Gearing Up For A Longer Trip
After our 2nd failed attempt to find a camping spot near T
anque Verde Falls, we spent a night on the back side of Mount Lemmon, then we decided to see if we could do a 6-7 day stay at the pretty camping area we’d found. We had to get water jugs so we could haul enough water for a week, plus of course we had to resupply on gas and food. Then we headed out.
We got to the area about 4.30am and the camping spot we chose was nice and secluded. It was also back from the road a bit so theoretically Onyx wouldn’t notice people out for a walk or bike ride. There weren’t many last time we camped in this area but we wanted to be a little more secluded anyway.
The first spot we chose looked like it might be part of a small road which led into another area, so as soon as it got light enough to see better we drove in further and discovered several great campsites hidden back there.
We chose an open site so we’d have plenty of sun for the solar panels. One of our goals for this trip was for me to get some writing work done, so I needed to be able to use my laptop. We set up the tent and solar panels, then settled in for a lazy day since we’d driven all night. Before that day was out though, we discovered we couldn’t handle that. The tent was in full sun all day and it was HOT!
So we moved the tent to the edge of our campsite where there were more trees. It was still sunny and hot in the mornings but not bad in the afternoons and really nice in the evenings.
The solar panels loved it! 
They charged like gang busters the whole time we were there. We didn’t have to move or reposition them at all either.
I ended up melting the tip of our inverter the second day we were there though. It was in the sun and I was using it while working, and the combination was too much heat for it. William was able to rig up a temporary solution using our battery jumper cables though, so I got lots of work done that week.
We ended up packing and leaving the 6th day though because some of our supplies were getting too low. So we didn’t stay quite as long as we wanted but we came really close.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Thank you so much for your site. My dog whiskey and I are planing to get a cargo trailer as well to spend our winters in mexico. Please keep up the posts as im sure were going to have questions. The solar panels especially.
Thanks so much Aaron and whiskey.