Stopping at walmart.

[mothgrey]

Hiy all we're leaving Wednesday night for WV to do some off roading. We wanted to get an early start and leave Wednesday night and just stop at a walmart. I downloaded an app that gives reviews by rv's for walmart locations. I called the one I want to stop at and talked to a manager. She said sure and told me where to park when I come. Question do you ever put a slide out when you do this? I've never done this in a WM lot before so I don't know protocol. And what about heat can I run the geni.
Thanks for any help you can give. I figure will be gone by 8 in the morning.

There is a WM near my home and we saw an RV there a few weeks back and thought the slide was out.

[Ssgritton]

Always have my slides out with plenty of room also run my gen and never a problem. We did have a lawn mower wake us up one time. Lol

[BFlinn181]

If you park in an area of the lot with lots of room, I see no problem putting out slides. In some, you can't use the bedroom comfortably with the slide in. Using the generator, just be sure there's no houses or folks that might be bothered by the noise. Also, take care not to park next to someone else on gennie exhaust side! We had stopped one night at a Flying J and went to sleep with our windows open a bit. A few hours later I woke up to the strong smell of exhaust fumes. Another RV had parked right next to us with his gennie exhaust pointed at us. Luckily closing our window on that side stopped the odor and noise, but I was ready with a potato if the closed window didn't solve it!

[workinrvers]

depends on where we park if we put a slide out or not. Usually not but if I can park where my slide hangs over grass versus over a drive-able portion of the lot then I'll extend it.
Looks like you have made the necessary inquiries and are all set. You will run into some who think it is OK to take advantage of Wal Mart's hospitality and set up camp by extending their jacks, have awnings and chairs out and stay for several days. I even saw one inconsiderate guy open his grey water valve and empty his tank on the parking lot. He wasn't too happy with me when I hollered over to him and told him he needed to find a dump station.

Phil

[TBS-POPS]

We just did a trip to move our daughter home from Texas and stopped at a few Walmarts along the way. Slides are no problem! We had all 4 out. Just make sure your parked so your not in the way of any traffic.

[BFlinn181]

I usually park at the end of a row, next to an 'island' or along the edge of the lot, out of the way of any parking customers or traffic lanes. Putting down jacks to stabilize, not jack up into the air, slides out, only increasing width by a couple of feet, isn't "taking advantage." I agree, awnings and chairs is going overboard, but if you have to park so tight you can't extend slides, park further from the front of the store!

[LakeKerrGuy]

Overnight Parking Etiquette | Walmart Atlas

[smiller]

Everyone decides/rationalizes for themselves how far they want to push it, but to be on the safe side I always leave the unit just as configured for the road, i.e. no jacks and no slides. That's perhaps over-cautious but better to be on one side than the other.

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

I usually park at the end of a row, next to an 'island' or along the edge of the lot, out of the way of any parking customers or traffic lanes. Putting down jacks to stabilize, not jack up into the air, slides out, only increasing width by a couple of feet, isn't "taking advantage." I agree, awnings and chairs is going overboard, but if you have to park so tight you can't extend slides, park further from the front of the store!

Good advice! It helps to scope out the store layout in Google Earth also. You will want to stay away from the entrance that the semis use to go to the dock area. WalMart semis can come and go all night long! Yes we run the generator. We also buy a lot of stuff from WalMart.

The first pic shows the MH side that is facing away from the lot and store, the second pic shows what the store sees of the MH.

[Libero]

Originally Posted by LakeKerrGuy

Overnight Parking Etiquette | Walmart Atlas

That is a good reference I have read that letter before.

I sincerely encourage all pay attention to the "NO JACKS DOWN" statement because of potential asphalt damage or any of the prohibitions noted in the etiquette letter, that could put this tremendous Walmart offering in jeopardy.

Please spread the word and distribute the letter to any RVer you may come across.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by aauummm

Good advice! It helps to scope out the store layout in Google Earth also. You will want to stay away from the entrance that the semis use to go to the dock area. WalMart semis can come and go all night long! Yes we run the generator. We also buy a lot of stuff from WalMart.

The first pic shows the MH side that is facing away from the lot and store, the second pic shows what the store sees of the MH.

This is how we do it, we put out one or two slides, and if possible on a side that is not in traffic or overtly in the way.

We never put our jacks down, we're only there for the night, and the parking lot is level enough. For me it's a lazy issue, plus I don;t want to hear the low air buzzer in the morning

[Davdeb1]

For overnight, we just find as level a spot as possible. I don't put slides out because we can get around quite nicely with them in.

[gruelens]

The RVers Good Neighbor Policy when downloaded in PDF format shows approval of 14 RV clubs at the bottom ....... probably good advice on the subject of overnight parking.

Download the Good Neighbor Policy letter

==============
I attended a seminar on RV safety and self defense at a rally. They instructed when black top parking overnight at a store, have your door side facing the store. That way anyone that approaches the RV door (for whatever reason) must do so; in view of the store front, usually with better lighting on that side, a better chance of camera security seeing that side, an improved overall deterrent. I pass this info along to forum members hoping to improve everyone's safety.

[gemini5362]

as far as putting the jacks out. what is the cross sectional area of a tire as it is setting on the pavement. Is that small section of tire smaller than the pad of a jack. And what about a semi trailer tire. Some of them way half again to double what a motorhome does. What is the cross sectional area of the tire on them versus the size of a jack pad. I think the issue of putting jacks down and damaging the parking lot is not as big an issue as most people think. In very hot weather I would be more worried about it but not in cooler weather or mild weather.