Author: James

New to rv'ing in 2020, traveling in a 20ft Geo Pro G19RD travel trailer, towed by a 2020 Tacoma TRD Off Road 4x4.

Starlink for RV 2022 Update

by JamesCamping / Gear / RVing

After six months of using Starlink for RV I think the pluses strongly outweigh the minuses. Not a glowing endorsement but the main plus is having internet when there isn’t cell service or wifi. That’s a pretty big plus when you are traveling. Plus Starlink’s tech support is excellent if you ever have issues.

The main trip in 2022 where Starlink shined was during our trip to Yosemite National Park. We stayed at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes RV campground west of the park. There was zero cell service and wifi cost $6.95/day and sucked (according to the office manager). We had decent download speed ~52Mbps and were able to stream Netflix, Youtube, and DirectTV. I was also able to make a cell phone call to book a layover campsite for our drive home. The Starlink antenna had a good view of the sky (photo above) here with only a few trees nearby.

We also used it during our stay at Bass Lake RV Resort south of Yosemite. That campground also has poor cell service and wifi since it sits on the side of the mountain. Although on a hillside, our campsite had a good view of the satellite and decent internet speeds. Some trees were obstructing the antenna (photo >>) but signal was pretty stable, no outages .

Between trips, I setup the Starlink for RV antenna for use at home. Since we had other trips planned and the monthly charge is $135 ($150 in 2023). I figured I might as well use it between trips. I bought a weBoost Antenna Telescoping 25ft Pole to elevate the Starlink antenna above our roofline. It worked great but during a wind storm, the top-heavy pole blew over. My pole setup couldn’t handle the torque from the wind blowing on the antenna 20ft in the air. No fault of the pole, it’s plenty sturdy. I just didn’t install solid enough support on the base since it was a temporary home trial. I’ve since bought a stainless-steel eaves antenna mount. The pole was for elevating the antenna when on-the-road. But, so far, I’ve been setting the antenna on the RV roof, secured with cable ties. I’ve seen other rv’ers setup their antennas on the ground at their campsite but I’m concerned about theft. I do not know if that’s an issue but rather not test it.

Unfortunately after the pole & antenna fell over, the Starlink antenna motor started to struggle. It would stow and unstow and start to search for satellite but then would display a ‘Motors Stuck‘ error. I messaged Starlink Tech Support and they called back by phone a few minutes later – nice! It was 6pm PDT. I explained the issue and without me asking, they offered to send me a replacement. I would keep the faulty but working antenna until the box arrived. Then use the box to send back the defective antenna. The box came within a week – it was a complete refurbished kit with router. I swapped all the ‘new’ components with the old and shipped it back prepaid (free). I’m impressed with Starlink’s support which is stellar ;-P
There was no issues re-establishing service with the new unit. It was already listed in the app under my account & it activated when powered on. I was online within minutes and it worked without any issues.

The next trip we used Starlink was to Utah where it had even more impressive numbers. Zion Canyon RV Resort has decent cell reception since it is in Springdale. The campground also has good wifi but I still setup the antenna on the roof of the RV. After hiking in Zion National Park, we were able to stream the Homerun Derby and Allstar Baseball Game. Evening peak hour speed was much slower than morning but still plenty fast for streaming and general internet browsing. This was using the refurbished replacement system.

From Zion, we moved to Bryce Canyon and although our site was shaded by multiple trees. I set the antenna on the roof and still got reasonable internet. We stayed at Ruby’s Inn RV Resort which has cell and wifi but the Starlink was used for streaming TV and internet surfing.

After Bryce Canyon we stopped for a few days in Kanab Utah. We did not use the Starlink since Kanab RV Corral RV Park boasts excellent wifi. Plus, since this campground is on the south end of town, there was good cell phone reception (T-Mobile). But it’s great to have the piece-of-mind that we could set it if the campground reception was bad.

