Thanks Tom, exactly the kind of tips I have been looking for.
I have one of those car chargers you hook directly to the battery, and charge on AC voltage. I bought it originally at West Marine for the boat and used with my van when trailering. I might keep it in case I get into trouble with the new environment.
I know a lot of people here look down on WalMarts. I have to admit my wife and I love Wamarts. Not a case of trying to beat the campgrounds. We love WM for two reasons.
First, some of the nicest friends we have made were when we met other RVers staying overnight at a WM.
Before I began RVing I thought WM was a trashy place and only trashy people shopped there. Seriously.
After a few weeks of RVing I learned differently, and fell in love with WMs. By now you might even call me a WM loyalist.
Almost everyone we have met as WM overnighters are very serious RVers on long haul trips across the country. Very seldom have i ever met one of those infamous people you hear about that abuses WM, sets up a complete camp, and never stays anywhere else.
Campgrounds tend to have more of the weekenders. Nothing wrong with weekeders (I guess tehnically I am still one) , but we especially love talking with fulltimers and longhaulers and hearing the tales they have to tell. it is a big draw for us and I seldom hear people refer to this aspect when they ridicule people who stay overnight at a WM.
Second reason is hat tthe WMs are strategically located along the interstates. Everything you might ever need is near them, and often within walking distance. If you are on a 30 day trip to Montana like we will be soon, it helps to intersperse the campground stops with WM stops, Especially when you are 400 miles plus to the next place you really want to visit. Why camp at an unkown place and then run the toad to WM, when you can just go to the WM and not unhook?
Yes we could drive longer and find a paid campground. But we LIKE WMs and we always know what we are getting. WMs are predictable and convenient. There are many campgrounds we hate, but we do not know that until we get stuck in one.
We would much rather spend three nights in three successive WMs on a long leg and then get to a campground we like and stay at that campground for a few extra days.
We can pull in around 3pm, get some dinner and supplies, early to bed, and be on the road again before dawn without hooking or unhooking. Or even use the saved hookup time to get an extra hour of sleep or to take time out for breakfast.
When i went through Nebraska and Wyoming I stayed 3 nights in a row at WMs. Keep in mind I am a 55mph driver who likes to stop at 3pm. So my driving strategy is quite different than the 70 MPH guy who can go for 10 or 12 hours at a stretch. The more I interact on this forum, the more I believe we are different ducks than most folk here. That excites me for I love meeting people with different views and different ways of doing things. I never feel the urge to convert people to MY way of thinking. This sure would be a boring forum if we all had to do things the same way.
Well I digressed.
The reason I talked about to making WM stops is because it reflects our style (I am predicting because we have not done it yet), of not unhooking the toad unless we are going to be somewhere for more than a night or two. If this is our style, then I do worry about battery drain, now that I know how these inside the sedan brake machines work.
Your tips make sense and that is the kind of info I am after.
