2023 travel route

Let’s look back at our coach travel in 2023. You may also want to check out the 2022 travel summary and the 2021 travel summary.

We bought our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP diesel pusher motorhome on September 2, 2021, and other than a few times when we’ve been out of it during servicing appointments or flying vacations, we’ve lived in it full-time since then.

When we bought the coach, it only had 5,161 miles on the odometer. In 2021 we drove it about 2,300 miles. In 2022 we drove another 8,772 miles. In 2023 we added 9,945 miles, so have driven it 21,017 miles on our adventures so far, for a grand total of 26,178 on the odometer.

One of our goals is to visit every state in the US. In 2023 we stayed in 11 new states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. These join Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas in 2022, and Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, California, and Arizona in 2021, for a total of 23. Not quite halfway! (We only count states visited since purchasing our coach.)

We also revisited several states last year, as we headed back to our Pacific Northwest domicile. So all the states we visited in 2023 — in order — were Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida; a total of 20 in the year.

Here’s a map of our coach travels and stays in 2023, via the excellent RV Life Trip Wizard website, using a variation of their maps that more clearly shows the state borders and color-coded time zones. We started the year in southern Texas, then the route headed north then west to the California coast, north to Washington, east to North Dakota, south to New Mexico (a detour for the Balloon Fiesta), then east to Alabama (barely), south to Louisiana, and finally east to the panhandle of Florida, where we finished the year:

Map with time zones

Another variation of the map, with more detail:

Map

Here’s the route map with the travel in 2022 and 2021 also displayed in different colors; our 2023 travel in purple, our 2022 travel in blue, our 2021 coach travel in green, and our 2021 Yellowstone rental trailer trip in brown:

Combined map

The same map as an animated GIF, adding each year:

Route map GIF

We actually revised our route a few times from what we planned for 2023; here’s an animated GIF that compares what we had originally planned (as shown in last year’s 2023 travel plans post), and what we ended up doing (as above):

2023 maps

Fascinating!

2023 modifications

Happy New Year! 🎉

As we begin 2024, let’s look back at 2023, as I did this time last year.

I will have a series of blog posts reviewing topics from last year. I schedule my posts following a pattern: Modification Mondays, Travel Tuesdays, Whereabouts Wednesdays, and To and Fro Thursdays and Fridays (okay, those last ones are bit of a stretch). So I will post my annual summaries in that order too, starting with modifications today.

We have done a number of modifications to our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome, to make it more comfortable as a full-time home, to improve the features, or to repair issues. This is a summary of some of the changes done in 2023; also check out the changes from 2022 and 2021.

For each modification topic I include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture; see the post for details. (Tip: you can click or tap on either the link or picture to go to the corresponding post.)

You can see all of the modification-related blog posts via the modifications category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

Upgraded TST TPMS display:

New mattress:

Slide topper bracing to reduce flapping in wind:

Micro-Air EasyTouchRV smart thermostats:

Improved tow bar pins:

Govee smart thermometers:

Replaced more recessed lights:

Replaced carbon monoxide detector:

Dryer magnets:

Water softener regeneration and backflush hoses and adapters:

Professionally cleaning gray and black tanks:

Water filter bag:

Adding a bedside Spyder touch panel:

David’s lap desk:

Jenn’s movable height-adjustable desk:

Ceiling fan motor replacement again:

Phone holders:

Engine compartment door stop replacement:

Hat hooks:

Fridge latch repair:

A bubble level helps us check when leveling our coach:

Extended cup holders:

Fresh tank flush:

Replaced chassis batteries and more at Oregon Motorcoach Center:

Tire covers:

Dryer vent padding:

Flagpole for Starlink dish:

15 amp to 50 amp power adapter:

Truck canopy, slide tray, lift kit:

Basement subwoofer:

Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers:

SnapPads:

Replacing wiper blades:

Fixing windshield washer hose:

Fixing black tank flush:

Fixing bathroom vent lid motor:

360 camera mount on truck:

Replacing fuse for solar controller:

Replacing fridge drawer cover:

Braking: Bad:

I hope you found these posts interesting and useful.

Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday

We stayed at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A last-minute change to get us back on track with our scheduled stops after the brake issue.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-10-21
Check out: 2023-10-22
1 night

Weather:

Cloudy
High temp 86°F, low 58°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Distant freeway noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#B24, pull through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
Fairly level; used air leveling
Gravel driveway about 85 feet long by about 13 feet wide
Garden between sites about 20 feet wide
Big trees
Stamped concrete patio about 30 by 12 feet
Fire pit, Adirondack chairs, patio table and chairs, propane grill on patio
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
40 PSI water, conveniently located
Didn’t use sewer, since just one night, but was fairly conveniently located

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 39 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
Verizon: 20 Mbps down, 6-9 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
AT&T: 83-95 Mbps down, 7-10 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster by entrance
Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice wooded campground close to I-40

This was a last-minute change of plans along our travel on I-40, and we were happy to get a patio site for our one night. We could relax and have dinner outside without all the fuss of unpacking everything. Very nice patio on terraced sites, which is needed to accommodate the very hilly terrain of the park. Check-in was quick and easy, and they guided us to our site. Some of the interior roads could use a little TLC, and there are some tight turns for a big rig, but we managed. It’s convenient to I-40 but far enough away that there is minimal road noise. We enjoyed the park-like atmosphere and would happily stay here again. We camped at Oklahoma City East KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

A nice patio:

Patio

We actually used the propane grill:

Grill

Burger and beans

Our downhill neighbor had an interesting setup, with a big rig to tow their fiver, and a smart car on the back:

Neighbor

Other sites:

Other sites

Closed pool:

Closed pool

Cabin:

Cabin

Bath House:

Bath House

Mmm, a sewage lagoon:

Sewage lagoon

Dog park:

Dog park

Quite a nice campground; I’d be happy to stay longer in the future.

Video

Video: Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 284 miles from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma.

Travel from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma

We drove our coach 284 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Amarillo, Texas to Choctaw, Oklahoma.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map:

Departing the RV park:

Departing the RV park

Texas likes to have frontage roads with onramps to freeways, which is actually a good system:

Texas service road with onramps to freeway

I-40:

I-40

Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

RV Ranch:

RV Ranch

Amarillo overpass, with boots in the name:

Amarillo overpass

The Big Texan Steak Ranch:

The Big Texan Steak Ranch

VW Slug Bug Ranch:

VW Slug Bug Ranch

Big cross:

Big cross

Leaning water tower of Texas:

Leaning water tower of Texas

Old building:

Old building

Wind turbines in a row:

Wind turbines in a row

Rest area:

Rest area

The rest area on the other side of the freeway had an underground shelter:

Rest area

Cotton field:

Cotton field

Welcome to Oklahoma:

Welcome to Oklahoma

Dinosaur:

Dinosaur

Our coach at the rest area:

Our coach at rest area

Elk City:

Elk City

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

A stop at Cherokee Trading Post:

Truck stop

Cherokee Trading Post

Super-relaxed Paladin:

Paladin

Oklahoma City:

Oklahoma

Interesting bridge art:

Interesting bridge art

Interesting building:

Interesting building

Air Force One:

Air Force One

Air Force water towers:

Air Force water towers

Our destination, the KOA entrance:

KOA entrance

Koi pond:

Koi pond

Guided to our site:

Guided to our site

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

We visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Amarillo, Texas. The second largest canyon in the country.

Entrance:

Entrance

Canyon view:

Canyon view

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Heading down into the canyon:

Heading down into the canyon

Heading down

Store:

Store

Canyon

Cadillac Ranch

We visited a famous roadside attraction, Cadillac Ranch, an art installation of ten Cadillac cars, buried nose-first in the ground since 1974, in Amarillo, Texas.

Graffiti on the road:

Graffiti on the road

They sell spray paint and merch; people are allowed and encouraged to spray on the cars:

Spray paint and merch

Approaching Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

Lots of people when we visited:

Cadillac Ranch

A fun roadside attraction.

Oasis RV Resort & Cottages

We stayed at Oasis RV Resort & Cottages in Amarillo, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A couple of nights in Texas on our journey east.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-10-19
Check out: 2023-10-21
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 83-88°F, lows around 53-59°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Some freeway noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#17, pull through, concrete
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Fairly level
Asphalt driveway with concrete pad, about 80 feet long by about 20 feet wide
Gravel between sites about 15 feet wide
Some trees
Picnic table on small concrete patio, about 13 feet by 6 feet
No fire pit
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 30-36 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
Verizon: 6 Mbps down, 7-12 Mbps up, 155 ms ping
AT&T: 58-80 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters (no garbage pickup, so not really a resort in my book)
Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop off I-40 in Amarillo

We needed a short stay while traveling through the Texas panhandle, and this place was perfect for that. It’s a large park with long, wide (mostly) pull-through sites. There are concrete pads perfectly placed if you’re a motorhome with tow, but not quite right if you pull a fifth wheel or trailer. So many places have it the other way around, so it was a nice change for us to be able to park in the optimal spot. Close to I-40, but not much noise. Disappointing that they close the pool seasonally regardless of what the actual weather is doing, and also that they are a “resort” and don’t offer trash pickup, which is the bare minimum to be a “resort,” IMHO. We camped at Oasis RV Resort & Cottages Amarillo in a Motorhome.

The map:

Map