Parking @ Walmart

[RACarvalho]

Hello Folks,
We are planning our July trip and would like to hear those that have stayed overnight at Walmart parking lot with a HTT.
The questions we have so far are:
Do you disconnect the trailer from the car?
Do you drop the stabilizer jacks?
Do you open the beds and or the slide outs?

Thank you for any info,
Ricardo

[flymhi]

We leave ours hitched but put the slide out. We don't put down the jacks. The Allstays app will tell you the friendly Walmarts along the way. Some allow overnight parking, some do not. It's always best to ask the Customer Service desk when you stop.

[bob caldwell]

X2

[sdfarmer]

I'm sure I will get all kinds of hate mail from this, but here goes. I have been camping/RVing for 40 years. I figure if I can afford a camper and tow vehicle, I can spend a couple more bucks and stay in a campground. Walmart does not provide any security and I have heard of a couple instances where local police asked the camper to move on. Good for them. So start sending all that hate mail.

[flymhi]

I've been told that Cracker Barrel is camper friendly as well. Plus you get a great breakfast only steps away! I know the blurb below is mainly for large tour groups but hey, CB attracts a different crowd than Wally World! I think it could be safer.

• Ample motorcoach parking at most locations. Check with the individual location for details.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is a proud member of Motorcoach/Tour/Travel Associations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia as well as AATC, BT, GOF, SCM, STS, TSS, GWRRA, FMA, and Good Sam Club.
We'd be pleased to have you stop in and enjoy a meal during your next tour.

[bob caldwell]

No 'hate mail' from here.....just on the move......and pick my spots.........no overnight'n thru Calif. at rest stops....arrive late, leave early..

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by flymhi

I've been told that Cracker Barrel is camper friendly as well. Plus you get a great breakfast only steps away! I know the blurb below is mainly for large tour groups but hey, CB attracts a different crowd that Wally World! I think it could be safer.

• Ample motorcoach parking at most locations. Check with the individual location for details.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is a proud member of Motorcoach/Tour/Travel Associations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia as well as AATC, BT, GOF, SCM, STS, TSS, GWRRA, FMA, and Good Sam Club.
We'd be pleased to have you stop in and enjoy a meal during your next tour.

Not every CB can accommodate ~~ best check BEFORE arrival as there are some you will have a hard time getting out of, especially during business hours.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

No 'hate mail' from here.....just on the move......and pick my spots.........no overnight'n thru Calif. at rest stops....arrive late, leave early..

More than CA does not permit overnight at rest stops. However, if I arrive late and leave early I've never had a problem. Had troopers in 2 states tell me they would rather see us there than driving off the road as I fell asleep at the wheel. Slides rarely go out unless for the short time my wife needs the stove. Besides ~ a truck could knock it completely off. I don't spend a penny at Walmart and will not spend a night there either. Nearly every stop is planned at a CG or they will be called to see if they have a pull-thru available for a short time.

[BendOrLarry]

Stayed at many Wall Marts. Most DO have security and are well lit. We have asked if we could stay a few times but not always. We have never been asked to leave. We usually need to do some shopping anyway so it works out well. We are in a motorhome and we do put out our slides, bur seldom run the generator and never put out the awning.

[bob caldwell]

Different element of folks out here, I guess..

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by sdfarmer

I'm sure I will get all kinds of hate mail from this, but here goes. I have been camping/RVing for 40 years. I figure if I can afford a camper and tow vehicle, I can spend a couple more bucks and stay in a campground. Walmart does not provide any security and I have heard of a couple instances where local police asked the camper to move on. Good for them. So start sending all that hate mail.

Usually it's not Walmart who won't let you stay. In many cases, municipal ordinance dictates where you can/can not stay in a RV. City of Daytona is one. NO parking/staying in a RV except in designated campgrounds/resorts. Bank in 1998 I had a friend who was a vendor at a week long event at the Daytona municipal stadium. He had a Freightliner FL60 toter w/living quarters plus a 40 foot 5th wheel cargo/vendor trailer complete with 16 feet of completely self contained living quarters in the front including shower, toilet, queen bed & dinette etc. He had to get a motel room for the week and at 10pm each evening, security would come-a-knockin to make sure he was locking up and leaving for the night.

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by sdfarmer

I figure if I can afford a camper and tow vehicle, I can spend a couple more bucks and stay in a campground.

True. But there is another aspect. We traveled from Richmond, Va., to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., this past fall. We needed to break the trip up and the mid point was near Wilkes-Barre. There are no CG near I-81 in that area. (Francis Slocum SP is in the vicinity but would have added too much time to our trip.)
There is the Mohegan Sun Casino, however. They allow you to stay in their lot and will send a shuttle to carry you to the casino and restaurants.
Heres our campsite.


CBs, Wal-Marts and the like can be more convenient for layovers. On the way home (from Watkins Glen) Gettysburg was half way. Plenty of CGs close to Rt. 15 there so we chose a camp nearby.
It's not about saving money for us. It's location, location, location.

[bob caldwell]

Casinos also good out here, and yes, it's all about location

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by sdfarmer

I'm sure I will get all kinds of hate mail from this, but here goes. I have been camping/RVing for 40 years. I figure if I can afford a camper and tow vehicle, I can spend a couple more bucks and stay in a campground. Walmart does not provide any security and I have heard of a couple instances where local police asked the camper to move on. Good for them. So start sending all that hate mail.

Would you prefer that I pull into a campground at 11:30pm? Midnight? 1:30am?

And then there's the finding a site in an unknown campground in the middle of the night issue- I have a broken skylight to thank for that. Turned out the campground was very, very tight.

For me, it has NOTHING to do with the cost and everything to do with courtesy to my neighbor and convenience to the highway.

[rmac04401]

I'm sure the retired/full timing RVrs can make it to campgrounds early along their travels since they do not have a time frame. The ones of us that still punch a clock and have a tighter schedule may need to only be off the road for rest durning non business hours. In at midnight gone by 6 am. I would not want to wait around till 9 for the office to open up to pay my tab.

I know I saw a couple of people do this at a state park in PA. They came in at 11pm. It woke me up. And they were gone by 6:30. I'm sure they did not pay for the site.

[bob caldwell]

And I've seen off/on ramps that had more to offer than some campgrounds....

[RACarvalho]

SDFarmer,
I agree with you (BTW, I have being camping for 36 years...) but my intention to stop by (not to camp) @ Walmart is because we want to cover 1500miles in 3 days so I'll be arriving at after 10:00pm and leaving before 7:00am... during the trip...

[doc73]

We have not stayed at a Walmart yet, parents do it all the time. I have spent many of nights at the rest stops. Nothing against the Wally Worlds, just none have fit our stop locations.

I am from the group that is not opposed to paying for a site. I just need a spot of convenience. That tends to end up being a rest stop or truck stop. I am NOT looking to drive miles off track to get to a camp site at 9 or 10 pm, P-off the neighbors then roll out at 7am.

[bob caldwell]

Especially if your driv'n an old 'rattler'.......

[doc73]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

Especially if your driv'n an old 'rattler'.......

Yeah, I'm surprised how quiet my dmax is but I am sure the neighbors would be happier. I failed to mention we do not put out slides on our overnight stops. We bought our trailer specifically because it is entirely usable with the slides in or out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk