Community Forums

TXiceman · 08-07-2005, 01:01 PM

What is getting the ire of the campground owners up is the increasing number of folks that feel that they are entitled to stop and esentially camp at Wally World. To pull in at 9 or 10 PM and back on the road by daylight is one thing, but the ones that pull in at 4 PM and do not leave until 9 AM are not just stoppping to get a few hours of rest. When you run out the slides, put up the awning and unhook the truck and trailer or dinghy...that has become camping in most peoples book.

George, I have pulled into a Wally World with problems and had to wait until I could get the beast fixed and I did run the generator and watched some TV for a few hours to help past the time. Then back on the road when repaired.

Wal-Mart has graciously allowed tired travlers to stop for a few hours, but the intention was never to run a campground. Maybe Wal-Mart should should put in a few electrical pedalstals, a water hookup and a dump station and charge for a stop over. I'm sure that they would under-cut the campgrounds and then they would howl...both the campgrounds and the "free" campers.

Ken

Walt511 · 08-07-2005, 04:15 PM

I leave Washington and go to the Texas area.
I have 4 month's or so for camping, but when I am traveling I like to start early in the morning and stop when I get tired. I try to stop at Wal-mart because we always seem to need something and there is always a resturant near there.
We only stay there 4 or 5 hours and then we leave.
If I was in a campground I don't think anyone would like me to start my motorhome when I am parked next to then at 3 in the morning.

mjstef · 08-07-2005, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TXiceman:
What is getting the ire of the campground owners up is the increasing number of folks that feel that they are entitled to stop and esentially camp at Wally World. To pull in at 9 or 10 PM and back on the road by daylight is one thing, but the ones that pull in at 4 PM and do not leave until 9 AM are not just stoppping to get a few hours of rest. When you run out the slides, put up the awning and unhook the truck and trailer or dinghy...that has become camping in most peoples book.

Ken

Ken,

You hit the nail on the head. I don't know a campground owner out there ( and i know a LOT of them after 5 years in the business) that cares if someone stops off to sleep for a few hours. My gripe was them stopping of in the early afternoon and not leaving till the middle of the next morning. Then they would come in and gripe about $10 to dump there tanks!!!

Renegades · 08-07-2005, 05:24 PM

Mjstef, what's going to happen when the new super wal-mart opens down the road from you? Last time through I figured about 6 months. I do agree with you as far as stopping at 4pm and not leaving till 9am the next day and then complaining about a dumping fee. I would of charged them 20 dollars, but if someone is going to build a new campground, they should plan to put in a boondock area.

Jim

Dutch Star Don · 08-07-2005, 06:55 PM

My two cents...we have a Wal Mart in town (Simi Valley, Ca.) and it is really not in any path to a wilderness area or RV destination, yet I see people parked there with their awnings out for two or three days. As usual, the few ruin it for the rest of us.

I disagree with the statements about driving to your destination with precisely planned stops before you get there. We go to Yosemite every year at Thanksgiving and take off at various times on Tuesday evening, sometime between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, depending on when everyone gets off from work. We do this to knock out four hours of the eight hour drive so we can get into the park at a reasonable hour. We always shoot for a Dennys in Fresno where we spend the night (two rigs) in there large parking lot and then have breakfast at the restaurant in the morning. We have been doing this for fifteen years and always got the okay to park there overnight.

We've tried staying in rest stops, but found that a high percentage of truckers will park right next to you when there is plenty of room elsewhere. Motorhome magazine printed an article where a trucker stated that the rest stops were not for RV's, but for trucks. He went on to say they pay more road taxes than the RV'er and the RV'ers can afford to stay at a campground.

Two problems with his thinking....RV'ers pay more in DMV fees per mile driven in the state than most truckers. Second, I wouldn't mine staying in a park if I didn't have to take 30-40 minutes to check-in and then have to park next to some run down wreck in the worst part of the park. I spend the rest of the night tossing and turning, worrying about getting ripped off by the locals.

This was a long response, but I believe we should use the parking lots sparingly and appropriately. I think it's incumbent upon all of us who do the right thing to let the three and four day campers at Wal Mart know that it is inappropriate.

Bob Sammons · 08-08-2005, 03:39 AM

Hey Guys,
Some cities are trying to place limits or ban parking on the street in front of your home to load and unload. Some cities are placing restrictions on parking beside your own home. Such as the RV must be on pavement or in a garage.
Sure there are times and places where restrictions are needed but what we are seeing today is a movement across the country to ban RV parking on a large scale.
RV parking is being brought to the attention of city fathers by camp ground owners backed by supporters such as the Affinity Group who claim to be the RV owners friend.
The FMCA magazine this month has reports on other cities that are considering RV parking bans.
You may want to check them out.
Thanks,
Bob Sammons
97 Monaco Dynasty

Bob Sammons · 08-08-2005, 03:57 AM

This letter was copied from another web site.

