First "long" overnight trip

[tev123]

Drove to Canada (Quebec City and Montreal) from Southern NH (USA) over July 4th weekend

On our way to Quebec, just after the USA/Canada border, we stopped at a campground. It was packed with lots of campers (felt like a parking lot on grass) thus we moved on and pulled off to another campground in Windsor, Quebec; Attendant charged us $30US! for a spot by some river with electric/water hookups.

Second night we slept in Quebec City, in the middle of the city, in a parking lot. We only paid $12 for the entire day and the attendant said we could sleep overnight if we wanted to, which we did and thought it was great and very convenient.

Questions:
we see lots of rest areas, parking areas, pull off areas, on the highways. Some say no overnight and some don't say anything. Is it normal to pull off in these rest areas and park for the night without being bothered or asked to move along?

The whole idea of having a class-B conversion van is to be able to sleep anywhere without having to pay "campgrounds". We are self sustained and need to offset the horrible gas mileage with not having to pay hotels....

Thanks!

[tev123]

Matt_Colie wrote:

tev123 wrote:

Matt_Colie wrote:
Tony,
You have hit squarely on the value of self contained travel.
You need to get on line to RVParky and the other resources. There are lots of possibilities.
In a few states, the highway rest areas have signs posted as you mentioned. We have crashed in those a number of times and never been bothered. Most states do not have such rules. But then there is either Kentucky or Tennessee that plowed in most of the highway rest stops.
There are always alternatives to campgrounds. Learn to work the resources that are available on-line or by smartphone.
Matt

Thanks Matt.
Agree and will do. One thing that crippled us and did not account for in our trip is that as soon as we crossed into Canada, we were without cell data and research online was only possible when on wifi (or by paying exorbitant cell data charges to AT&T);

Oh they do get you, don't they....
So, if you are not traveling with a laptop, think about it. When you do, get Street Atlas (w/a GPS is good) and then go to Discovery Owners and collect the overlays. Learn to load them up and now you don't even need cribbed WiFi to get some good information. Their Canada stuff is less good than the US side, but it beats the hell out of nothing.

As you can tell, there is a lot of negative response for those of us that don't like to waste money on what is only a place to sleep. As you gain experience, you will find that there are many more places to catch a nap than you might have anticipated.

Oh, you will need a little inverter to run the laptop from the house battery and don't run it too long when the main engine is not live. They are usually about 5amps, the same as taillights.

Second Oh, When we travel in Canada we do our best to do all exchanges in $ca. It saves a lot of problems. Do your best to not re-enter the US at the Ambassador Bridge. Customs there is the most annoying I have ever been through.

Safe Travel

Matt

Great info/tips.

We re-entered US through I89 (Vermont) and it was a piece of cake; agent was nice. Will avoid Ambassador Bridge if I am ever up that route (Michigan?)

I've used an iphone app called citymaps2go which downloads selected maps to the phone and you can use them without network access, but agree a laptop with large screen (or ipad) and some street atlas loaded data/app is best.

We've got plenty of power sources too 🙂 (solar, gensets, inverters, etc)

Yeap, I've learned to just ignore negativity and not let it bother me. I normally use a credit card with no international fees but this place's credit card machine was "broken"... Normally if I travel abroad I take out money local currency from an ATM, but I guess since I was not in an airplane, the brain was not in "out of country" mode.... LOL

thanks! safe travels

[Matt_Colie]

tev123 wrote:

Matt_Colie wrote:
Tony,
You have hit squarely on the value of self contained travel.
You need to get on line to RVParky and the other resources. There are lots of possibilities.
In a few states, the highway rest areas have signs posted as you mentioned. We have crashed in those a number of times and never been bothered. Most states do not have such rules. But then there is either Kentucky or Tennessee that plowed in most of the highway rest stops.
There are always alternatives to campgrounds. Learn to work the resources that are available on-line or by smartphone.
Matt

Thanks Matt.
Agree and will do. One thing that crippled us and did not account for in our trip is that as soon as we crossed into Canada, we were without cell data and research online was only possible when on wifi (or by paying exorbitant cell data charges to AT&T);

Oh they do get you, don't they....
So, if you are not traveling with a laptop, think about it. When you do, get Street Atlas (w/a GPS is good) and then go to Discovery Owners and collect the overlays. Learn to load them up and now you don't even need cribbed WiFi to get some good information. Their Canada stuff is less good than the US side, but it beats the hell out of nothing.

As you can tell, there is a lot of negative response for those of us that don't like to waste money on what is only a place to sleep. As you gain experience, you will find that there are many more places to catch a nap than you might have anticipated.

Oh, you will need a little inverter to run the laptop from the house battery and don't run it too long when the main engine is not live. They are usually about 5amps, the same as taillights.

Second Oh, When we travel in Canada we do our best to do all exchanges in $ca. It saves a lot of problems. Do your best to not re-enter the US at the Ambassador Bridge. Customs there is the most annoying I have ever been through.

