To camp or not camp at WMart ?

azdryheat wrote:
Except for camping-on-the-cheap, what's the allure for a night at Walmart?

mgirardo wrote:
We don't camp at Walmart, just spend 6 to 8 hours to get some sleep. Most likely if we are spending the night at a Walmart it is because we are on a long haul and just need to get some rest. Most highway rest stops along I-95 (where most of our travels are) don't allow overnight parking. Truck stops are too noisy and too bright.

Walmart welcomes the practice and it also offers us a place to stock up on things we may have forgotten or perhaps we planned to use the Walmart to stock the camper for our trip. If we are pulling into a Walmart for some rest, it is usually late at night, after 11 pm. Instead of bothering campers pulling into or backing into a site and to possibly bother them again when we leave at the crack of dawn, it makes more sense to park at a Walmart. We don't need electric, water or sewer; we don't need a pool, playground, dog walk, etc., etc., Walmart is the better option for us.

-Michael

Ivylog wrote:
As the owner of a CG, Please go to Walmart if it's after dark. By then we've already put in a long day and some "campers" may already be asleep. When traveling I still put in long days and rarely know where I'll be stopping...when I get tired I stop, often at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel and it usually costs me $25+ at CB and $35+ at WM.

Michael & Ivylog pretty well summed it up for us.

For me, it isn't about money. It's hugely about not being "that guy" who showed up at 11pm-midnight-1am and did minimal setup. As much as my truck is quiet, it's still a diesel and it's noisy. Add in my headlights flashing people's windows as I drive around to find a spot. And finally, a pull-thru is ideal but I don't always line up on them 100% the first try; and I pity you if I have to back into a spot in the dark of night. Then, I love my family- I really do, but I've yet to find we get somewhere and not make 3-5 trips into and out of the truck for "random thing". The kids don't ever close the doors gently. But hey, be happy I turned off my horn when I hit the lock on it. :D

Contrast that to Walmart:
I drive into a well-lit parking lot. I pull up to a set of spots away from cars. I still get into and out of my truck, but that's no different than dozens of other vehicles in the parking lot.


Now, the second side of it IS convenience for me. Walmart parking lots and drives to/through them are usually decently lit. I don't have to worry about driving over a small boulder, or hitting a 3-4' road side, or taking out an ill-placed site marker.


All of that comes well before the cost factor.