A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 270 miles from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.
Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming
We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of driving, from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops marked:
Our actual stops:
Preparing to leave:
Mural:
Snake River:
Love’s travel centers have been adding RV parks; this looks like a decent one, with pull-through sites:
Wide load:
Shoshone:
Zoomed perspective of the road (highway 26):
Another wide load:
We chose this route so we could visit Craters of the Moon National Monument:
It has some RV parking, which barely fits us, so we were able to visit on a travel day — a first for us:
We unhooked our truck, and drove around the park (see a forthcoming post about that):
When we got back, the RV parking was full:
Onward on US-20:
Arco, Idaho, the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power:
We made an unplanned stop at a rest area, to take a break from unnervingly high wind gusts:
Peaks:
Fuel stop:
We had to wait for a long time due to an inconsiderate truck driver that had parked and gone inside; the convention at truck stops is after fueling you can pull forward and stop for up to 15 minutes, but this driver was gone much longer than that:
Potato fields:
Snake River:
Palisades Dam:
Palisades Reservoir:
“Welcome to Wyoming”:
Our destination:
Basement subwoofer
In a basement compartment of our coach was a subwoofer, presumably synced with the outside TV. We hardly ever use that TV, and wouldn’t want to be booming loud bass sounds when we do, so I’ve had the subwoofer unplugged for ages, and recently removed it and put it into storage.
Here’s the subwoofer, nicely mounted on a shelf:
It is a wireless subwoofer, so the only attachment is a power cord:
The empty shelf:
That seemed like a good place to put a fire extinguisher and first aid kit, so they’re out of the way, but always reachable:
A much better use of that space!
Y Knot Winery RV Park
We stayed at Y Knot Winery RV Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A brand-new RV park, still installing landscaping, plus a winery and restaurant.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-07-11
- Check out: 2023-07-13
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps ranging between 94-99°F, lows around 58-63°F
- Some evening wind, 23 MPH gusts
Noise:
- No road noise
- Train horn noise (didn’t hear it overnight, fortunately)
- No neighbor noise (no neighbors!)
- A little construction noise
Site:
- #24, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; left it connected
- Fairly level
- Gravel about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 15 feet wide
- Young trees
- No picnic table etc yet
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 80 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, very inconveniently located (4 10-foot pipes needed; could have managed with 2 if parked the truck in front of the coach)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 17-22 Mbps down, 26-32 Mbps up, 52-115 ms ping
- Verizon: 11-27 Mbps down, 16 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- AT&T: 120 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Winery and restaurant
Our review on Campground Reviews:
So new, still under construction
We stayed here for two nights on our way through Idaho on I-84. We were in the new section, which was being landscaped as we arrived. We were originally in site 31, but they hadn’t finished landscaping it yet, and I could tell from a distance that it was going to be far too short and sloped for us. Since we had the place to ourselves, we pulled into site 24 and called the lovely ladies at the winery to explain the situation. They were more than happy to swap our site and also noticed that I had (like another reviewer) accidentally selected 3 nights, instead of 2, through the online booking site, so she gave me a refund for the extra night. This place is going to be really nice when they finish the landscaping, and I look forward to coming through in the future. The restaurant at the winery was also very nice and worth a visit. We camped at Y Knot Winery RV Park in a Motorhome.
The campground map; we had booked site #31, but ended up in site #24 (read on for why):
This was site 31, occupied by sod pallets:
I asked them to move them, but we then realized that the site was very unlevel (several inches front to back, and some side-to-side), plus they were still working on it. So we decided to take one of the sites that already had sod, and was much more level:
Our site:
The sewer hookup was super inconvenient; good thing I have 40 feet of hoses:
Sometimes I think we could offer an RV park design consulting service, to help people avoid mistakes like this.
Sod cleanup:
Other sites; there were only two other RVs in the park:
A truck with a load of trees:
They took a corner a bit too sharp, and broke the sewer cap (another reason that’s a stupid place for it, though to be fair RVs wouldn’t normally be going that way around the corner):
Unloading the trees:
This RV park is across the road (and part of) the Y Knot Winery; we went there for dinner:
The finest wines of Idaho (video clip):
Bread:
Charcuterie board:
My steak and baked spud:
Jenn’s dessert:
Vines:
The old campground; we wouldn’t fit in most of those sites:
The new campground:
Video: La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 242 miles from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho.
Travel from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho
We drove our coach 242 miles, about four hours of driving, from La Grande, Oregon to Glenns Ferry, Idaho.
