Mike and Carol

I use my power cord from the trailer to the outlet and use a 30a (F) to 15A (M) adapter. Like this from Amazon: Adapter

We store our trailer at a facility that provides a covered space with an AC outlet, I assume it’s probably 15 or 20 amps. The cover prevents any meaningful solar charge. I plug my power cable into the outlet when it’s stored with a 30a to 20a adapter. It keeps the batteries charged (4 AGM) and the fridge on. You don’t need a 30a circuit to keep you batteries topped off. We’re going on 5 years and no issues. I did have a 30a RV plug installed on the side of my garage for when I bring it over to do work on it. It’s hot here a lot and working inside is impossible without the air conditioning on! Mike

This is at the campground at Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado. Easy walk to the sand dunes.

In between Arches NP and Canyonlands NP there are a bunch of BLM campgrounds and dispersed camping areas. This is Horsethief campground just outside of Canyonlands NP. Nice level sites with at table and fire ring. Vault toilets were very clean. Only about 15 minutes outside of Moab.

We’ll see you there! Mike

Yes, I had the Easy Start installed on our AC. That enables me to run the AC off of my 2K watt Champion generator. With or without solar the easy start buffers the start up spike so it doesn’t over load your generator.

Jim, technically you are probably right. A lot of folks use "boondocking", "dry camping" and "no hookups" interchangeably. The pictures I posted are mostly campgrounds with no hookups but some are dispersed areas. I guess the idea is to show new campers the different camping possibilities outside of FHU campgrounds. Mike

Cracker Barrels usually have 4 or more RV parking places behind the restaurant. Never had a problem there. Yes, we do research interstate rest stops. There is one on I-40 east of Amarillo that has 24 hours security and welcomes RVs. Same at the Atchefalaya rest stop on I-10 in Louisiana, RV slots and 24 hour security. There are others that are big enough to park overnight, most are not. I did start another thread on boondocking locations so we don't hijack this one too much. I'm sure there will lots of photos posted. Mike

This is at Two Medicine campground at Glacier NP.

This is Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton NP. We had nice fall weather for a few days before it got cold.

This is a BLM area outside of Goblin State Park in Utah. We couldn't get a spot in the park, so went just a few miles away where there is a lot of BLM land with free dispersed camping.

This is Red Canyon campground just outside of Bryce Canyon NP. It's a FS campground.

Joshua Tree NP, Indian Cove campground.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is south west Arizona.

Quartzsite, AZ, Dome Rock. In January there is a big RV show in town followed by a Fiberglass rally at Dome Rock. BLM dispersed camping. Find a spot and camp!

This is Franklin Mountain State Park outside of El Paso. There are only 6 sites.

For those who are new to dry camping and wonder why folks camp without hookups let's post some pictures of places we've boondocked to give and idea of what we're talking about. This is Agguire Spring Campground outside of White Sands NP. It's a BLM campground at about 6K'. You can see WSNP about 20 miles in the distance.

We have never felt uncomfortable boondocking. We have several different modes of camping without hookups. The most infrequent is stopping overnight on our way somewhere. We’ve stayed at Cracker Barrel’s and interstate rest stops (some welcome overnight RV parking). Then there are remote campgrounds run by the FS, COE, BLM that have no hookups, (most in the western states) and campgrounds in National Parks and some state parks. Finally, there are dispersed camping sites where there are no designated sites, just an area where you pick out a spot and camp. We don’t boondock in areas that aren’t okay for RVs to park overnight. I will start a new thread on boondocking sites where folks can post pictures of spots where they’ve been. Mike

We were camped at Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a week a few years ago. The temps were low 90s during the day for the first few days. Then, WHAM, we had 106 degrees and no breeze. We stayed inside with the AC on (fan on low) and we were quite comfortable, temperature-wise. Being cooped up with the loud AC was not fun, so we cut our time at Palo Duro and headed for cooler weather. We use the AC when needed but avoid it when possible. Mike

We found after a few weeks of camping at FHU sites and getting the hang of it we were much more open to getting outside of the traditional campground to take advantage of some really scenic locations. Plus, stopping anywhere on the road while traveling from A to B never poses electricity challenges. Shore power not needed. I don’t know how hard it would be to switch from AGMs to Lithium. My AGMs are almost 5 years old and still doing fine. I think in the next couple of years I will start paying more attention to the progress of lithium batteries. I have a Blue Sky controller, not a Zamp. Steve L (scubarx) has the same set up and just upgraded to lithium’s so I will be talking to him the next time we get together.

When we placed our order we had never camped in an RV before. We thought we would be FHU campers. Although the solar option and 4 AGMs were an expensive option we went for it. As it turns out, we do a lot more boondocking than we thought we would. So many really scenic camping locations and National Park locations are without hookups. It’s nice to be able to go to these locations without worrying about our electrical needs. If you feel confident that you have the ability to install solar panels, solar controller, etc, then you could wait to see what your camping style will be and then go without solar or do your own solar installation if you do camping without hookups.

Hunker down....

Interesting turn of events. Looking forward to what you find out... enjoy the rest of your trip. Mike

David, Brooks AFB is now Brooks City Base, not sure what they do there. I was working at Kelly (Security Hill) in Oct 91, you should have stopped by! We could have discussed future Oliver adventures... 🤪🇺🇸🇺🇸 Mike

Happy Veterans Day to all my fellow veterans! I have some pictures somewhere, they were all taken before iPhone days so they aren’t digital.... Alas, Brooks AFB has transitioned to civilian status. I worked at Kelly AFB here in San Antonio and it is also gone, with parts incorporated into Lackland AFB and Medina Base. Randolph AFB is still here as is Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley. There’s a reason San Antonio is called Military City USA. Mike