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

sremsing wrote:
I stop at a campground. No need to disconnect from tow vehicle. Hook up electric and water, put out slides, and you are all set. Minimum amount of effort.

If I'm reasonably level front to back (for the fridge), no need to disconnect. If I'm low on the front, I'll disconnect to raise it, but not move the truck for easy connection.

If I'm high on the front, I'll disconnect, move my truck forward a foot, then lower the trailer.

I've never done this before, but if I'm high on the front, it seems like it would be possible to back the truck onto levelling blocks to raise the front of the trailer without disconnecting.

Sam Spade wrote:
..some truckers don't like you taking one of "their" spaces.....although I haven't heard of that being a real problem.

You'll know it's a problem if a refer truck parks 6' from you.

Depends on the situation. If we were stopping at 3 or 4 in the afternoon then it would be an RV park or campground. If we were retired then it would probably be a campground most nights. But, like the other poster stated, vacation days are precious and we like to drive late to get there. Our MH has everything we need without hookups so why pay for them. As far the long shower, we carry 100 gallons of water so we are good for a couple of nights and still take a good long shower. I don't want to pull in to an RV park at midnight with my rattling Cummins and I don't think the folks that are already there want that either. As others said they like the quiet of the campground. We usually drive to midnight or after and find a Cracker Barrel. They are closed so we pull around back and park beside the curb so we can put out our bedroom slide and go to bed. We get up the next morning, have a good CB breakfast and move on. That is why we went with a MH to have the big water and holding tanks and the on board generator to use if we need it.

Everyone has different wants, needs and desires. Do what works for you and don't worry about it.

If it is 3-4-5 hours , rest stop , flying J... if the stop will be longer then its a campground.. I like supporting them when I can... Not to mention , our stops are now usually 7-8 hrs minimum ..

We try for off the road by 10:00PM.. and back out by 7AM

Txsurfer wrote:
or just layover at the rest area for 4-6 hrs of sleep?

It depends mostly on your personal preferences.

I need more than 4-6 hours of sleep so I go for an RV park.

Rest areas can be noisy and some truckers don't like you taking one of "their" spaces.....although I haven't heard of that being a real problem.

sremsing wrote:
I stop at a campground. No need to disconnect from tow vehicle. Hook up electric and water, put out slides, and you are all set. Minimum amount of effort.

This is what we do. Generally you would not put out slides in a rest area. And maybe only minimally in a parking lot depending on how large and open it is. And that would be inconvenient in our 5er. And I just don't like the idea of staying in a public parking lot/parking area any way.

We find a convenient RV park, get a pull thru, leave the truck connected, connect to water and electric, and spend the night. Just a few minutes to set up and a few minutes to tear down.

good info so far.

We prefer RV parks or Campgrounds when we travel (we make the travel part of the journey). And for the simple one nite stand, we just bring out the chairs and BBQ. But, if I only wanted to get from point A to point B and only needed to stop because I needed a little rest, I would not want to pay for a snooze.

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?

No, but I'd be planning on 8 hours or more. Small towns are much more amenable to just pulling over, like a large truck stop lot or a city park. FJ and rest stops are too noisy and busy for my comfort.

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

Campground.
Ask for a pull thru site. There are a plethora of mom & pop CG's close to all the roads that are very inexpensive.

In my travels as a full timer I found more and more rest stops NOT allowing overnight stays and/or they were closed. As they are closing more and more due to lack of funding. Also at some, the way you are parked you won't be able to open up the slides.

And I found out out that by staying in a CG you actually get to relax and revitalize more for continuing your journey. Move around a bit outside the RV and maybe take a needed REALLY LONG hot shower at the CG. :W