A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 37 miles round-trip from Encore Paradise RV Resort in Sun City to Velocity Truck Centers in Tolleson, then back to Paradise in Sun City, Arizona.
travel
Freeways, highways, and other roads as we move the coach from one site to another. Plus cat pics.
Velocity Truck Centers for engine air heater repair
As we were arriving in Phoenix, we got a Check Engine light on our dash. Never a welcome occurrence!
Looking in the BlueFire app, it showed more details of the codes; clearly a short of the engine intake air heater:
Later in our stay, we started the engine again to see if the codes were still there. They were, so I contacted NIRVC to see if they could fix it. They referred me to Velocity Truck Centers, which is a Cummins dealer, and has an RV department.
Travel route, heading south then back north afterwards:
Our appointment was for 7 AM; we considered arriving the day before, since they had a few full-hookup spots, but decided to just go very early in the morning. Probably a good thing, as their RV department was very busy that day; there may not have been a spot for us.
We toaded up just before sunrise:
Sunrise:
Exit to the truck place:
A hot air balloon in the distance:
Arriving at the truck service center:
The RV waiting room was so crowded that one couple brought in camp chairs:
We decided we didn’t want to hang out there, so went to Chick-fil-A for second breakfast:
Then some chores, and to Starbucks to spend the next five hours:
They completed the work in the afternoon; the issue was a metal-wrapped line intermittently touching the heater relay, causing a short. They secured the line, and replaced the relay, since it had been damaged by the arcing. Just over one RV Buck (about $1,300) to fix.
Heading back to the RV park after the work was complete:
Arriving back at Paradise:
Back to our site, which looks a bit weird without the RV there:
A hassle, but I’m glad it was a relatively easy fix.
Video: Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 252 miles from Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona.
Travel from Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona
We drove our coach 252 miles, about four hours of driving, from Palm Desert, California to Sun City, Arizona.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Entering I-10 East:
We got a little bit of fuel at California prices:
Back onto I-10 East:
Foggy:
Rest area closed:
Another rest area:
Interesting homebrew van:
Paladin in a box:
Arizona state line, and also Mountain time zone:
Welcome to Arizona:
Arizona Centenial:
Airstream trailer:
Interesting mountains:
Westbound freeway closed for hours due to accident:
Another fuel stop to top up, since we’ll be in one place for three months:
Filling diesel:
Filling DEF:
Exit to AZ-303 North:
Overpass:
Exit to Bell Road:
Arriving at Paradise RV Resort:
Registration parking, where we filled in the paperwork and untoaded:
Guided to our site:
Video: Orange to Palm Desert, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 103 miles from Orange to Palm Desert, California.
Travel from Orange to Palm Desert, California
We drove our coach 103 miles, about two hours of driving, from Orange to Palm Desert, California.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Leaving our site; it was a bit tight, so we backed out, which meant we were facing the wrong way:
Toading facing the wrong way; I walked around the corner to make sure the coast was clear before we headed out:
CA-57:
Entering CA-55 North:
CA-91:
“100 Years of Freedom”:
Interesting hills:
Overpasses:
Exit to Indio:
Snowcapped mountains:
Uphill:
Rest area:
Wind turbines:
Exit to Washington Street:
Hills:
Arriving at TTPS:
We were assigned a site that didn’t have 50 amp power, despite the gate agent assuring us that it did:
Then we got a new site assignment, and moved to a site that actually has usable power:
Actually getting into our site was a bit of a challenge, as it always is at TTPS (due to all the palm trees and other obstacles), but we managed it without too much difficulty.
Video: Northridge to Orange, California motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 59 miles from Northridge to Orange, California.
Travel from Northridge to Orange, California
We drove our coach just 59 miles, about an hour of driving, from Northridge to Orange, California. Picking our coach up from storage.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with the drive from the airport parking included:
Leaving Walnut RV Park, where we stored our coach during our NZ trip:
Entering I-5 South:
LA traffic:
A pickup carrying half a car:
Sunset:
Katella Ave exit:
Arriving at Orangeland RV Park after sunset; later than we usually like to arrive, but we’ve been here several times before:
NZ: flights from Christchurch to Auckland then LAX
All good things must end, and so it was with our New Zealand trip.
Checking in to Air New Zealand in Christchurch:
Our plane from Christchurch to Auckland:
In Auckland International Airport, love NZ with Buzzy Bees:
Last meat pie, caramel slice, and L&P soda:
Our international flight:
Menu:
Seat selfie:
The flight was delayed over an hour:
Dinner:
Breakfast:
Arriving over Los Angeles:
LA freeway:
Looking back at our plane:
Welcome to the United States:
Welcome to Los Angeles:
Shuttle back to the parking garage:
Our truck was still there!
We then drove to pick up our coach from storage, which will be in tomorrow’s post. But this concludes the posts about our New Zealand trip. It was great to visit my family, see old and new places, eat favorite foods, and try van life.
As discussed in the 2026 travel plans post, this year will be a bit different than previous ones, including another big trip, this time through Canada to Alaska (twice!). Stay tuned for our continuing adventures!
NZ: returning van; Christchurch exploring
We traveled from our last campsite to return the rental van, then got dropped off at a hotel in downtown Christchurch, and did some touring around the central city.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, with the stops marked:
A pile of things to donate to Red Cross:
A pile of our luggage:
McRent Christchurch:
Other campers:
Our van:
No problems dropping off the van (unlike a German family that returned their camper at the same time as us, that had thousands of dollars of damage!). McRent arranged an Uber to our downtown hotel for the night, Distinction:
Hotel room:
We went to the Tramway Cafe for lunch:
We did a city tour tram ride:
Tram route:
A must-do in Christchurch — punting on the Avon:
A brief walk through part of Christchurch Botanic Gardens:
Then more walking around looking at Christchurch buildings:
And back on the tram:
Coffee and a slice:
Christ Church Cathedral reconstruction; it was significantly damaged in several earthquakes:
More buildings and art:
A very nice city.