Members welcoming fellow members

[Boatycall]

Original post--
You know, I got to thinkin. Those of you who know me know that's dangerous. This is only a thought, I thought I'd throw it out there.

All of us travel. Duh, that's why we have campers. Who all would be interested in putting there names on a list of "Members Welcome". A list of members that welcomes other members to stay the night in their driveway when they're on the road.

Of course, opting-in would be completely optional. My thought here is that a list is done up with only screen names. When a member is planning on being in the area, they forum-email the other member for the address and see if that member is available to welcome guests that night. That way, the address is not out in the public and no unexpected surprises happen.

Just a thought.

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Edited 1-6-2014

We are going to clean out the list and start a new one. Go to the post dated 1-3-2014 for more info.

Here is the latest "cleaned up" list.

And yes, it's a screenshot, not a text-list. Sorry. The forum doesn't support any kind of formatting, like tables or tabs, so when I tried to list it as text it looked like a jumbled mess.

[Joe_Glidewell]

hedgehopper wrote:

Joe Glidewell wrote:
New to the forum and new to truck campers. I feel like I'm a long way away from most members locations, but if anyone is ever in south Mississippi and needs a spot I've got 20 acres with water and sewage hookup. We are in a small town but we live about an hour drive north of New Orleans LA off I-59. That's about the closest tourist attraction to us.

Recently, we drove through Mississippi on US84. Were we anywhere near your place?

The closest you got to me is when you went through Laurel, MS. I'm about 1.5 hours south of that town just off I-59 in a small community called McNeil, MS. Side note...When you went through Monticello, MS on hwy84 there's a cool place just south of there that's worth seeing. It's a site of natural land erosion where it's free to hike 200 feet down into the gorge. Google "Red Bluff, MS" for more info.

[hedgehopper]

Joe Glidewell wrote:
New to the forum and new to truck campers. I feel like I'm a long way away from most members locations, but if anyone is ever in south Mississippi and needs a spot I've got 20 acres with water and sewage hookup. We are in a small town but we live about an hour drive north of New Orleans LA off I-59. That's about the closest tourist attraction to us.

Recently, we drove through Mississippi on US84. Were we anywhere near your place?

[Kayteg1]

I know you can access this forum from several different sites with different graphis, but when I enter from rv.net. I see 8 stickies pinned on top of TC section.

[sonuvabug]

petekerwien wrote:
Okay maybe the Mods can help. I'm thinking we set up a thread just for this called it Free Boondocks and keep it on the front end of this forum. People have to PM the posters to get permission to use.

I see there's no Sticky at the beginning of our forum. On the FTE (Ford Truck Enthusiasts site), there is a map with a "pin" that you can provide your location for help on the road. They even have different categories like garage with tools, place to stay etc.

Something like that would be great here.

[stumper92]

Joe Glidewell wrote:
New to the forum and new to truck campers. I feel like I'm a long way away from most members locations, but if anyone is ever in south Mississippi and needs a spot I've got 20 acres with water and sewage hookup. We are in a small town but we live about an hour drive north of New Orleans LA off I-59. That's about the closest tourist attraction to us.

Welcome to the forum. Truck campers are not very popular in my area either. Kind of the unicorn of the RV world.

[Joe_Glidewell]

New to the forum and new to truck campers. I feel like I'm a long way away from most members locations, but if anyone is ever in south Mississippi and needs a spot I've got 20 acres with water and sewage hookup. We are in a small town but we live about an hour drive north of New Orleans LA off I-59. That's about the closest tourist attraction to us.

[GoinThisAway]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump and thank ajriding for his good info. It's nice to hear from someone who's used Boondockers Welcome.

[ajriding]

I read page 1-5 then 13. Did not see what Im about to share…

I was a member of "Boondockers Welcome" ,and you can just put the dot com for the site.
It was useful. You could look on a map for general (within few miles) locations of places to stay. Other RV'ers would let you stay overnight for 1-5 days or more. Hookups, water etc were listed as options.

For areas I would be stuck in and needed a safe place to park while I leave or if I am in the same town several days then this was a great option. Usually I would meet the host, but one particular guy in WI was a jerk, but he still had a driveway and hookups (never use WI water , nasty, nasty stuff).
Most host were wonderful and I got some local flair and to meet people as I travel.

The downside it that you dont just pull up and mind to yourself in reality. The host will want to come out and point where to park, and meet you. This is great if you have time to kill, but not the thing for traveling and stopping for the night. I like to meet the people, not everyone does though.

Having access to water out west is one of the top pros of it. Power in the hot summer for the AC also (usually donate $5 for power).
Feeling safe to leave your rig alone is the best. You really only have to wonder if your host (someone with the money to own a home and an RV) will steal your stuff rather than everyone who happens by a public parking area would. I never worry about the host of course.

I used the service for one year at $20. It was nice, but I did not renew. It takes a lot of effort to find a host that is both home and available. I never know where I will be one day to the next, so I had to plan ahead and commit days or a week ahead to give host time to respond and have reasonable time to know you're coming.

The most popular areas are always full, touristy destinations, and the host do get tired of being a full time host. Most host otherwise just see a few visitors per year.

I do like that this idea would be truck camper specific. Last guy I stayed at was a Class A motor-homer ($250,000) and we had very little on common even though we are both "RV'ers".

To make it work, you give a general location, then the person contacts you and you go from there. The boondockerswelcome site had a rating system and you could read about that person from previous host which helps calm concerns. Ive never heard of anyone buying an RV to impersonate an RVer to gain access to someones driveway in order to commit a crime. If someone wants to find the location of a house then they can just look outside, houses everywhere, you giving your address presents no danger, and on top of that there is an electronic "paper trail" to the person so they can be identified by police, not a very smart plan for a would-be thief.

[trailgranny50]

Enid, Oklahoma. Full hook up 30amp. Horse pen. Nice dogs welcome. Handy welder and camper guy comes to you. Lots of maneuvering room. Coffee always handy.

[kohldad]

Add me to the list for Charleston, SC area. Have 30A service and can refill your water tank.

Live in a subdivision, but it is usually very quiet. Parking is on my drive, but have plenty of room to accomadate a TC of any size.

Short notice is okay.

[GoinThisAway]

I'll be headed out to Denver this fall and thought of checking this list. Doesn't look like there's anyone along my route signed up though. Once the DH retires I may add us but we're gone too much to be very welcoming right now.

[AKSuperDually]

You can add me to the list. Although, it would definitely be on a "first-come-first-serve" basis, and the list of friends and family is already getting long for this summer....it never hurts to ask. I've got room for 2-3 truck campers, no hook-ups...the parking area doesn't have power near it, but it is blocked from the road and the property is right on the Kenai river.

Bring beer, and I'll let you fish from my fish platform on the river.

edit to add: I can top water tanks at the house, but it would take several hundred feet of hose to reach the parking area.

[Roundtowner]

Thanks for the update. I hope to be able make use of the contact info someday.
Larry

[dakonthemountai]

Thanks for updating Boatycall! Haven't had anyone take me up on my offer yet, but it still stands.

Happy New Year!

Dak