Here’s the map route, heading southeast:
Interactive map, with potential stops marked:
Another interactive map, with the places we actually stopped:
I-84:
Cementworks:
Rest area stop:
Snuggling with Paladin:
A video from our internal security cam while our coach was driving down the road; it’s a rolling earthquake, but much more stable than a trailer. If you look closely, you may notice Paladin asleep on the stacked dining chairs in the lower-right corner:
River:
I-84:
“Oregon Thanks You, Come Back Soon”; yep, we’ll be back every year, as we tour around the country and return to Washington each year for health checkups etc:
“Welcome to Idaho”:
Another rest area:
A biplane crop duster:
Fuel stop:
Paladin asleep:
River:
Murals:
Water tower:
River:
Y Knot Winery:
Our coach parked at the winery while we checked in:
Their RV park, still under construction:
Grande Hot Springs Resort
We stayed at Grande Hot Springs Resort in La Grande, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our second visit to this resort; our first visit was in a rented trailer on the way to Yellowstone. This time we were also on our way to Yellowstone, via the Tetons, but in our motorhome.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-07-09
- Check out: 2023-07-11
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny, thunderstorm
- High temps ranging between 84-92°F, lows around 51-59°F
- Some evening wind, 20 MPH gusts
Noise:
- No road noise
- Rumbling train noise (no horns)
- No neighbor noise
Site:
- #31, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; left it connected
- Fairly level
- Gravel about 90 feet long by about 11 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 20 feet wide
- Tiny picnic table on grass
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 15 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Verizon: 13-27 Mbps down, 9-13 Mbps up, 36 ms ping
- AT&T: 5 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 140 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Thermal pools
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient spot to stop in Eastern Oregon
This was our second stay here, and it was just as nice as the first time. However, I didn’t remember feeling the earth move whenever one of the huge freight trains went by, which we definitely felt this time. If you’re a light sleeper, just be aware they go by all night. Our site was a decent-sized pull-through with the most ridiculously tiny picnic table I’ve ever seen. The hot springs soaking pools were nice after a long day of driving, but the mosquitoes put a damper on the experience. As did the loud, obnoxious group of partiers in one of the pools. Having said all that, though, we did enjoy our stay here as it’s a nice, convenient stop along I-84, and the grounds are very nice, with a small stream running through it. We camped at Grande Hot Springs Resort in a Motorhome.
The campground map:
Interactive map:
Our site:
Tiny picnic table:
Utilities:
Our site:
We went for a dip in the big pool on our first evening, during the adults-only time after dark (which was not as pleasant as it could be, due to several very loud people, and mosquitos):
Pools:
The entrance sign:
Fountain in center of driveway:
Office:
Bridge over hot canal:
Tent sites beyond canal:
Open area:
Feral cat (notice the ear tip); probably staff:
Fire pit:
Group tent area:
Cabin:
Yurts:
Garbage and recycling:
Other sites; the park was mostly empty:
Neighboring hot lake:
Sunset:
Video: Welches to La Grande, Oregon motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 262 miles from Welches, Oregon to La Grande, Oregon.
Travel from Welches to La Grande, Oregon
We drove our coach 262 miles, about four hours of driving, from Welches, Oregon to La Grande, Oregon.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
Interactive map:
Preparing to toad up in the maintenance area:
Mount Hood:
Our tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) reported a high temperature on the front passenger-side tire, which was concerning, but resolved itself (they normally run at less than 99°F):
Columbia River:
A stop at a rest area:
Paladin was enjoying sitting on the stacked dining chairs:
Interesting overpass:
Dam:
Sternwheeler river boat:
Bridge:
Wind turbines:
Another dam:
Bridge:
Another rest area; we were amused by the motorhome towing a jet-ski:
We ran the generator so we could use the ACs, but got a wiring status error; when I looked at the generator later, I noticed that the breaker was off; no doubt from when we got it serviced recently; I’m glad it wasn’t an actual fault:
Solar farm:
A viewpoint stop:
A sharp corner onto a dirt road towards our destination:
Our destination:
Truck canopy, slide tray, lift kit
We had a tonneau cover for our truck:
Enabling us to securely store our folding bikes and a bunch of other stuff in our truck bed:
But to be able to store the bikes vertically for easier access, and better access to other stuff, we wanted to get a canopy, aka truck cap. We saved for it, and ordered one several months ahead from a Portland company. When back in Portland, we emptied out the truck bed, took the tonneau cover to our storage unit (we’ll probably sell it eventually), and cleaned out the bed as best we could:
Then we headed to Northwest Auto & Truck Accessories to get it installed:
They had a decent waiting area, where we spent the day, working on our laptops:
We also got them to install a lift kit to raise up the front by a couple of inches, to make it level with the rear, and give a little more clearance for dirt roads:
Here’s the installed canopy, the ARE MX, paint-matched to our truck:
More pics of it at our campsite:
We also got a CargoGlide CG1000 slide tray from them, to make it easier to access stuff at the back:
The window at the back of the bed:
It folds down for cleaning:
The canopy is attached via four of these clamps:
We also got some 50-gallon totes for our folding bikes:
The bikes in the totes:
Less-frequently accessed stuff in the back of the bed:
The telescoping ladder is strapped to the side, so it doesn’t interfere with the slide tray:
Fully loaded for a travel day; we sometimes remove the mats and folding chairs while at a campsite, or they can be shoved to the sides to provide a rearview mirror visibility tunnel:
We added Grand Teton and Yellowstone stickers to the back (with our coach’s Magne Shade reflected in the window):
Some very useful additions.