Forum Discussion
Matt_Colie
Nov 02, 2018Explorer II
To those that do not approve of overnight parking at other than a designed campground (or often cramp grounds), I have this comparison to offer.
Do you often spend money on a meal to leave it on the counter?
If we are traveling in a self-contained unit, and we want a quiet, more or less level place to stop for the night, should we have to pay for a pool, a weight room, a kids play yard or a bathhouse? I don't think I need to do that.
The places we choose to ONP are convenient to out planned route. As we don't need to get to an office, our arrival time is never an issue as is also not our departure time. Some states still have rest areas along the highway, most are pretty. Tennessee or Kentucky (I would have to go back to trip reports) has plowed a bunch of their rest
areas in. We now drive right through there too. That is unless we find a good flat place off the highway.
Back in our days when the vehicle was not self contained we bought nights at a campgrounds that fixed out current attitude. One time we got off the highway and drove 6 miles through the hinterland to pay for a place that was so tight we had to be careful opening the car's doors. We hadn't heard of slides. We were also back next to the highway we had left, but long side a grade where the trucks were either powering up the slope or Jake-braking down the other way - All Night Long. And, this place was not cheap. Our dog really did not appreciate the play yard or pool either.
Now, we stop where we like. If it is a business that we can patronize, then we usually do. We used to like the Cabela's in Hammond (IN). DW like to shop for interesting bargains when we did. Then the local law enforcement chased us out one evening. We haven't spent any money there since.
Some years back, a lady in the state of Maine was pushing a law that made over night parking of RVs outside of campgrounds a violation. That was the year I had planned to take the coach east. I cancelled a grand tour but we went and visited family and friends. We flew in and borrowed (you didn't want to rent a car in Rhode Island) a car and stayed with family and left behind almost no money. We spent that money in other states. The law got changed. Move championed by the lady that started the first law, but the plan has not been revived.
There are lots of ways to find free ONP. We tend to use all the sources listed. With demise of the good underway navigators of Streets & Trips and Street Atlas, it takes a lot more doing now, but we still manage.
Matt
Do you often spend money on a meal to leave it on the counter?
If we are traveling in a self-contained unit, and we want a quiet, more or less level place to stop for the night, should we have to pay for a pool, a weight room, a kids play yard or a bathhouse? I don't think I need to do that.
The places we choose to ONP are convenient to out planned route. As we don't need to get to an office, our arrival time is never an issue as is also not our departure time. Some states still have rest areas along the highway, most are pretty. Tennessee or Kentucky (I would have to go back to trip reports) has plowed a bunch of their rest
areas in. We now drive right through there too. That is unless we find a good flat place off the highway.
Back in our days when the vehicle was not self contained we bought nights at a campgrounds that fixed out current attitude. One time we got off the highway and drove 6 miles through the hinterland to pay for a place that was so tight we had to be careful opening the car's doors. We hadn't heard of slides. We were also back next to the highway we had left, but long side a grade where the trucks were either powering up the slope or Jake-braking down the other way - All Night Long. And, this place was not cheap. Our dog really did not appreciate the play yard or pool either.
Now, we stop where we like. If it is a business that we can patronize, then we usually do. We used to like the Cabela's in Hammond (IN). DW like to shop for interesting bargains when we did. Then the local law enforcement chased us out one evening. We haven't spent any money there since.
Some years back, a lady in the state of Maine was pushing a law that made over night parking of RVs outside of campgrounds a violation. That was the year I had planned to take the coach east. I cancelled a grand tour but we went and visited family and friends. We flew in and borrowed (you didn't want to rent a car in Rhode Island) a car and stayed with family and left behind almost no money. We spent that money in other states. The law got changed. Move championed by the lady that started the first law, but the plan has not been revived.
There are lots of ways to find free ONP. We tend to use all the sources listed. With demise of the good underway navigators of Streets & Trips and Street Atlas, it takes a lot more doing now, but we still manage.
Matt
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