit:

Driver cockpit

The living area:

Living area

The L-shaped couch and ottoman that came with the couch; we removed and stored it, and recently sold it:

Couch

Dining table (it can be pulled out to extend it a bit):

Dining table

On the right of the dining sideboard was a keyboard tray drawer, for a computer workstation; I thought I might work there, though I didn’t; I use a lap tray instead, and we actually removed this, to make room for bottles in the cupboard below:

Keyboard tray

Residential refrigerator and freezer:

Residential refrigerator

Pull-out pantry shelves:

Pull-out pantry shelves

The kitchen:

Kitchen

Pull-out counter:

Pull-out counter

Drawer dishwasher (made by NZ company Fisher & Paykel):

Drawer dishwasher

Dual sinks, with covers when more counter space is desired; we typically only use the left sink, with a draining rack over the right side:

Sinks

Induction cooktop:

Induction cooktop

Convection microwave, that can be used as a normal microwave or as a convection oven:

Convection microwave

Half bath; yes, this coach has two porcelain toilets:

Half bath

Bedroom:

Bedroom

Tiltable king bed (with way too many cushions; we’ve stored all of these):

Tiltable king bed

Bedroom TV and cabinets:

Bedroom TV and cabinets

 

Moving into the bathroom, the sink:

Bathroom sink

Washer and dryer:

Washer and dryer

Shower:

Shower

The above pictures were with the four slides out; when traveling down the road, the slides are retracted, which makes things much more cramped.

Here’s the living room with slides in; it was difficult to get past the couches, another reason why we removed them:

Living room with slides in

Dining and kitchen with slides in; not so bad. We were able to get to the fridge and half-bath pretty easily, once past the couches — great for rest stops:

Dining and kitchen with slides in

Bedroom with slides in; not very easy to get past the bed without climbing over it, but that’s fine:

Bedroom with slides in

I hope you enjoyed this flashback! Sometime I plan to do a similar tour with the current state. Stay tuned for that.

On to the next year of our full-time RVing adventure!