After this trip, I did not setup the Starlink for use after returning home. Because the antenna pole setup is a pain and the at-home speeds are so-so compared to cable internet. I decided to pause the service when not on the road.
An important note about billing: I received a Starlink billing notification Nov 1st that my service would be billed Nov 9th. So I tried to pause the service Nov 4th and couldn’t. You have to pause the service BEFORE you receive the billing notification. Once the notification email is sent, “your invoice has been generated & is in the system” (Starlink Billing Support quote). You will be billed $135 ($150 in 2023) even though you do not plan on using the service. So be sure to pause your service well before your billing cycle if possible. The service is billed monthly and there is no prorated refund or credit for unused days.
The $135/mo fee is kinda pricey but I enjoy trying new technologies. I have not tried cell phone boosters or other RV internet options though. If you can afford the hardware cost ($599) & monthly fee, Starlink is a great way to get internet when you otherwise would be offline. ‘Unplugging’ is not a bad thing but we like having internet during our down time and staying connected to family. If you are on the road for only two weeks or less per trip, like us, then Starlink for RV is an expensive luxury. If you are a full-timer or at least on the road for a month or more then Starlink’s cost is worth it. Especially if you do not stay in campgrounds with wifi or in an area with cell service.
In addition to the $135/mo subscription ($150 in 2023), the standard RV hardware bundle is $599 (late 2022). Which isn’t bad actually compared to top-end cell phone booster hardware. Mobile Starlink hardware costs $2500 (in 2022; price has comedown in 2023) and will give you internet while driving.
I’ve tested using Starlink for RV at home to replace my home internet service. It’s promising if you do not consume a lot of bandwidth and have decent weather. If you have thick cloudy conditions, the internet speed drops. Since I was testing Starlink at home, when this happened, I just switched to cable internet. Starlink for RV is also throttled during peak hours versus residential Starlink. Conversely, when my cable internet went down for whatever reason, it was really nice to have Starlink as a backup.
Unfortunately, the residential Starlink service requires a different system, firmware, & antenna according to Tech Support. You can use Starlink Residential when camping – there are YouTube vlogs about how to change your address. But you cannot switch/upgrade your Starlink for RV to Starlink Residential for use at home. Starlink for RV will work at home, just not given the bandwidth priority of the residential service ie throttled.
So Starlink Residential may be the system to choose if you want to use one Starlink system both at home and on-the-road. Right now (late 2022), Starlink’s policies allow this or do not block it. In 2023, they changed this so your residential Starlink service address is difficult to move.
The technology, software and hardware are changing so what’s working well now, may change for better or worse. I’m betting on better. But we’ll have to see as more people join, if peak traffic clogs the bandwidth.

For now, we are sticking to cable internet at home and Starlink for RV on the road. I’ve just got to remember to pause the service at the appropriate time.

Towing With A Tacoma 2022 Update

by JamesRVing / Tow Vehicle

As you can tell from this blog, we’ve been towing around the Western United States for two years. Our Tacoma, “Toby”, has been pulling our 20ft travel trailer, “Howie”, reliably. I have had concerns about steep inclines and our Tacoma does struggle a bit after a few thousand feet. Especially if the incline is greater than 5% for much of the climb. The transmission temperature has reach 220° and even 222°, which reduces the life of the fluid according to specs.

Transmission Fluid Life vs Temperature

How do I handle the Tacoma’s towing ‘shortcomings’ compared to larger trucks? I pick routes that are flatter or with more gradual inclines whenever possible. When route planning I use:

  • InRoute App – smartphone navigation app which can help you pick the flattest or less curvy route
  • Flattest Route website: free route planning site https://www.flattestroute.com/

I monitor the transmission temperature and if reaches 220° for more than a few minutes or goes higher, I pull over and let it cool. So far the only time I’ve had to do that was towing from Bass Lake to Yosemite National Park on Highway 49 with summer temperatures at 104°. Unfortunately, Highway 41 was closed due to the Washburn Wildfires July 2022.
I tow at ~60mph on level ground and ~45mph on the inclines. I get about 11.5mpg towing at ~60mpg; on drives with inclines ~10mpg. This is towing at S4 with ECT on. I’ve tried S4 with ECT off and did not get any better gas mileage or notice more shifting so I just tow with it on.
I initially avoided cruise-control when towing but on the long flat runs, I’ve started using it. The adaptive cruise control works well even when towing but I avoid it in traffic.

The other concern is the Tacoma’s payload. We tow with our travel trailer tanks relatively empty – a couple gallons in our black tank with treatment is all. But the cargo in the travel trailer does not affect the truck’s payload significantly with a weight-distribution hitch. Still the Tacoma is limited to ~ 1000lbs so with people, dog, fuel, tonneau cover, & hitch-weight. We only have about 120lbs of additional cargo the truck can carry.
But since the Tacoma is my everyday driver, we have not wanted to buy a bigger truck. It would be nice to have the piece-of-mind a larger truck brings. But driving it when we are not towing would less enjoyable. I have enough trouble steering the Tacoma into tight parking spots as it is.

