A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 80+ miles from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington.
Travel from Ocean City to Shelton, Washington
We drove our coach 80+ miles, about two hours of driving, from Ocean City, Washington to our home base in Shelton, Washington.
Here’s the map route, heading north (exact destination omitted for privacy):
Interactive map (to Shelton instead of our actual destination):
We had no sewer at the campground, and hadn’t been particularly careful, so our grey and black tanks were both very full, as indicated on the main control panel:
We dumped the tanks on the way out (I didn’t get any photos of that, as there was a line).
But before that, here’s our coach preparing to leave; if you look closely, you’ll see the step partway closed; I had just closed the door, as water was dripping from the slide topper:
A closer view of the dripping water; that always happens after it has rained:
On our way, with a curvy road (kinda looks like the Sinclair Trails logo!):
Chehalis River delta:
Paladin watching my iPad:
Hoquiam:
A rather narrow bridge; we drove down the center of the two lanes:
Artwork:
International Mermaid Museum:
Mural:
More bridges:
A fiver pulled over after a tire blowout:
The Elma rest area, with four lanes of dump stations:
A very spacious rest area:
Bear artwork:
Entering Mason County, our home county:
Exit to Shelton:
We’re not a fan of this narrow bridge, but it’s doable:
Rail bridge work:
Bay:
Flagpole for Starlink dish
The Starlink service is a great option when we don’t have cellular service (or when we only have a network with limited data). But not so great when there are trees or other obstacles that block the signal.
RVs with a ladder will often use a FlagPole Buddy kit, that enables mounting a flagpole on the ladder. But our coach doesn’t have a ladder, so I needed a different solution.
Inspired by a post by Rick in my Tiffin Allegro Bus 2016-2018 Owners community on Facebook, I purchased a 20 foot telescoping flagpole and accessories to mount it on our coach, so we can raise the dish above our coach, giving it a better chance of a clear signal.
Another nice benefit of this system is that I can position the pole and dish anywhere around the coach, to have the most clear view of the satellites.
I bought the items Rick suggested:
- 20 foot telescoping flagpole from Harbor Freight
- TEYOUYI adapter bushing for Starlink from Amazon
- FCHO glass suction cups from Amazon
- Wrap-It heavy duty velcro straps from Amazon
To attach the adapter to the flagpole, I removed the two screws that hold the top of the flagpole on, then the adapter simply slips in. I used the same screws to attach the adapter, only screwing one of them in partway, to avoid intruding into the tube space:
The Starlink dish simply slides into the adapter and clicks in place on the pole:
On this occasion, I put the Starlink modem in the wet bay, running the cord through the hose space:
The cable and the flagpole sitting on the ground:
Suction cups and velcro straps holding the flagpole:
The dish has a nice clear view of the sky:
The dish on the flagpole:
Later, the flagpole with the Starlink dish and a Mariners flag, mounted at the front of the coach:
With a US flag:
At another campground, mounted lower without a flag (more stable that way):
Second anniversary of buying our motorhome
Today marks the two year anniversary of purchasing our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome!
Check out the one year anniversary post for a tour of what the coach was like when we bought it. One day I’ll get around to doing an updated tour; much has changed.
Here are some previously unpublished pictures of the exterior of our coach from when we first saw it and paid a downpayment, contingent on an inspection:
And at our first campground with the coach, on the day we paid the remainder, and took possession — two years ago today:
We’ve certainly put lots of miles on the coach since then! We’ve explored a lot, and changed a lot of things on the coach. What will the next two years bring? Follow along on our travels!
Olympic National Park beaches and rainforests
Last year we visited some eastern parts of Olympic National Park in Washington state. This year, we visited several western parts of the park, including beaches and rainforests.
Quinault River Ranger Station:
Maple Glade Rain Forest Trail:
Salmon House Restaurant for dinner:
Seabrook, a created town on the coast, aka the hellmouth:
Kalaloch Ranger Station:
Kalaloch Beach:
Tree of Life:
Picnic:
Beach 4 Nature Trail:
Big Cedar Nature Trail:
Hoh Rain Forest:
1.5 hours delay?!
After half an hour in the line, and at least another half hour or more still to go, we gave up and turned around. Not worth that wait.
