No overnight parking at rest area?

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DonTom

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Auburn, CA or Reno, NV
In this area, there doesn't seem to be much of anything, No RV parks for many miles, no rest areas for even more miles. Between here and Texas, there was only one rest area besides this one.

So I finally get here at the MS Visitor Center Rest Area in Bay St. Louis, MS. Just a few miles past the LA border. Lots of room, several 18 wheeler trucks are parked here. Other than the Johns, this place is closed down. Nobody around.

On the way in, there are two signs that say "no overnight parking".

So I guess I will stay here overnight and see if anybody kicks me out. If there is nobody here to kick me out, who will kick me out?

This is the first rest area I have seen that says "no overnight parking". Does it mean what it says? I ask because I once asked a cop in Oregon at a rest stop what "no overnight camping" meant. At least there, I means no tents, doesn't apply to RVs.

Texas has plenty of rest areas. Also picnic areas. The picnic areas have a sign that says we can park there for up to 24 hours. And I did park overnight in one of those picnic areas. After Texas, there isn't much of anything. At least not when I checked in my GPS in the direction I am going.

-Don- Bay St. Louis, MS
 
Address:

711 hollywood blvd Bay St Louis MS 39520
 
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Is this place close to where you are:
711 hollywood blvd Bay St Louis MS 39520
It's 18 miles from here. But now that I check my GPS again, there are many RV Parks in this area.

Perhaps I will stay in one tomorrow. In Florida! I didn't realize how close I was to Florida already until I just now checked. Only around 2.5 hours to the Florida border.

-Don- Bay St. Louis, MS
 
I was just thinking . . . danger!

In San Francisco, at Ft Funston there is a sign that says "all dogs must be on leash". Because it is federal land, the sign MUST be there. But it is NOT enforced. Tom & I were once BSing with the park ranger with both of our doggies off least, right next to the sign.

Probably the same type of thing here. They probably need to have the sign, for a similar BS reason.

If I get kicked out in the middle of the night, I will post it here. I will also post if I do NOT get kicked out.

-Don- Rest Stop at the Bay St. Louis, MS, Welcome Center.
 
Florida is big on enforcing their 3-4 hour limit in rest areas, not sure about Mississippi, but when I lived in Alabama 30 years ago they actually had a law stating it was illegal to sleep in vehicles. I remember it because some guy made the local news while I was living there for being arrested while sleeping in the cab of his pickup truck in his driveway after his wife kicked him out of the house.
 
Florida is big on enforcing their 3-4 hour limit in rest areas,
That doesn't surprise me much. But I hope there are enough RV parks in Florida. In Florida, I want to stay in RV Parks anyway.
I remember it because some guy made the local news while I was living there for being arrested while sleeping in the cab of his pickup truck in his driveway after his wife kicked him out of the house.
Perhaps his wife called the cops on him . . .

-Don- Bay St. Louis, MS.
 
Fort Pickens Campground is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore on your way east. It is a bit out of the way on a long peninsula, but this is a very pretty and unpopulated place. Very out of the way and half price for seniors.

Just tell police you are not camping--just getting a couple of hours sleep before you drive on. Camping, at least to me, is putting slides out and lighting up a barbecue grill, which you are not doing.
 
Just tell police you are not camping--just getting a couple of hours sleep before you drive on. Camping, at least to me, is putting slides out and lighting up a barbecue grill, which you are not doing.
Note the subject line. Here it says "No overnight parking" . Nothing about camping.

That "no camping" sign I mentioned was at rest stop in Oregon.

Nevertheless, I am sure glad I have that overhead bed. It requires no slides to be out. My King bed in the rear folds up and is not useable until the slides are out.

I only use the overhead bed when boondocked at rest areas and such, and I use the king bed when at an RV Park, or another place where I know it's okay.

The slides being out makes it look too much like I am staying for a while.

-Don- Bay St. Louis, MS
 
You are not staying overnight. You are stopping and resting as the name implies. If anyone asks, you are resting for an hour or so for safety reasons before you get back on the road. At the end of that hour, you might feel like you need to extend for another hour.
 
You are not staying overnight. You are stopping and resting as the name implies. If anyone asks, you are resting for an hour or so for safety reasons before you get back on the road. At the end of that hour, you might feel like you need to extend for another hour.
exactly. There are all sorts of reasons not to put yourself in harms way. Exhaustion being at the top of the list.
 
Mississppi DOT and State patrol don't get too concerned with an overnight park. It's when you're there the next day they might decide to check that you are OK, and ask you to move along.
 
Florida is big on enforcing their 3-4 hour limit in rest areas, not sure about Mississippi, but when I lived in Alabama 30 years ago they actually had a law stating it was illegal to sleep in vehicles. I remember it because some guy made the local news while I was living there for being arrested while sleeping in the cab of his pickup truck in his driveway after his wife kicked him out of the house.
A lot of the Florida Rest areas are closed and locked at night.
 
I started as a GA cop for 5 years before I went with the DOJ. Arguing with a cop in any state is pretty counterproductive but cops are individuals no matter what state you are in.

I think there is some difference between sleeping in a vehicle designed only to be driven and sleeping in a home that is designed so it can be driven.
 
But it only matters what the cop thinks.

-Don- Bay St. Louis, MS.
That's true. I am not saying he won't say "sorry, you have to move on" ,. He might. I am just saying if you phrase it right he might be more lenient and I think the chance of getting charged is very minimal.
my wild guessing calculation:
Chance of sleeping without interruption 60%
Chance of being able to stay another hour or so if interrupted - 40%
Chance of being charged - 5% (that 5% are the idiots who tell the cop he has no idea what he is talking about because a man's home is his castle) :)
 
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