Staying at truck stops?????

some walmarts are starting to look like truck stops. was in one last week couldnt find a good spot for all the trucks.

JaxDad wrote:

wintersun wrote:
We find an RV park and pay the $40 to get electricity and a hot shower. If we could not afford the $40 we would stay at home.

I hope you're in a good mood when someone pulls into the site next to you at midnight or later, then rolls out at o'dark-thirty the next (or later the same) morning.

Personally, I'd never be that inconsiderate to others.

Yepir. People get uppity when they have late arrivals, including the management. But I suppose if I had an RV that required electricity and hookups to have a shower I might consider paying for a site.

wintersun wrote:
We find an RV park and pay the $40 to get electricity and a hot shower. If we could not afford the $40 we would stay at home.

I hope you're in a good mood when someone pulls into the site next to you at midnight or later, then rolls out at o'dark-thirty the next (or later the same) morning.

Personally, I'd never be that inconsiderate to others.

Everyone is different and will spend the night in different places. When we were younger, working and trying to get to our destination quickly on a limited budget, we would stop at Rest Areas. We always found that the truckers felt the Rest Areas, at least in California, were only for them. We would park at the far end, with 20 open spaces, and sure enough a truck would come in and park next to us and idle all night.

We later started finding large parking lots at retail stores that were closed and would park there.

Now that we're older and retired, we don't travel as late into the evening and prefer a campground for the night. On occasion we've been stuck and will use a Walmart parking lot.

It all depends on your budget, where you're travelling and how late you arrive. No one place is best for everyone.

I open my door for no one at night. After they're gone I do check, but not empty handed.

Truck stops when possible.

There is nothing free about staying at a Walmart especially if it's open and you have a wife.

Pulled into a questionable rest stop due to bad weather. While talking to several drivers I was informed it wasn't the best place to stay but they weren't leaving until the weather was better and they were packing so they had our backs covered.

Truck stops are the safest place they can stay as there are other people around and at night there are usually security guards as well (they serve mostly to keep the sex workers from knocking on the truck cabs and waking up the drivers). They also have CCRV of the area.

Wal-Mart parking lots are the very last place I would stay and be safe. They are usually in the low rent part of town and you are out by yourself.

Rest stops along the highway are another option. We find an RV park and pay the $40 to get electricity and a hot shower. If we could not afford the $40 we would stay at home.

loulou57 wrote:
Wow lots of info...thanks!

The couple are 34 and 36. They have 3 kids age 12, 8 and 4. They have a fifth wheel. Now they have decided on 2 sleeps (as little ones say) to get there and back. I will forward info on to them thanks.

We've driven down the East Coast twice from Connecticut to Disney World. Both times we stopped in Florence, South Carolina for one night.

First trip was at a Holiday Inn, with a pool and morning breakfast buffet. The hotel has easy access to I95 and a large parking lot. Management was fine with me parking truck and camper in back. We took long showers.

Second trip was at Florence RV park. Again, easy access from I95. Full hookups, so we used the shower in our camper and rinsed out the grey and black tanks (nice to have your bathroom with you while traveling!). Campground is nice enough, but not really a resort.

I am assuming they have electronics for the kids during the drive, for movies, games, and even electronic books. Those are a family saver for hours on the road!

darsben wrote:
Walmart or Lowes. Lowes has the advantage of being closed so much quieter. Plus Lowe's leaves the wifi on .
If you tell us were they are entering the U.S perhaps someone can chime in with a good place to stay.
Be aware they cannot spend the night in a rest area in Ohio it is against the law.

I have stayed many nights in Ohio rest stops. Heck the Ohio turnpike even has hookups at a couple of them.

I have allot of over the road miles driving truck, I personally would not expose my family to some truck stops,, its a rather harsh at times experience. I have seen numerous times drivers that let there little dogs out to do there business where ever,, have seen many a snapple bottle discarded full of urine, have also seen large (gallon jugs) of urine emptied out the door of a truck where it is parked!!
Also,, you cannot escape the smell of urine in allot of truck stops for the very reason I stated. I have seen this in many places,, On the East Coast and even in Oregon!! Ohio and Michigan were the worst for this!!

I was personally on a Haz Mat call working at the Fire Department, we got called to Four-one gallon jugs (milk jugs) along side of the freeway, Caller stated a "Semi Truck" pulled over and left them behind!

Yep!! Haz Mat team determined it was four gallons of urine!!

No I don't have a phobia,, I just would not expose my family to that environment.
But hey thats just me!!

Oh,, and Talk about "Lot Lizards" (women of the night,, and men of the night) some places are out of hand!! Yeah,, the CB was on fire!! as was the pounding on the door all hours of the night!!
I received an illegal stopping citation in Wisconsin because I left the truck stop and pulled over at an off ramp clearing to get some rest!!

MPI_Mallard wrote:
I hit the Flying J Travel Centers on the way down and up, they have dedicated areas for RV parking and I always have other RV'ers there so safety has never been a concern.

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