CNN Article on camping at Walmart

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[quote author=garyb1st]... situational awareness is necessary ... it can easily get dicey. Especially in highly populated urban areas.[/quote]
[quote author=Ex-Calif]... it was hit and miss among 3 locations.  The "south side of town" where all the car dealerships are - not bad but isolated, Felony street, and by accident the ones next to Border's books...[/quote]

Chris does most of the driving of our coach, and occasionally used to say "let's stay at that Walmart over there". My response always was "We don't  know this town, and don't know this part of town." I'd then get out the campground book and plan/call ahead to the next campground.

When we just want a place to rest for the night, we'll still find a campground, but not bother to unhook the toad, deploy jacks, or connect utilities/hookups.
 
after hearing how great it was to stay free in Walmart I tried it. While it was not horrible, nor did I feel I was risking my life, I probably will not do it again. The lights made it feel like 7am all night. There were at least 12 other RVS, most running generators, but the worst part was when I got up some idiots felt that plopping their tents down within 5 ft of my bumpers, one in front of me and one to the rear, was the best choice they had. I purposely went to a far corner by the garden pickup area and luckily swung my truck out from the curb when I parked or I wouldn't have been able to leave til they moved. The one in the rear had 2 very aggressive dogs that went ballistic when I tried to take my dog for a walk, he didn't even hit the ground before I thought they would attack. When I asked them to take their dogs into their tent you would have though I ask them for all their money. The ones on front poured out of their tent when they heard the truck start 5 ft from their heads and decided I was the devils scourge for waking them up. It was 8:30 am... this was the third time I have come across tent campers in the last 3 months that feel they have a right to whatever and where ever they want and you are in their way, even when you were there first. 

I believe there is an RV'ing community that runs by an acceptable set of rules of conduct, but there are even more ungrateful, inconsiderate, pieces of trash out there that will make your life miserable if they get the chance.
 
Domo said:
CNN
Why bother click the link?
I live in the real world.
Click to expand...

I get some news from CNN, but if I want the latest on the pandemic the President and I go here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LxcTueCnwA
 
We?ve stayed at Walmarts on several occasions. I won?t stop unless there are other RV?s parked there. We are destination campers so I will drive until about midnight and stop and rest for a few hours. If the store is open before we leave I make it a point to spend a few dollars at the store.
 
Our preference would always be a campground. But they're not always available and when they are they're usually too expensive for a quick overnight stay. We found a campground I think it was in NC near the VA border, that had overnight camping for a reasonable $10. We stayed there instead of the local Walmart. There were no hookups and you were limited to one night and you had to be gone by 8 am. We've stayed in some CG that we felt less secure than some Walmarts. Yes, I know I could have just moved, but at the end of a day I don't want to be moving from CG to CG looking for a safe place to stay. And to be honest even the worst place we stayed at (in Ft. Laramie, WY it was like a Bates Motel for campers) we never had any problems. Casino's is another place for an overnighter, but even though it's free it can be quite costly! Don't ask me how I know.  :'(
 
PJ Stough said:
I get some news from CNN, but if I want the latest on the pandemic the President and I go here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LxcTueCnwA
Click to expand...
:)) ;D
 
For a night or two I usually find a church parking lot. Phone call to the church is usually well received. A lot of churches have a evening meal on Wednesdays of which we often receive an invitation. Easy and no worries along with the password to their wifi.

Still works during this virus crap (except for the meal part)

Cheers

 
Spent last night in a Walmart parking lot. Noisy until just after 8:00, then very quiet. It was In a small town 70 miles south of St. Louis, and we wanted to head through STL early. Not many campgrounds available on a summer Saturday night. We had called ahead, and they told us where they wanted us to park. We were out by 7:30 after a restful night. Best part is it just a day?s drive from home. We will be there tonight.
 
Dragginourbedaround said:
Our preference would always be a campground. But they're not always available and when they are they're usually too expensive for a quick overnight stay.
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I've never quite understood this logic.  If I didn't have the RV, I'd be paying ~$100/night to stay at a lower priced hotel these days.  If you haven't looked for hotels along the interstate lately, that's a pretty common rate even using Trivago, Priceline, etc. 