So I have installed black Sumo Springs which has helped with tail sag. The tow angle is about 1.5inches higher so more level. But the ride is noticeably stiffer, rougher which we’ve become accustom. That’s the only upgrade so far although I’ve considered:

  • re-gearing or
  • re-tuning as some members of the Towing with Tacoma Facebook user-group suggests.
  • an additional transmission cooler, a bit bigger to help with the fluid temperature.
  • pinning the transmission

08 Oct 2022: Barstow/Yermo KOA

by JamesCalifornia / RV Parks / RVing / Travel / Trips

There aren’t many good stopping point midway between Utah & Oceanside if you want to overnight in a RV Park. For our two-day drive home we wanted to have an early arrival day 2 (Oct 9th) so that meant driving longer day 1 (Oct 8th). If we stopped again at Thousand Trails Las Vegas, our day 2 drive would be 6 or more hours. So we stopped in Las Vegas just to fuel and have lunch, then continued to Barstow. I thought stopping at the north Las Vegas Maverik gas station truck stop would be easy but it wasn’t. Because of road construction, the exit detour takes you away from the gas station, so a u-turn is required. Fueling there wasn’t easy either since all the truck pumps were diesel. Non-diesel RVs fuel at the auto pumps which is fine but required us circle back around.
When we drove home from Utah in 2021, we stayed at the Barstow/Yermo KOA. It’s a good stopping point about 6hrs from Utah. So we booked a pull-thru hookup site with electric & water for one night. We’ve stayed at other KOAs and this one is pretty drab when compared to the others like Monterey/Santa Cruz KOA. But the site assigned to us this time was a lot nicer than last year’s, with trees and closer, cleaner restrooms.

There are other options if you don’t mind boondocking but with the +90° weather, we like having an electric hookup to run the A/C.
The Flying J Travel Center in Barstow or Peggy Sue’s diner parking lot in Yermo are free & pretty safe but noisy. You can also find BLM land along the 15 but we prefer to stay where we are more comfortable. Another affordable ($25 full-hookups) option is stopping at Clark’s Mobile Home & RV Park in Baker. We stop there last year on our way to Utah. It’s essentially a parking lot just off the 15 in Baker with full hookups but no other amenities. There is a market and a few restaurants nearby.

07 Oct 2022: Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

by JamesDay Trips / Hikes / Kanab / State Parks / Utah

About 20 miles from Kanab is the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. According to the State Park website, these 10,000-15,000 year old sand dunes are created by three things: sand, high winds, and a notch between the Moquith and Moccasin mountains, that causes the dune formation. The eroding Navajo sandstone gives the sand dunes their ‘coral pink’ hue.


The park is popular with ATV/OHV vehicles and has campsites for visitors who want to stay overnight. Many people, like us, come to sled or sand-board down the dunes. There’s a $10 state park day-use fee and sand-board/sled rentals are $25 for all-day. With the sled, the Ranger will give you a small block of wax and instructions on how to apply it to the underside of the board. They also explain the best technique to successfully ride the sled down the dunes. Properly applying the wax to the bottom of the board greatly affects the speed downhill.
For $5, you can get a permit to fly your drone in the park – one of the few State Parks I’ve visited that allows this. I brought my drone so after sledding, I flew it over the park (video below).

Coral Sand Dunes State Park (drone footage; slow to play)

Most visitors come to sand-board or sled down the dunes. There are several smaller dunes but everyone seemed to pick the largest dune to ride. We started lower then moved higher as we got the hang of it and got braver. You can have some great, fast runs if you start high on the right slope angle. But climbing back up in the soft sand is an exhausting workout. The higher you start, the longer the climb back up. After a few runs, we were done.