Safe Travel

Matt

[Jebby14]

im paying 45 for water and electricity this weekend at a crappy privet park (old jellystone now with new owners) and 52 for electricity only at wheatley provincial in a few weeks. price seems like a bargain to me.

[tev123]

Tripalot wrote:

tev123 wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
complaining about $30 for electric and water hookups on a river makes me laugh

ha! yes, I guess I am a newbie... 🙂
maybe a little sour because it was supposed to be $C30 (Canadian) which is less than $30 but we got the US$ charge....

Sounds like you did not do your homework before coming to Canada.
You should have had some Canadian money (although not always necessary but certainly a courtesy when in a foreign country and to get the best exchange rate) and you should have checked into cell coverage beforehand as well. Next time you will know.

yes, though the beauty of this is that we just decided to go somewhere on a brim without all the pre-planning... makes it for an adventure. I'll get more experienced as I do it longer; double edge sword

[Tripalot]

tev123 wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
complaining about $30 for electric and water hookups on a river makes me laugh

ha! yes, I guess I am a newbie... 🙂
maybe a little sour because it was supposed to be $C30 (Canadian) which is less than $30 but we got the US$ charge....

Sounds like you did not do your homework before coming to Canada.
You should have had some Canadian money (although not always necessary but certainly a courtesy when in a foreign country and to get the best exchange rate) and you should have checked into cell coverage beforehand as well. Next time you will know.

[coolmom42]

Check uscampgrounds.info for data on almost all publicly owned campgrounds, from Federal to city parks.

[tev123]

Jebby14 wrote:
complaining about $30 for electric and water hookups on a river makes me laugh

ha! yes, I guess I am a newbie... 🙂
maybe a little sour because it was supposed to be $C30 (Canadian) which is less than $30 but we got the US$ charge....

[MarkTwain]

Jebby14 wrote:
complaining about $30 for electric and water hookups on a river makes me laugh

X1, he had best stay out of Calif for RVing ! Typical price is $50 but as high as $80 per night in some RV parks:(

[Jebby14]

complaining about $30 for electric and water hookups on a river makes me laugh

[tev123]

djgarcia wrote:
Class B van questions:
It is not clear what your idea/plan of RVing is??? never use campgrounds, some times, what is your plan for toliet, water, propane needs? Rest areas, Walmart parking lots are used by some RVers overnight but IMHO these areas are less than ideal for a number of reasons but primarly for security reasons. Yes there are many RVers who disagree and for a number of reasons choose these areas primarily for money costs which make sense but it is just not my choice. My opinion is not intended to be judgmental of others. Rest areas are intended to be used for resting for a short period of time, not for overnight. Many Wallmart's do not allow overnight parking as the result of some who have in the past been inconsiderate.

sorry for not clarifying;

we don't need anything for the most part; the camper has its own water, bathroom, shower, propane, kitchen, etc; like a mini-house with all the systems but in miniature.

we may use a campground from time to time in order to empty/refill tanks.... thanks for the suggestions.

[tev123]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Tony,

You have hit squarely on the value of self contained travel.

You need to get on line to RVParky and the other resources. There are lots of possibilities.

In a few states, the highway rest areas have signs posted as you mentioned. We have crashed in those a number of times and never been bothered. Most states do not have such rules. But then there is either Kentucky or Tennessee that plowed in most of the highway rest stops.

There are always alternatives to campgrounds. Learn to work the resources that are available on-line or by smartphone.

Matt

Thanks Matt.
Agree and will do. One thing that crippled us and did not account for in our trip is that as soon as we crossed into Canada, we were without cell data and research online was only possible when on wifi (or by paying exorbitant cell data charges to AT&T);

[Matt_Colie]

Tony,

You have hit squarely on the value of self contained travel.

You need to get on line to RVParky and the other resources. There are lots of possibilities.

In a few states, the highway rest areas have signs posted as you mentioned. We have crashed in those a number of times and never been bothered. Most states do not have such rules. But then there is either Kentucky or Tennessee that plowed in most of the highway rest stops.

There are always alternatives to campgrounds. Learn to work the resources that are available on-line or by smartphone.

Matt

[doxiemom11]

You should try staying at some of the Corp of Engineer parks, especially if you are eligible for the senior america the beautiful card ($10 for lifetime). We have been at some where the next camper was a football field away. Clean, well maintained, clean bathhouses, sometimes laundry and usually water & electric, however some have a few FHU sites. With our discount we usually pay $8-$10 per night. There are also some smaller ones, more remote that are for tent only or walk in only.

[MarkTwain]

Class B van questions:
It is not clear what your idea/plan of RVing is??? never use campgrounds, some times, what is your plan for toliet, water, propane needs? Rest areas, Walmart parking lots are used by some RVers overnight but IMHO these areas are less than ideal for a number of reasons but primarly for security reasons. Yes there are many RVers who disagree and for a number of reasons choose these areas primarily for money costs which make sense but it is just not my choice. My opinion is not intended to be judgmental of others. Rest areas are intended to be used for resting for a short period of time, not for overnight. Many Wallmart's do not allow overnight parking as the result of some who have in the past been inconsiderate.