Newbie question about quick overnights

[Mtnbikerx]

Renting a class c and taking our first RV trip - two weeks, Maine to Florida. Planning to stay 3 or 4 days in the same place once we get to Florida, Lakeland. My question is where does everyone pull off the highway for an overnight? Truckstops, Walmart?

[Jagtech]

Most casinos will also welcome your overnight stay, especially if you visit their facility.

[Mtnbikerx]

rjxj wrote:
Walmart

May help

VERY useful! Thank you

[azrving]

Walmart

May help

[grandma_lynn]

We've used FreeCampgrounds.com with success and found some neat places to stay that we've gone back too. I don't know how many you'll find on the east coast but it would be worth a try.

[tatest]

Don't know about "everybody" but we've always found a RV park or campground with 30 amp electrical hookups for overnights. Comfort in the Midwest, South, and Southwest often requires heating in the winter, cooling for most of what is not winter. I can get this by running the generator on my C, but I do not want to be running it while sleeping. One can never be sure where the breezes will move the exhaust fumes.

We've found, in the middle of the country, quite a few municipal or county campgrounds priced in the $5-10 range. I do not know if you will find such on a run down the East Coast.

[Mtnbikerx]

Thanks so much, we will be staying at a designated campground (Lakeland Airport Fly-In) for 4 days once we get to Florida. I've driven to Florida and back a number of times towing a trailer with motorcycles in it so I know and agree wholeheartedly about the Tappan Zee bridge and NJT. We plan to take the Penn. route. The trip down should be 2 maybe 3 overnights and then we will slow down and enjoy. Thanks again!

[ncrowley]

Most of the time we use campgrounds, but on a long trip out east, we had a LOT of rain. We were concerned because all the campgrounds were gravel and very water logged. Rather than risk getting stuck, we overnighted in Walmart parking lots for 2 nights. It was the first time we had done that and it worked out very well for us. We parked way in the back and had a good nights sleep.

[72cougarxr7]

I overnighted in a Walmart in Ohio on my way from NY to IL. Wasn't bad, a little bit of noise and traffic but if you park in a quiet section of the lot its not bad.
Well lit and safer than roadside rest areas in my opinion.
Convenient to buy whatever supplies you forgot to pack!

[colliehauler]

Passport America can be great for a cheep overnight with power. I want A/C when it's hot.

[Redterpos3]

We seem to like campgrounds and KOA's have been extremely convenient for us. Many are close on our travel roads, and they have a good online presence, and we know what we are getting pretty much. Works for the way we travel, so far.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Overnighting at Walmarts is just too handy not to do it. Convenience and comfort are two of the reasons we own a motorhome. Yeah, it's obviously not a campground, but the freedom of choice is personal, and appreciated.

[eichacsj]

Two Hands wrote:
We stay overnight at an rv park/campground. We just don't think that a WalMart parking lot, or a Cracker Barrel parking lot, or a Fred Meyer parking lot is a campground. That said we once had to spend a night in a truck stop parking lot at Jake's Corner in the Yukon when we had a breakdown.

Exactly they are short, sleep a couple of hours and move on. They should NEVER be a campground. Go to campgrounds or RV parks for that.

When we stop at Walmart's it is only when we are hot traveling. Just stop get a bite to eat, catch a few winks and move on. We do not even level, pull out slides, or disconnect.

[2_Retired]

Matt Collie has the best advice posted. Lived in NYC area for many, many years. NO ONE SHOULD EVER GO THROUGH NYC WITH AN RV! Tappan Zee Bridge the only viable option. Gun laws in NJ are very, very strict. You also might want to avoid NJ Turnpike in an RV - can get really dicey. Safe travels.

[Matt_Colie]

OK Mtnbikerx,

Pay Attention here because I am going to lay out a lot fast.

First: Have a laptop to carry and an inverter to power it. Old is fine, get someones cast off. Vista will work, but 7 is better. Price on this can vary from free to ~200$ .

Second: Buy a copy of Street Atlas (S&T is no longer available.) with the GPS puck. Learn to do a rudimentary job of using it. This will cost 50$us for the 2015w/GPS or 20$us a 2010w/GPS on Ebay.

Third: Here is the good part. Go to the Discovery Owners site and collect the overlay data for what ever you might want. They have many. Get at least:
Cabelas Casinos
Cracker Barrel Flying J
Loves OverNight Parking
Walmart Supercenters Walmart that ban ONP
This is all Free. The real trick will come in learning to use it.

In many Decades of RV travel, we have paid for fewer than two dozen campgrounds during the travel. Campfgrounds on the East coast (where you will be all the time) are between 40 and 60$us PER NIGHT!! Any decent motorhome is well enough self contained that you don't need anything other than fuel for about three days (if you are just a little careful with water).

Other route advice. Do Not Go Through NYC use the TAppen Zee to cross the Hudson if you don't want to go farther north and Avoid NJ if you are carrying any weapons.

Matt