Carol’s Best Run (slow to download & play)

In the afternoon, the wind can start blowing so be prepared for everything, including you, to be covered with the fine, red sand. Bring sunscreen, water and snacks with you cause once you hike out to the dunes. You will not want to trudge back to the picnic area or parking lot unless absolutely necessary.
We had a great time and highly recommend spending a couple hours here especially if you have kids.
One tip – a couple was having a terrible time sledding successfully down the dune. They tried all the tips & suggested techniques but their sled would turn sideways and catch-an-edge after several feet. Since we were done, we offered them our board and, like us, it worked fine for them. Applying wax to the underside of theirs wasn’t working because it was so heavily scratched/gouged. So when you rent, be sure to check out the underside of your sled and ask for a smoother one if it looks rough. Ours had gouges but not nearly as many as theirs. These sleds look like they’ve been around a long time and the undersides surely shows their age.
They log the board number when you rent so you’ll want to return the same board. When the couple were done with ours, we got it back to return. I do not know the park’s policy if you swap boards with somebody & return a different number.

06 Oct 2022: Grand Canyon North Rim

by JamesArizona / Day Trips / Hikes / Kanab / National Parks / Sightseeing

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is 8000ft. It’s much cooler, heavily forested, and more rustic than the south rim. Most of the facilities, like the lodge, close by mid-October or at first snowfall. The North Rim is lesser-visited than its Southern counterpart. So less crowded, except at the lodge, which is the main destination for visitors. We were treated to wonderful fall colors and deer during the 80mi drive from Kanab.

We had a great morning exploring the trails & viewpoints along the north rim. Then we enjoyed a panoramic canyon view during lunch at the lodge restaurant. We wanted to see more and taking advice from our campground neighbor familiar with the North Rim. We drove the Cape Royal Road to access the many viewpoints along the canyon.


There was very little traffic on this long winding back-road that takes you east through dense forest then south along the canyon. The viewpoints by the lodge were wonderful but these other viewpoints are even better. For example, at Angels Window, you can walk out to the viewpoint for an unobstructed 260° panoramic view of the canyon from east to west.
After missing a spectacular sunset at Bryce Canyon, I had to stay & photograph sunset. Intermittent rain squalls were creating dramatic light so I knew it would be special. Photographing a Grand Canyon sunset at Cape Royal/Angels Window viewpoint is ideal. There were so many angles catching the changing light along the canyon from this location. The atmospheric conditions with intermittent cloud bursts over that canyon created haze and rainbows. As hoped, the sun broke through with amazing light, striking the canyon valley, pinnacles, and back-lighting the trees along the rim.


The only drawback of staying till dark was the slow nervous 2hr drive back to Kanab, trying not to hit deer or other wildlife. Arizona does not recognize Daylight Savings Time so by the clock, it took 3hrs to get back. We stopped at the Jacob Lake Inn for a break & wonderful, home-style dinner before driving a more relaxed hour back to Kanab.

Deer
Longhorn Cattle

05 Oct 2022: Sand Caves

by JamesDay Trips / Hikes / Kanab / Sightseeing / Utah

When searching for things to do in Kanab, the Sand Caves just north of town are a popular stop. This feature is close to the road as you drive into town from the north. It’s a short easy hike that becomes moderate because it requires scrambling up angular sandstone slabs ~100ft.

Sand Caves

It is an easy-access location that’s not part of a state or national park so very busy. The amazing detail of the sandstone walls are partially obscured by the etched graffiti defacing this man-made wonder. But this is a great short hike that doesn’t take long and is worthwhile. It rained lightly while we were there which made the scramble down tricky. The loose sand-covered slab becomes even slicker when wet.

05-08 Oct 2022: Kanab Utah

by JamesArizona / Day Trips / Hikes / Kanab / National Parks / Sightseeing / State Parks / Travel / Utah

After all the hikes and scenic drives at Zion & Bryce Canyon, by the time we arrived at Kanab, we were tired. So we shortened our 4 night stay at Kanab RV Corral to 3 nights. It’s a RV campground with full hookups on the south end of town. Close to everything, practical, affordable but not scenic.

Kanab is a great base-camp to explore southern Utah and northern Arizona. We were hoping to hike the Wave but did not win a permit in the online lottery. The Wave Lottery has changed from ‘in-person next-day permit’ lottery at the Kanab Visitor Center to an online ‘two-days-from-now permit’ lottery at recreation.gov. The details including ‘geofencing’ (ie you have to be in the area when participating) can be found at visitsouthernutah.com and here at BLM.gov.

Sand Caves

Sand Caves

Grand Canyon North Rim

  • Besides the Wave, another excursion we planned was visiting the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s about 80mi south of Kanab and a great drive for fall colors in October.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

  • Since we didn’t get the Wave permit, we visited the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park our last day. We rented a sled and had a great time sledding down the huge coral sand dune. The ride down was incredibly fun but the trudge back up was exhausting. This was a great change to our usual routine of finding a trail but still quite a workout.