The problem with a government enforced ordinance to limit one free
market enterprise from doing something at the expense of another
is.....where does the government and list of ordinances stop. Such
an ordinance might benefit one business, any limit placed on the
free market ultimately punishes the consumer. The beauty of the free
market is that the unbiased hand of the free market eventually
corrects inequities....and the correction is in the favor of the
consumer.....not in the favor of the business.

Isn't it ironic that the actions of those who view themselves as
a "friend of the little man....the consumer" actually hurt the
little man every time they seek to place a government backed cog in
the wheels of the free market.

If a consumer wishes to park his motorhome in a Walmart lot (and
frequently shop at Walmart while parked there), and if Walmart does
not discourage it, then it is to the benefit of the consumer. If
that combination of events is perceived as "unfair" to the local
campground owner, then the local campground owner must look around
and evaluate: 1) do I want to be in this business and 2) is there
something I can economically do to benefit the consumer and
therefore attract business to my campground and away from the
competitor.

The last thing the campground owner should do is run, crying to the
government, in this case a local government, to seek an injunction
against an honest competitor who is offering something of value to
the consumer.
Sincerely.
Fred R. Hogeman
Copied and posted by Bob Sammons

Lynnvt · 08-08-2005, 04:41 AM

I am not a huge fan of Walmart in general and we have never parked our camper at a Walmart for an overnight. But I agree with Mr. Hogeman. This is an economic issue. If the campgrounds want the business they need to provide the product that the client wants. In reality some do, we have found many campgrounds right off the interstate, with full hookups, that don't charge much. Most are not destination campgrounds due to their proximity to a major highway so they really are catering to the one night client.
People sure do get excited about this topic.

ACBL · 08-08-2005, 04:53 AM

FROM NOW I"TS WALL-MART FOR ME

BigPackFan · 08-08-2005, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob Sammons:
Hey Guys,
Some cities are trying to place limits or ban parking on the street in front of your home to load and unload. Some cities are placing restrictions on parking beside your own home. Such as the RV must be on pavement or in a garage.
Sure there are times and places where restrictions are needed but what we are seeing today is a movement across the country to ban RV parking on a large scale.
Bob Sammons
97 Monaco Dynasty

Yes, many communities have covenants/restrictions on how you can park your RV at your home. That has been around for a long time. But I am not aware of what you describe in the part I "bolded" above.

Sallys Mom · 08-08-2005, 06:10 AM

I tried to stay out of this, but I agree with the letter by Fred Hogeman that Bob Sammons posted. There is no way I want to "camp" in any parking lot. That being said, because of extremely bad weather we were forced to spend a night in a Flying J lot. All the big rigs (18 wheelers) were off the road and the highway patrol was warning all the RVers of the danger. Thank goodness for Flying J and all the other merchant parking lots that allow stop-overs for all kinds of emergencies - 24/7!

BigPackFan · 08-08-2005, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lynnvt:
[snip]
But I agree with Mr. Hogeman. This is an economic issue.
[/snip]

Lynnvt - IMO, it's not really an economic issue because Wal-Mart is not in the CG business so there really isn't competition. They do not have to follow whatever health ordinances (& any other rules/regs) that apply to legitimate CGs.

If the CG owner was able to give away free food, clothes, RV supplies, etc. (the "stuff" you could buy at Wal-Mart), I'd be willing to bet that the WM corporation would make a stink over it. Obviously, an individual CG owner can't do that but that's exactly what WM is doing to the CG guy. WM is providing for free what the CG owner has to charge for. If somehow the shoe were on the other foot, you can bet the Walton family would not take it sitting down (based on their well-documented business practices).

BigPackFan · 08-08-2005, 06:20 AM

Sally's Mom - in an emergency, I would park anywhere I decided, including your front yard [

] & I would deal with the consequences later on.

This whole WM discussion, in my mind, pertains to routine parking/camping.

Doggie · 08-08-2005, 06:54 AM

Imagine you are driving a car or a truck across the country and need to stop somewhere and sleep. Should the law require you to stay in a hotel or motel? Obviously not.
The fact that we have beds and other amenities in our RV's shouldn't have anything to do with where we park. IMHO, stopping to sleep for a few hours is "parking", and we should be able to park anywhere that isn't a "no parking" zone.
The fact that we often shop when we stop should make business owners happy to see us. I believe that most of these ordinances are prompted by people in a lame attempt to IMPROVE their business and they are using LEGISLATION in order to do so.
What people don't realize is that LEGISLATION may end up hurting EVERYONE. The little grocery store down the street from Walmart doesn't have a parking lot big enough for an RV. We won't be shopping there no matter how many laws they pass, and I, for one, won't be paying to "camp" when I only want to "park".