So if  a campground charges me $30-50 for the same short, overnight stay I don't consider that outrageous.  They're providing me several dollars worth of electricity plus other incidentals and a measure of security.  Furthermore, I get a place to walk around in the evening that isn't simply a parking lot.  JMO
 
Hey Folks

I'm thankful that there are still some Walmarts that will allow parking.  I've stayed at 5-6 so far in my nearly two years of full-timing.  Really never had any problems, no problem sleeping, maybe a little road noise from interstate now and then.  I don't go out of my way to stay at one, BUT, as someone already mentioned, there may not be a park or CG near one's route, so a Walmart, or Cracker Barrel, etc. comes in handy.  I pull-in by mid-afternoon usually so it's been easy to find a space.

I have a route planned from Grand Teton NP to Carson City, NV coming up in a bit.  Now I know most of you probably drive more hours in a day than I do -- but by the time I stow everything, hitch-up, get the cat settled, travel, and then set-up again at a destination, it's enough of a full day for me.  The route takes me from Gros Ventre CG to Pocatello, Twin Falls, Elko, Fernley, NV, and finally Carson City (staying at park for couple of days here).  Travel time each day is between 3.5 and 5 hours, and each of the first 4 cities have a Walmart that reportedly allows an overnight stay.  Those overnights at the Walmart allow me to keep my travel distances where I'm most comfortable.  So I'm grateful to have an opportunity for a Walmart parking lot.  The fact that it's free is just a superb bonus, and I can shop if necessary. 

Linda
 
docj said:
I've never quite understood this logic.  If I didn't have the RV, I'd be paying ~$100/night to stay at a lower priced hotel these days.  If you haven't looked for hotels along the interstate lately, that's a pretty common rate even using Trivago, Priceline, etc. 
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It's not just the money.  While I hate to pay $35+ to park for the evening, if we need to dump, refresh the water and maybe do laundry, it's a bargain.  But when we're heading to a destination and just want a place to get some sleep, the hassle of dealing with an RV park isn't what I want to do.  That said, if we know the park and it's an easy in and out, we'll do it.  Also, if we need a break for a few days, then we'll find a park. 
 
Dreamsend said:
I have a route planned from Grand Teton NP to Carson City, NV coming up in a bit.  Now I know most of you probably drive more hours in a day than I do -- but by the time I stow everything, hitch-up, get the cat settled, travel, and then set-up again at a destination, it's enough of a full day for me.  The route takes me from Gros Ventre CG to Pocatello, Twin Falls, Elko, Fernley, NV, and finally Carson City (staying at park for couple of days here). 
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Hey Linda, a bit of thread drift but consider going south to Ely, NV and then west on US50 (The Loneliest Road in America).  It's 90 miles further than heading west on I-80 but Ely, Eureka and Austin are neat little towns to stop and explore.  You avoid the Interstate traffic and there's lots of boondocking along the way.

Wonderhussy on Youtube just spent 3 days on US 50.  Look up her videos if you're interested.
 
[quote author=garyb1st]... if we know the park and it's an easy in and out...[/quote]
Good point. Over time, we've come to know which parks/campgrounds are easy in/easy out on routes that we've previously taken multiple times. In some cases, the easiest is a fairground. e.g. the Antelope Valley fairgrounds in Lancaster, CA is one of the easiest places to get in and out. A couple of short roads off the highway, enter the gate, and drive straight into an oversize level concrete pullthrough site. Self registration (after you're settled in) - use a provided envelope and drop it in a box. Of course, we check that they're not hosting a large event the day we plan to stay there.
 
People might need more alternate places to stay for a night while on vacation.  Michigan's U.P. is seeing a large surge in campers and travelers this year.  Most likely caused by the coronavirus and people heading to out of the way places.  We have a favorite state forest camping ground we have been going to off and on for the last 40 years.  This year it was crazy.  Most years very quite with only the sound a the county road grader every few days.  This year very heavy traffic into the campground of people looking for campsites.  Talked to several other campers and most have been coming to this campground for 10-20 years and this year staying for extended vacations.  Very few sites available for people coming in.  Our daughter who was camping next to us had a person put an occupied tag under hers so they would have the site in four days when she left.  They came as we pulled out but there was already another RV getting ready to pull in.  Just say a post from the Tahquamenon Falls State Park that there visitor parking lot is filling up. Recommending people come in the morning or evening.
 

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We've stayed at Kit Fox RV park in Patterson CA when traveling to the Bay Area.  It's only a mile or two off I-5 and has convenient fuel and a couple restaurants. 

The increased number of RVers has been a concern.  I'm hoping that things will slow after the Labor Day weekend.  The big question mark is whether or not schools reopen and if not, how many of those that home school will realize they can do that from any location where they have a wifi connection. 
 
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