stopping for a single night - rest area or rv park?

my dad has passport america. im think im going to look into it. only campgrounds i have ever been in is KOA.

We are currently travelling from NC to TX. The past two nights we have stayed at RV Parks and paid $16.50 per night using Passport America. Sure is much better than noisy truck stops. Ran the AC, used the Microwave, watched cable TV and dumped the tanks. Had good security and it was quiet. Why stop anywhere else?

im with the OP when he talks about his vacation time being precious. i good routine that has worked for my family and i is dry camping 2 to 3 nights and getting as far as we can and then that third or 4th day we pull into a campground early and relax, use the pool, whatever. if we need to fill water or dump tanks its easy.

ive dry camped on BLM, walmart, pilot, flying j, rest stops, home depot. i dont follow any of the made up internet rules about staying overnight in a parking lot. i just ask the manager at the place im staying at if he cares if i run my inverter genny or drop the back stab jacks. never once a had a manager care what i do, but they usually direct you where to park. truck stops are easy, just stay within your parking spot. loves, pilot and flying j welcome rv'ers so i dont feel as if im stealing a truck drivers spot. same with the rest areas.

all i really watch out for is whether or not i feel safe with my family at that particular location. thats a call only you can make. good luck and enjoy your trip.

Will depend on what you're doing. Travelling to a specific destination for a few days/weeks and need to overnight along the way? On a long road trip and want to pre-plan all stops along the way? Or freewheeling, gypsy style and want to head out into the great unknown and stop wherever, whenever?

Not many states legally allow over-nighting at a rest stop. Info. here.

Casinos can be great places to overnight. Reasonable fee, good buffets, full hookups, very safe and very clean. Some are like a 5-star hotel. Most slot machines suck up your hard-earned $$ but DW somehow won $1200 along the way in Aug.

We are Thousand Trails members and try to stay in them en route, however they can be fully booked way in advance. Many CGs can be fully booked weeks to months in advance in the high season and won't let you in. Depends on where you are and what route it is. Some have dry camping spots but often they don't. Sometimes a CG can be h*ll to get in and out of and you don't want to do that after dark or sometimes even in daylight. In some places finding any place to overnight can be hard. Some CGs are first come, first serve and it can be really hard finding a remaining spot that will work for you.

DW won't go anywhere without pre-booking every single CG way in advance. She researches every place way in advance on the internet including the driving time of each leg.

We were at one place where a lot of truckers over-nighted and it was only a few blocks from a small town and a homeless guy was wandering around looking for $$. You never know what some whacko can do... A couple of Criminal Minds episodes involved rest stops so DW will never stay in one now no matter how busy it is... :E

Stay at a Casino that way you can win the CG charge and dinner as well. Really most have good CG's, reasonable food, some with entertainment(free), and if you are lucky you can win.

LEN

Guess it would depend on the trip's itinerary. In a hurry to get to a destination then I'd have no prob staying in an organised campground or rest stop. Traveling leisurely? I'd prolly stay at a state park having spent time prior to the trip's beginning plotting the route.

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Why can't you "just layover" at a RV park and get a nice quiet restful sleep and not listen to highway noise all night?

+1

The only "setup" I do for an overnight stay is to plug in the shore power and pull out the step. Maybe connect TV cable too if I stop early enough.

If one could pull into a RV Stop similar to a Truck Stop, spend maybe $20 to park overnight, that would be fine, but to drive a distance that makes sense with a working person's limited time off and have to spend maybe an additional hour getting off the highway, navigating to a CG, then going through the check in process, parking, probably requiring an un-hook, then to repeating the procedure in reverse to get back to the highway is not always a viable option. Most CGs are not right on the highway, most, at least in season and on weekends are booked, often months in advance so just pulling in and getting a space is not an option much of the time. What is left? Truck Stops, Rest Areas, Shopping Centers. My standard answer for 46 years is this when asked by the Police to move my vehicle, "Officer, I am currently too tired to drive on, I will gladly move as soon as I am rested enough to safely operate my vehicle. I fully expect that I will be underway in about 4-5 hours." I've only had to say this on very rare occasion, but I have not had any issues when so stating. They I suppose could issue a ticket for illegal parking, I don't believe that so long as you are not creating a hazard by blocking a shoulder or access ramp that most will. If you are parked on the shoulder as many trucks do that might warrant a citation and maybe a common sense check up.

Txsurfer wrote:
Is it worth the hassle to set up everything for a single night in an RV park or just layover at the rest area for 4-6 hrs of sleep?

Why can't you "just layover" at a RV park and get a nice quiet restful sleep and not listen to highway noise all night?

Most of our RVing is to travel and see the country. We usually stop at campgrounds and use that as a base to see the surrounding area. We have used Wallmart and while it was quiet and pleasant and free, I like a campground better.