Sams Club parking

We have planned some of our trips around using FlyingJ/Pilots for an over night. Dinner or breakfast in the chain restaurant attached, gas up the RV and back on the road. We check in advance for locations with RV parking. If none available we call the location to see if they have room for us. It has worked well for us so far.

Many states do not allow over night parking at the rest areas and although we've discussed staying at a Cracker Barrel, I was very uncomfortable the night we slept in the parking lot of the camper repair shop (we were invited to stay by the manager). We were the only ones in the parking lot.

We've discussed how to handle the long stretch from home to Little Rock, the real "start" of our fall trip. It is really hard on DH to drive 300 miles several days in a row. We will probably find a campground and spend two nights to break it up and give him a rest.

ford truck guy wrote:

IAMICHABOD wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
Why not just use the pickle park on the Interstate like the truckers do.

Hey Hey Hey as a retired OTA driver I resemble that REMARK!!!:B

Ha Ha, me too..... With all the regulations now, I leave the pickle parks to the professionals, they need all the sleeping/parking room they can get..

I would rather support local campgrounds...

One of the nice things about some of the rest areas are those that have a separate lot for RV's. Many of the North Carolina ones do and some in West Virginia. I use the one on I 73 I74 Southbound on our way to Myrtle Beach. I get there around 11pm and usually I'm gone by 7am. These are great because you are not taking a spot away from the trucks allowing them to get the rest they need. I know many say no overnight etc. but I have never been asked to move on when doing this and have seen the police patrol through the rest area.

Also stopping at that hour at a camp ground would probably irritate those already settled in for the night as well as the owners. For 6 hours or so these dedicated RV rest areas work well for us.

Dave

It's just like the television... If you don't like what is on, change the channel, or don't log in if it bothers you that much..
I personally think the moderators do a great job policing the "political" beef junkies...

I see a lot of people that get up in arms when people do not agree with them, no worries not all will agree on everything... that is the beauty of this forum, we are ALL allowed to have opinions..

I learned early on that you need THICK SKIN to be on most public forums, things never read the way they were typed !!

As far as politics on this thread, nobody but you mentioned the word...

Enjoy the balance of your day !

dedmiston wrote:

RTCastillo wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

RTCastillo wrote:
I wonder how we can prevent this site from becoming like a political/haters' forum?

What do you mean?

Some of the forum answers sounded like spawned from angry and partisan posts off political forum.

Insulting when the topic is just a simple request for help and information if Sam or Walmart is available for overnight parking.

And on appropriate speed, another condescending response implying that someone is driving below speed limit because they're driving a junk.

I'm new here but been camping since I was a kid and there is a reason why I still continue to do so. Nice people in nice beautiful relaxing national parks and forests.

I guess I don't see the political angle. I see jerks being jerks (and I already deleted some of their posts), but not so much politics. Seems to me like there is a pretty even distribution of jerks on both sides of the political spectrum (just my opinion).

We do our best to keep things as pleasant as can be. That's not possible 100% of the time, but we try.

If you see a post that really bugs you, click the Notify Moderator button and point it out.

And even better, the best weapon against negativity is positivity. Be cool and post nice things. That sets a tone and your positive attitude will be contagious. Do unto others...

I mean, we come here and not at the politics forum because of the jerks and haters. Then we also found them here -- and on such innocuous and harmless request for info on whether Sam's allow overnight parking.

Yes, jerks and jerks and we can just be not one.

Thanks for your work in reducing their numbers.

RTCastillo wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

RTCastillo wrote:
I wonder how we can prevent this site from becoming like a political/haters' forum?

What do you mean?

Some of the forum answers sounded like spawned from angry and partisan posts off political forum.

Insulting when the topic is just a simple request for help and information if Sam or Walmart is available for overnight parking.

And on appropriate speed, another condescending response implying that someone is driving below speed limit because they're driving a junk.

I'm new here but been camping since I was a kid and there is a reason why I still continue to do so. Nice people in nice beautiful relaxing national parks and forests.

I guess I don't see the political angle. I see jerks being jerks (and I already deleted some of their posts), but not so much politics. Seems to me like there is a pretty even distribution of jerks on both sides of the political spectrum (just my opinion).

We do our best to keep things as pleasant as can be. That's not possible 100% of the time, but we try.

If you see a post that really bugs you, click the Notify Moderator button and point it out.

And even better, the best weapon against negativity is positivity. Be cool and post nice things. That sets a tone and your positive attitude will be contagious. Do unto others...

dedmiston wrote:

RTCastillo wrote:
I wonder how we can prevent this site from becoming like a political/haters' forum?

What do you mean?

Some of the forum answers sounded like spawned from angry and partisan posts off political forum.

Insulting when the topic is just a simple request for help and information if Sam or Walmart is available for overnight parking.

And on appropriate speed, another condescending response implying that someone is driving below speed limit because they're driving a junk.

I'm new here but been camping since I was a kid and there is a reason why I still continue to do so. Nice people in nice beautiful relaxing national parks and forests.

RTCastillo wrote:
I wonder how we can prevent this site from becoming like a political/haters' forum?

What do you mean?

When those of us from northern locations travel south in the winter, most campgrounds aren't open, so we appreciate being able to use Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Flying J/Pilot, etc. while on route. It's not a question of being cheap.

I've never stayed in a retail parking lot. There is something uncomfortable about it to me.
Truck stops are pretty handy in a pinch, and I've used one here and there when I drove late and didn't have a reservation anywhere. If I leave my house and drive the same time in the same direction I end up in the same places, but I mix it up by just driving an extra hour or two at the front of the trip. Any difference in distance is offset for the whole trip. Of course there are some pretty sparse areas out there without places to stop so sometimes it makes no difference.

With current rest laws for CDL drivers I'll pay for a campsite before I take a spot away from them.
The first NB rest stop on 95 in VA now has 4 handicap labeled slots in the big rig area. The paint probably cost $2500.00 I bet it isn't enforced. ADA goes a little overboard at times.