Journey to SXSW – Part 2: Boondocking @ Painted Rock Petroglyph Site
Painted Rock Petroglyphs (click to enlarge)
The 2nd stop in our trip to SXSW . . .
PAINTED ROCK PETROGLYPH SITE (Elevation 600’)
Parker, AZ to Painted Rock (click to enlarge)
We thought it would be fun to boondock for one night. Boondocking is staying somewhere where there are no water, electric, or sewer hookups — for example, camping in a Walmart parking lot or in the middle of the desert (like Painted Rock). We camped in Site 30.
Painted Rock Campground
Jan and I made sure our motorhome’s on-board water tank was full and that our holding tanks were drained. We hoped we had enough juice in our batteries.
We didn’t.
After watching about an hour of TV, we watched our battery voltage drop and drop . . . 12.4, 12.3, . . . (11.9 volts is as low as you should go).
So we shut everything off, including power to our residential fridge, hoping for the best.
At 3:30 AM our AGS (Auto Generator Start) system started up. When battery voltage drops too low, our motorhome’s generator fires up automatically in order to recharge the batteries. However, we turned off our generator because the park doesn’t allow running them after 8 pm.
Then we went back to bed.
As luck would have it, when we woke up, we were able to recharge our batteries in short order.
We’d like to boondock again, but later rather than sooner.
Campground Notes:
- Bring plenty of water and electricity
- The desert landscape and night sky are beautiful
- Cell coverage: Verizon 4G speeds
Campground Photos (click to enlarge):
Next Stop — Benson, AZ
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