A timelapse dashcam video of driving up and back down Pikes Peak in Colorado (back in September).
video
Videos, mostly dashcam timelapses.
Las Cruces KOA Journey
We stayed at Las Cruces KOA Journey in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our second visit in just a few months to this RV park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-02-25
- Check out: 2023-03-04
- 7 nights
- We arrived one day early to avoid traveling during 60 MPH gusts
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 52-69°F, lows around 27-37°F
- 60 MPH wind gusts on the first day, and 30-40 MPH most other days
Noise:
- Negligible road noise (distant freeway noise, only audible outside); no train noise
Sites:
- #28, pull-in, gravel; unusual to have a front-in site
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Fairly level
- Large site: about 55 feet long by about 45 feet wide
- Full hookups (on both sides, for front-in motorhomes and back-in trailers):
- 50 amp power, not very conveniently located
- 45 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
- Picnic table on concrete pad; no fire pit
- City and mountain view
We were only in that site for the first night, as that was the extra day for arriving early (as a separate reservation). Then we needed to move to a different (similar) site:
- #16, pull-in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Fairly level
- Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 20 feet wide
- Full hookups (on one side, for front-in motorhomes):
- 50 amp power, very conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, very conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
- Picnic table on gravel; no fire pit
- City and mountain view
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 12-16 Mbps down, 34 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
- AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Verizon: 1-11 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 65-588 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Closed pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
The best views
This was our second time staying here and it was just as nice as the last time. We came in a day earlier than originally planned to avoid some wind storms in the area and were able to get a reservation that morning for a view site. Because it was technically a second reservation, they had to do some rearranging and we wound up moving from site 28 to 16 at the start of our original reservation. No biggie, other than the disconcerting feeling of bringing in the stabilizing jacks and feeling the wind buffet the rig violently from side to side. Some of the most white-knuckle driving ever just to go from one end of the campground to the other. The staff were so helpful and understanding in accommodating our early arrival and relocation as we weren’t the only ones with the idea to avoid the weather. You just have to get a view site at this place or you’re really missing out. I’m sure you could get a peep of it from further back or enjoy the view from one of the communal areas, but it’s just so awesome to view it out the front window of the motorhome. We’ll definitely be back when we come this way again. We camped at Las Cruces KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Bosque Brewing across from NMSU has good beer and food.
An interactive map of the park:
RV park map:
Our first site before parking:
Our first site with our coach and truck; this may look familiar to long-time readers, as it’s the same site we had last time we were here:
The view from inside our coach:
The utilities of our first site (I didn’t bother hooking up the sewer pipe, since we were only there one night):
After that first night, we needed to move to another site. Here’s our second site before parking:
Our second site with our coach and truck:
Notice the sky; it was very windy and dusty, so we only put out the driver-side slides (being leeward), and left the passenger-side ones in:
We received an emergency alert for the dust storm:
A screenshot of my weather app, showing the wind gusts:
The coach is a bit weird with one side in, but still quite usable:
Nicer weather:
The view from inside:
Our second site utilities:
Cleaning the windshield:
Nice view:
A tiny Casita trailer next to our 40-foot coach; kinda looks like we laid an egg:
Since the wind was ongoing, if not quite so strong, and we wanted to put the slides out, I added ropes to brace slide toppers:
One day, it even snowed!
A video of the snow:
A video from the dash cam, showing the snow clearing:
(Did you spot the cat?)
Snowy mountains:
You can see more of this RV park in my post for our previous stay, but here are a few pics, starting with the office:
Dog park:
Tent and camp kitchen areas:
Other RVs:
Sunrise view from our coach:
Sunset views:
This is a nice RV park; the sites aren’t the best, especially being buddy sites, but the view more than makes up for that. This was our second visit, and we’ll probably stay here again if we’re back this way in the future.
Video: Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 504 miles from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our longest drive to date! (And yes, I’ve been using country & folk music for the Texas travel, but switch to other genres on leaving Texas.)
Video: Gordonville, Texas to Abilene, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 244 miles from Gordonville, Texas to Abilene, Texas.
Video: Dallas, Texas to Gordonville, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 76 miles from Dallas, Texas to Gordonville, Texas.
US Virgin Islands National Park
As previously mentioned, the US Virgin Islands consists of three main islands, and a bunch of minor ones. We were staying on Saint Thomas, but another highlight of this trip was to cross off another national park, in our goal to visit all of them. The nearby island of Saint John mostly consists of the Virgin Islands National Park.
It is possible to take a passenger ferry over to the island, and walk to the park visitor center, and explore the town of Cruz Bay (where the ferry docks), but we wanted to explore more of the park, which is best done by car. So we headed to the car ferry dock.
Here’s a car ferry loading; the cars all back on, to make it easier to drive off at the other side:
The departing ferry, and another arriving:
We made it onto this ferry, the Big Red Barge:
The cars are packed rather tightly:
Arriving at Saint John:
Driving off:
Why did the chicken cross the road? They’re all over the place:
Jenn got her National Park passport stamps:
Info in the visitor center:
Visitor center gift store:
Selfie:
The visitor center was undergoing some renovations:
Virgin Islands National Park sign:
Trunk Bay is one of the most popular parts of the park; we hoped to be able to stop here, but they have very limited parking, so we skipped it:
Maho Bay is another (too) popular beach:
But we were able to find parking at Francis Bay, a less popular but still very nice beach:
We had a picnic lunch on the beach:
Parts of the beach were a little rocky, but the sand was very soft:
Underwater photos:
Jenn swimming:
Video of fish:
Looking like a merman:
Continuing on, we visited the historic windmill of the Annaberg sugar plantation:
A turtle:
Goat:
Donkeys:
Lots of steep roads:
Back to the car ferry:
A nice swim, fascinating history, and great to visit one of the more difficult to reach national parks.
Video: five Texas campgrounds timelapse
A timelapse of a few days from five different campgrounds in Texas:
- Corpus Christi KOA Journey
- Lockhart State Park
- Thousand Trails Colorado River RV Campground
- Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV & Camping Resort
- Lake Whitney State Park
Check out the Sinclair Trails blog for reviews of each.
Video: Lake Whitney, Texas to Dallas, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 101 miles from Lake Whitney, Texas to Dallas, Texas.
Video: Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 196 miles from Lake Conroe to Lake Whitney, Texas. But unfortunately my dashcam stopped recording partway through, so this video is only the first part.
Video: Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 132 miles from Columbus to Lake Conroe, Texas. (We took a detour to avoid an accident that closed a portion of the freeway.)