The gray and black holding tanks in RVs can get a bit dirty over time, so it is generally recommended to get them professionally cleaned out every year or so, depending on usage. We also have had issues with odors and sensor mis-reads, so thought getting them cleaned might help.
While in the LA area, we engaged All Pro Water-Flow So Cal to flush our tanks; we found them via an ad on the campground map. I can’t whole-heartedly recommend them, though, as they didn’t solve the sensor mis-reads. I’m not sure if the issue was something other than dirty tanks, or perhaps they didn’t do a good enough job. I’ll try to get the sensors looked at during an upcoming service.
The mechanism is simple enough: a hose connects to a pressure washer, with another hose with spray heads that is inserted into each of the tanks in turn, and manipulated to move around inside the tanks, washing their internal surfaces:
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
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.
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.)
We drove our coach 504 miles, an epic eight hours of driving, from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
We normally prefer two hour drives, and will go up to four hours when on an interstate (as they are easier and usually have regular rest areas). We had planned two four hour days, stopping in Pecos, but the weather forecast called for 60 MPH gusts along the route on the second leg. So we decided to push on through, doing it in one day.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
Leaving the Abilene KOA:
There were pretty much non-stop pump jacks along the route:
We stopped at several rest areas; this was the first:
An interesting water tower:
Wide load:
“It would behoof you to slow down”:
Road Ranger fuel stop:
We went in, and had Church’s Chicken for lunch (our least-preferred fast food chicken chain):
Back to our coach:
Sleepy Paladin:
A wind turbine blade:
More pump jacks:
As mentioned, we were originally going to stop at Pecos, Texas:
Paladin probably would have preferred that we stopped, but this was just halfway:
A nice rest area:
We were so happy to see mountains again, after spending months in flat Texas:
Lots of trucks:
Allegedly scenic viewpoint:
Entering Mountain Time Zone:
A busy rest area; we parked on the side of the road:
The water softener was a great addition to our coach. But it requires periodic maintenance, to regenerate it every couple of weeks, and backflush it quarterly.
Backflushing it requires reversing the connections, to have water go in the outlet, and dump out the inlet. When I first backflushed it, I used the plastic double-female connector that came with it, with a couple of my quick-connectors:
Thusly:
On the output side, I didn’t have a double male adapter, so I just held the hose to my sewer connector, which was a bit messy:
When a test strip indicates the water coming out of the softener is getting hard, it is time to regenerate it (typically every couple of weeks, depending on where we are). This is done by pouring two containers of table salt into the top of the softener (after turning off the water, of course), then I connect a special hose to a sewer rinse cap, that adapts the water hose to the sewer hose, ensuring I can flush out the salty water without making a mess:
While staying in Abilene, Texas we visited their Frontier Texas! museum, focused on the old west, especially around buffalo hunting.
The experience starts with an intro video, narrated by Buck Taylor of the Gunsmoke TV show and western movies; we had the theater and exhibits to ourselves:
Exhibits:
Each section has a “hologram” guide that can narrate stories:
The last area is the Frontier Experience Theater, with swivelable stools and screens all around, where they tell more about the times:
We stayed here for two nights which was about one night more than necessary. The pull-throughs were pretty much all buddy sites (which I hate), but we splurged on the patio site which meant that we had a little buffer between us and our neighbor on the living side (nevermind that our neighbor the first night seemed to think it was a communal area, but I digress). The real downside of this park is the constant noise from I-20 with trucks using their jake brakes at all hours. We camped at Abilene KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Frontier Texas! (the exclamation point is part of the name) was pretty cool and worth a stop.
An interactive map of the park:
The map:
Our site:
A nice patio, that we didn’t use, since the weather wasn’t great; but still worth it to avoid being in a buddy site:
A nice fire pit area on the patio:
A GIF of the freeway from our site, showing how close it was:
Bathrooms:
Cabins:
Other sites:
This RV park was a convenient stop for a couple of nights, but we wouldn’t choose to stay here other than for that purpose, what with the loud freeway noise and buddy sites.