04 Oct 2022 Bryce: Mossy Cave & Scenic Drive

by JamesBryce Canyon / Day Trips / Hikes / National Parks / Sightseeing

Bryce Canyon Coffee in Tropic, about 10mi from Ruby’s Inn, was one of the few places serving really good coffee & tea. When we drove there for coffee a few days before, we saw the sign for the Mossy Cave Trail. After looking it up on Alltrails.com, we thought it’d be fun to come back to check out the cave. This trail is part of Bryce Canyon National Park but the trailhead & parking lot are well outside the park entrance.

Mossy Cave Trail

This was a short hike to a rather unimpressive alcove, not cave, which is said to have icicles most of the year – none in October. With bushes obscuring most of the alcove plus being inaccessible behind a rail & fence, seeing Mossy Cave was anti-climatic. Still, it was a beautiful morning & a fun hike, but don’t do it for the Mossy Cave. The hoodoos, ‘window’ pinnacle arches & waterfall make the trail worthwhile and more interesting.


After the hike and lunch, we took the scenic drive through Bryce Canyon, stopping at the main viewpoints beyond Bryce Point. The views of Bryce Canyon amphitheater from Sunrise & Sunset Points are hard to beat. But the rest of Bryce Canyon is worth exploring since the vistas and sediment colors change. The Natural Bridge viewpoint was the definitive highlight, no hiking necessary.

03 Oct 2022: Bryce Canyon Peekaboo Trail

by JamesBryce Canyon / Day Trips / Hikes / National Parks / Sightseeing

Our second hike was another popular and more challenging trail, Peekaboo Loop. The trailhead starts at Bryce Point (8300ft), higher than either Sunrise or Sunset Points. Peekaboo Trail gets it name from the surprises around every corner on the trail and it lives up to its name. The changes in scenery around every bend are amazing – hoodoos, pinnacles, arches, & vistas.
The trail descends into the canyon ~1400ft and has an upper and lower loop trail. Since we were not planning on looping back, we took the upper trail which, according to other hikers, offers more to see. We did not want to hike back and ascend the 1400ft up to the Bryce Point. We figured hiking up the Navajo Trail switchbacks to the rim would be a steeper but shorter 500ft ascent. If we had started earlier in the day, we would have done the complete 5.2mi Peekaboo loop.

Peekaboo Loop Trail
Peekaboo to Navajo Trail

We started this hike without having lunch and by the time we were back on top, it was 5pm. We brought plenty of water & snacks on the hike but were ready for a meal. We considered dinner at Bryce Lodge but were worried we’d miss the last shuttle (6pm) waiting for service. So we caught the next shuttle from Bryce Lodge to Bryce Point to pick up the truck. Then headed back to Ruby’s Inn Restaurant for an excellent grilled shrimp dinner. Peekaboo Trail was a spectacular hike – the best one we did in Bryce Canyon. The trail takes you next to, through & under many of the features you see from the viewpoints.
If you zoom in on the right side of the 1st photo, you can see people on a viewpoint (Upper Inspiration Viewpoint perhaps).

02 Oct 2022: Bryce Queens Garden to Navajo Loop Trail

by JamesBryce Canyon / Day Trips / Hikes / National Parks
Queens Garden to Navajo Loop

Other than trails from one viewpoint to another along the rim, most loop down into the canyon and back. Because of their vertical nature, AllTrails.com accurately rates them moderate. These trails are well-groomed but there can be collapses along the way. So mini-tractors are deployed on some trails to clear the path. Wall Street Trail was closed during out visit due to a massive rock fall. Erosion is what forms these hoodoos so the landscape is constantly changing.
Queens Garden Trail gets it name from an iconic hoodoo that resembles Queen Victoria (see 1st photo). The Navajo Loop has a series of switchbacks which climb 500+ft through some of the tallest fins & hoodoos. Some knowledgeable hikers prefer to start this route at Sunset Point, descending the Navajo Trail switchbacks then ascend the more-gradual Queens Garden Trail. Being unfamiliar with these trails, we chose to hike from Sunrise Point (Queens Garden trailhead) & ascend Sunset Point (Navajo Trail switchbacks). The switchback ascent really isn’t that bad if you take your time.