Help with generator

Just my opinion: quiet is worth the price premium.  If I were getting a generator for home or job use, a Champion would probably be the way to go, but for camping, for my own peace and quiet, as well as those around me, I like quiet.  I can tell you from hard experience, even the Yamaha makes too much noise for a lot of campers.  All that said, I'm under the impression that many of the smaller inverter generators from Champion and others may be quieter than they used to be.  It also seems to be getting harder to find the manufacturers' dB ratings.  They are usually discoverable, but sometimes you really have to dig to get that info.

TT

We have a Yamaha 2400iSCH, which is big enough to run the air conditioner, or the microwave, but not at the same time.  It's gas operated.  The reason I chose it is because of it's decibel level.  I don't remember what that is, but it's one of the lowest you can find.

We've been to Big Bend twice, both around Christmas/New Years, but not with the pod.  We tent camped.  I would definitely check the generator policy.  We stayed at Rio Grande campground one night because Chisos Basin was full, but all the rest of the time we were in the Basin.  BiBe is one of the best places we've ever been.  The Chihuahuan Desert is ceaselessly spectacular.  There are all kinds of back roads, and we've covered most of them.  They are all great.  Almost all of them are okay for 2WD vehicles with high ground clearance.  Check with a ranger before heading out though, and 4WD is preferred.

I do recall generators on a drive through at the Cottonwood campground, and I want to say they have limited hookups at Rio Grande, but check.  There are plenty of campgrounds outside the NP too.

One of the most beautiful paved roads in the country is between Lajitas and Presidio.  It's an easy day's drive there and back from the NP, with lunch in Presidio or Ojinga.

I don't know about the Guadalupes, but I recommend taking the river road to Presidio, then up to Marfa, to get there, even if it's a little out of the way.  I'll bet you'll hate leaving BiBe.

Back to the generator, I'd think carefully about going with propane.  There are some that run on gas or propane, and that might be the way to go if you're set on propane.  The electrical output of the dual power generators is lower on propane than on gas though.  And it's generally a lot easier to find gasoline than propane.

TT

Just a heads up Linda, my wife and I spent some time in Big Bend a few years back and some of the state campgrounds had a no generator policy. Apparently the area is big on bird watching and complete silence was a big deal.    

We use two Honda EU2000i generators in parallel. One is a Companion model, which has 20A and 30A outputs. The 30A is a locking marine socket that had to be adapted to a TT30 socket with an inexpensive dogbone so we can plug out 179's cord into it. We also have a shared 6-gallon external tank (giving us an 8-gallon capacity when including the generators' tanks), so we can run two or three days straight without refueling.

My wife, who has a bad knee, can move the Hondas one at a time. We previously had a couple of Ryobi 2200s that she couldn't move.

I just bought 2 honda 2000 watt gennys myself. I wanted enough power to run the whole pod, and when i only need a little power, i run only one of them. Also at 46 pounds, they can go anywhere. The other consideration is noise. These are the quietest running genny's you can get. Ofcourse there is the price,the EU2000I sells for 1,000 bucks (not on sale) And the companion genny with the 30 amp plug, runs 1,100 bucks. The parallels kit is about 75. bucks. I bought all of that for 1900 dollars on sale. If you can wait, maybe you can get that, or a better deal. And the last point I personally find a real goody, they fit in the bed of the pick up with the tonneau cover closed.