We stopped at Hard Rain Cafe for a snack:
Mora:
Rialto Beach:
Ocean City beach
One thing we really enjoyed about staying at Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort in Ocean City, Washington was the proximity to the beach; a five minute walk (and unlike Thousand Trails Whalers Rest in South Beach, no need to cross highway 101). We went for daily walks along the beach.
Further down the beach, vehicles were more common, but they mostly didn’t make it down this far:
Lots of interesting shells:
Including crab shells:
And crab guts:
We took a bag on our walks, collecting garbage:
Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort
We stayed at Thousand Trails Oceana RV & Camping Resort in Ocean City, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Another Thousand Trails park, with a path to the beach. Quite nice, other than only being 30 amp and no sewer.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-06-04
- Check out: 2023-06-11
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temps ranging between 58-66°F, lows around 47-53°F
- 37 gusts on first day, less on subsequent days
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #C31, back in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
- A little unlevel, but not too bad
- Medium site: about 50 feet long by about 40 feet wide
- Picnic table on gravel
- Tall trees
- (This site is planned for a cabin, but they haven’t installed it yet)
Utilities:
- Only 30 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 40 PSI water, very inconveniently located
- No sewer
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 5-7 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 30-130 ms ping
- Verizon: 6 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Dumpsters
- No pool
- Path to beach
Our review on Campground Reviews:
30A, no sewer, still loved it
Thousand Trails parks are a study in compromise. We could have had a 30A FHU site at the front of the park by the main road but opted for a larger site without sewer, away from the noise. There are minimal 50A sites, and they were all taken; they also have no sewer. So we watched our power consumption and our tank levels while still thoroughly enjoying our location. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, but the pathway to the beach absolutely made this park a favorite. The mosquitoes do get a bit ravenous, so make sure to pack your repellent. We camped at Thousand Trails Oceana RV Campground in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: There are several units of Olympic National Park nearby that make for excellent day trips. Be prepared for a gnarly wait if you go to Hoh Rainforest.
Interactive map (zoom out a bit to see how close it is to the beach):
Campground map; the three circled sites were apparently the only 50 amp ones:
Our site:
The water tap wasn’t very close; technically in a tent site that isn’t on the map:
Only 30 amp power available:
So I used a “dogbone” plug adapter to connect our 50 amp surge protector and cord:
The power, water softener, and water filter:
Entrance:
Dump station:
Other sites:
Long-term sites:
Tent sites:
Bridge:
Games:
Playground:
Path to the beach:
Video: Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 119 miles from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington.
Travel from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington
We drove our coach 119 miles, about three hours of driving, from Seaside, Oregon to Ocean City, Washington.
Here’s the map route, heading north:
Interactive map, with potential stops marked; we didn’t stop at any:
We drove to an open area to hook up our truck to our coach:
Another RV toading up; they started before us, and finished after us; with our weekly practice, it doesn’t take us long to do:
Leaving the campground:
Crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge from Oregon to Washington; a little nerve-wracking, with a curved approach and high bridge, but it was fine:
Low tide exposing the sandbar:
Entering Washington state:
We could have gone left or right, but I had decided on left to avoid some roadworks (planning the route pays off):
Lighthouse:
Tunnel:
Another bridge:
Aaaargh! COFFEE!
Artwork in Raymond:
An advantage of a motorhome is I can get up and use the bathroom while Jenn is driving — a very rare occurrence, since there is some risk in moving about while in motion, and we prefer to take rest stops so we can both take a pee break, but on this occasion Jenn didn’t need to stop:
Pilings:
Rusty building and structures in Aberdeen (a rather ugly city):
A mural helps a little:
Rusty bridge:
We paused in a slow vehicle turnout to let other vehicles pass:
Bridge:
Our destination, Thousand Trails Oceana:
Checking in:
Our coach in front of our site, preparing to back in:
Dryer vent padding
Our coach includes a washer and dryer, which is very convenient when we’re living in it full-time. But in strong winds at certain angles, the flap that covers the dryer vent would bang in the wind. It is sheltered with a hood, but that doesn’t always help:
The flap under the hood, that covers the vent outlet:
To avoid that annoying banging, which would disturb us at night, I added some strips of self-adhesive felt around the flap, to muffle the sound:
That solved that little annoyance quite satisfactorily.