2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 37

Day 37, Monday, November 24, 2025 - Sunny Flats, Portal, AZ - 120 Miles, 2,884.2 Miles for the Trip

A cool morning at 37°F. After breakfast I finished hooking up the trailer and was out of Sunrise RV Park by a little after 9:00. The drive was on I 10 & NM/AZ 80, with the last 12 miles on Portal road and Cave Creek road. Sunny Flats only has 15 or so campsites and at least 3/4 won't fit the 21. The good news is there was one site left that fits the 21. The bad news is it is on the shady side of the camping loop. Sun is important this time of year because it both warms the trailer & feeds the solar panels. The site needed 2 1/2" correction side to side & a 6" drop on the tongue. There is a picnic table, lantern pole, bear box & fire pit behind the site as well as a tent pad. While shady with too many trees for a view, great views from the road at the entrance to the site:

Looking Left

Site 9

Looking Right

No hookups, $10.00 per night with the Senior Park pass. Very shady - we have as much full sun as can get through the trees & the solar panels are cranking out 3 watts. The only sites left are very short & shady sites before the loop. There is a men's & woman's pit toilet & fresh water station at the pay post. There is also a host site that has an electric hookup.

I did manage to get a Starlink connection by placing the antenna at the entrance to my site; 26.86Mbps down & 17.73Mbps up. Without a Starlink connection I would need to drive 10 miles out of the campground to pick up a cell signal. A number of the campers in the campground have Starlink.

I need to get into the habit of camping without an electrical hookup. While I have 300 amp hours of battery, I also use more than most, and parked in the shade doesn't help. I set the furnace at 66°F, and probably will set down to 63°F when I hit the bed tonight.

At 12:30 the current temperature is 53°F. I'd be comfortable sitting outside in the sun, but I don't have any so it is inside reading for me. It is going to be a quiet night. I usually listen to some background music, but the Starlink is too broken up for internet radio, there are no FM stations to be had, and too much tree cover for my XM Radio. 

Dinner was a DiGiorno Personal Hand Tossed Pepperoni Pizza.

Until Next Time -