over night stays

have traveled from boise to arizona number of times.I like to take 93 south from twin falls to Ely then 6 south to 318,then 318 back to 93.It is good road with a small pull on 6 just out of Ely.
Have had snow amd ice out of Ely once.We usually have traveled this in late jan. early feb. Have stayed at Casino in jackpot. Have not overnited at any but small towns along this route have lot of places look likely places to stop,

Local cops in KS are very freindly and will show you then look over you once in a while at night. Even give you a wakeup if you ask. Grain elevators are good if you leave early in the AM.

Apart from rallies or special events, we have bought campgrounds maybe a dozen times in the last ten years. So, we use planning software and set up to spend the night at:
Cabela's - often have a free dump
Casinos with 10$ electric (first come first served so slim chance)
Cracker Barrel - but often the big spots are filled with 4 wheels
Walmarts - good time to reprovision too
Casinos - too many rules and sometimes you get stuck next to a reefer
Any known free (or real cheap) flat spot
Highway rest areas - often noisy
Truck stops - usually make rest stops look good

But then we are travelers, not campers.

Matt

We don't do camping in parking lots either although so many private campgrounds often resemble them, the post is about overnighting and we catch a few hours of shut-eye at truck stops, rest areas, retail centers, churches/schools, and my DW's favorite place to overnight, casinos. Whatever location, we pull in very late and leave early to get to our real camping destination, with the exception of casinos where we often get a meal, a few adult libations, and a chance for my DW to play the slots.

Truck Stops, Flying J several times, IF you need to run your generator to survive, park with the trucks, they run theirs all night, just don't block them in.

old guy wrote:
other than wal marts, where do you all stay over night when traveling... do you camp in school lots, churches, shopping malls. or where? need some ideas.

I personally enjoy camping at RV parks during my overnights.

cracker barrel or a church , has worked for us. twice the church hooked us up with power. any place that looks safe and clean. I,ve even ask the local police and they guided us to a local park.

If we are dead heading we stay in Casinos first, Walmarts second, Travel centres third and in a pinch we will stay in a camp ground but try to avoid the inconvenience of that. Once we arrive at a destination we try to get something nice. If the state parks can fit us we lean towards them but we also like the upscale resorts.

parking lots never appealed to us so we spend our "overnight stops" in campgrounds. Sometimes state parks, federal campgrounds and often in the small facilities providedd by small town USA to attract people to their community. We also occasionally stay at Roadside Rest areas and find that quite satisfactory in many states.

Going AZ there are hills no matter what way you travel from Oregon. You might have to invest in a set of chains, just in case of snow, and the road sign indicates that chains are needed. BIG fine if caught without them.
The last time we came back from up there, we took I-5 almost all the way down through California, and some how wound our way to I-10 into AZ. Look for LARGE truck stops, Casinos, But pay attention to signage that limits camping in any out of the way place. If in a Wal Mart, do not make it look like that you are camping, You are just resting for a few Hrs if asked.