staying at truck stops

[Francesca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAN L i just discovered a new (to me) category of california state parks called ''enroute campsites''. it looks like you park in a regular car parking lot most of the time. you park in the evening, leave by 9 am. most of the parking is $6-8 nightly. there is supposed to be a $1 discount for seniors over 62. i haven't used one yet so i don't know how well this works. maybe a forum member who lives near one of these places can check this out and post the results. Enroute Campsites http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/737/fi..._day%20use.pdf

Thanks, Dan!

That's a very valuable new tip for me!
I just wish I'd known about that on my trip to California this summer...

Francesca

[historyljc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikell Were up early in the morning rather than late at night but the (LARGE )sign in front of the says "Late nighters find yourself a spot and wer'll get with you in the morning" In 3 years we have only had 1 person leave without paying. So not having someone on duty 24-7 kasn't been a problem.

I've stayed in a couple of parks where there was no one to collect the money. Take one of the provided envelopes, write your site number on it (with one we had a reservation so the envelope already had the site number on it) and drop it in the box or slot in the door. Used to buy collard greens from a roadside stand the same way.

I try to avoid truck stops for overnighters. DW is a light sleeper and doesn't rest well in those locations. At most Flying Js the RV spots are close to the gas pumps so the traffic in and out with related noise gets pretty bad. The RV parking spots in many of the Js are not even close to level. That can be a problem when trying to get a few hours rest. I've noticed that at any of the new Walmarts they have designed the drives and parking areas so that it is very difficult to impossible to bring in a big RV. Too many narrow drives, trees, sharp turns and curbs. Some are also putting up height bars at 12 ft or less which eliminates us. Bottom line for us is that DW belives the logo on the door "Roughing it Smoothly" with emphasis on the Smoothly. That generally means in a well kept campground by 3 PM with full 50 amp hook-ups.

[Ptapia6118]

One day this guy got in a big parking lot and when to ask the security officer if is ok to stay overnit there, and the answer was no.
Then he looked at the lot a saw more than one rv staying there. Now he whent back to the officer and said " there are more than one rv parked there" and the officer said "well,,, they did not asked"

(is a old joke)

[cmpncrsaider]

We park at truck stops and have never had a problem. I make sure there are a bunch or unoccupied spaces though, if there are'nt I move on. I'm on vacation, they're earnin a living, or trying to. I find they are pretty nice bunch, as long as you were'nt a pain in the but on the interstate.

[mikell]

Got a call last night from a guy who is travling to the east coast from the west and has been staying in Wal Mart's the entire trip. They are coming in this morning from a walmart in Kalamazoo Mi about an hour away and they are going to stay with us for 2 days so they can catch up on their sleep and will never stay in a Wal Mart AGAIN. They are no longer concerned about saving money.

[lakewoodpaul]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikell Got a call last night from a guy who is travling to the east coast from the west and has been staying in Wal Mart's the entire trip. They are coming in this morning from a walmart in Kalamazoo Mi about an hour away and they are going to stay with us for 2 days so they can catch up on their sleep and will never stay in a Wal Mart AGAIN. They are no longer concerned about saving money.

Sounds like they know how to enjoy rving!