AnnaBanana, I have stayed at Wal Marts many times. I will not open the door with out looking out first and the dogs are a great aid in hearing any problem in the night. I have only had one bad experience and that was stopping at a rest area for lunch on the highway. I did not stress over it but I did have a means to discourage the guy ready at hand. Supercenter are open all night and have people and lights. Many of them have security too. I beleive that many criminals still believe the RVrs carry guns and usually stay away from them. This is not intended to turn into a gun issue but many people I know who travel alot have some means to defend themselves in the unit. I will say a Class A or C is easier to get away if their is a problem.
QUOTE Another Update: Sam's Clubs also will let you park! Makes sense, since they are both owned by the same corporation. But, I would feel safer at a Supercenter Walmart that is open all night.
How come the only people I see "camping" in Wal-Mart parking lots are driving quarter and half a million dollar motorhomes?
QUOTE(seabirdrv @ Aug 20 2004, 10:54 AM) Thank you Stan. My husband and I love to travel in our RV and we try to run our Park in a way that we would want to be treated when we travel. We want to make our guests feel welcome when they arrive and satisfied when they leave so they will come back and visit us when they can. Sheila I think it's great that you offer the less-expensive rate. I am looking forward to making the trek down to your CG this year, we're always looking for nice spots to camp in for a week with the kids. I wish more CG owners were of a like opinion, but most are not. Which is driving us family-types to seek out WalMarts and rest areas. I think what's worse is the CG that take your reservation with a deposit, then misrepresent their parks with fancy pictures or descriptions. A 24 hour notice of cancellation means as you pull up and immediately see that there isn't a chance in the world you even drive through, let alone spend one night, you know your deposit is a goner, and you then realize why the CG was so pushy to have you leave it. I do see people in our local Walmarts abusing the privilege of the free parking lot, it will ruin the offer for all of us. Sometimes when you're hustling to get somewhere it's nice to have a safe place to pull off the road at night. We don't set up, we just sleep. We shop at that Walmart, we leave no mess, in fact we will pick up trash from previous low-lifes in hopes of keeping a good relationship with the chain. We have also spent $35 for 6 hours of sleep at other CG's, no hook-ups, no nothing, parked in an overflow lot somewhere, but full price. And even then I felt like I was stealing something from the way the manager or owner treated me for daring to ask for a spot at 10 PM. Thanks for your comments, I read them with interest, I hope to come see you this year, Ken
We have stayed a few times at Wal-Mart’s. Like said before, when traveling and need a place just to catch some sleep, they are normally very convenient. We just pull in usually around 9:00 PM to Midnight, and go to bed! We are up early the next morning and are gone… other when I go in and ask the manager if we can sleep a few hours on their lot, no one can tell we have ever been there. I don’t like to pull into a campground that late, try to find a site, and safely back into it. First I know I will be waking up everyone… plus when in an unfamiliar campground that late and being tired, there is always a chance you may do damage to your rig or the site. It just makes sense to me to overnight at a Flying J, Rest Area or somewhere like Wal-Mart. There is a lot of controversy over this, but it works for me. I am usually on a time schedule to my destination (I’m not retired and still have to work) so I don’t stop in the afternoon each day. Everyone has their choices on how to travel, this happens to be mine! Enjoy the Camping season. RVman
It's been months since I've logged on here and I can not BELIEVE this discussion is still going on! Park it already.
QUOTE(compokel @ Apr 21 2005, 11:27 PM) It's been months since I've logged on here and I can not BELIEVE this discussion is still going on! Park it already. park it ? sure, as soon as we discuss it a couple more months,,,,, you may be long past this post's topics, but some aren't, so we gotta talk about it. You know how it is,
We have never used a Wal~Mart for over-nighting but if we ever are out of the road and it is late and there is not campground near, we will pull into the nearest Wal~Mart to over-night.
I'm just waiting for Wal-Mart to start opening their own campgrounds. It's coming, just a matter of time. Then these overpriced bums can all shut down. Fine with me. I love Wal-Mart. I can do without shopping for groceries and such, but got to have my fishing gear. Wal-Mart keeps all my fishing gear for me until I need it. Life is grand!! :wub:
We RV about 345 days a year and haven't ever "camped" at a Wal-Mart. I passed by the Wal-Mart in Loveland, CO and the parking lot looked like a RV park. It's probably the best RV park in town since the parks there leave alot to be desired.
I can see it now, "WALLYWORLD, RV RESORT". Several along each interstate with outlets for gas, propane, camping supplies. groceries and a restaurant. All pull through sites open 24/7. A stay of one evening for free with a minimum purchase or a reasonable fee without purchase. I think all would pay a fee for a level space along our route of travel, easy off and on. If the other sevices are there all the better. Maybe if wallyworld doesn't some other enterprise will. If I was 20 years younger?????
QUOTE(Cheryl @ Aug 2 2004, 06:43 AM) Last month on our way to Myrtle Beach, we stopped at PARAMOUNTS KINGS DOMINION CAMPGROUND. We pulled in after 2:00AM and left before 9oAM just to sleep. Never unhooked, used their electricity, but nothing else. They had plenty of unused sites. We were charged full price ($34.00) for the site, even after we told the person what time we had pulled in. It was the only campground advertised in the area. It was too hot not to be able to use the air-conditioner. So we paid, but that is a perfect example of why people use Walmart. [snapback]1031[/snapback] If a WalMart would have been available, would you have stayed? I do not know if they provide electric, maybe you have a generator? I stayed at a Flying J on my way back from MO once and it was miserably hot. I don't think I would have stayed there if there had been a campground available but it was around midnight and I was driving alone and not able to go any farther. Yea, I got a few hours of sleep but it was miserable to say the least. I think Shelia has the right attitude for an RV park owner, reduced rates for folks that just need a place to stop and have electric and then move on.
No, we do not have a generator, so we really needed the electric. It was EXTREMELY hot (not to mention the humidity) at that time.
About all I can say about the walmart parking controversy is when the ones who look down on the practice decide to start paying for my truck, trailer, fuel and park fees, then they can tell me where I can park my rig for the night, up until then, they can feel free to kiss my good ole southern boy grits, which they may or may not find parked in a nice rv park or on a walmart parking lot. Dusty :unsure:
Gee Cherokeekowboy, with an attitude like yours, we hope you keep camping far away from us. Life is to short to be so negative. Good luck with having fun with your camping.
I have used Walmart a few times. I put my slide out IF I can park on a side so as not to interfere in any way. I always ask permission and try to make the area cleaner than when I arrived. Most people don't really mean CAMPING when referring to a parking lot. But, try not calling it that. Yes, there are some jerks out there that will in time get this privilege taken from us by being pigs. The Escapees RV Club has a good guideline to follow. Some people even put a copy on the rigs at Walmart when said piggies are set up!
Yeah, it's too bad that some folks abuse this privilege by literally "setting up camp"--makes it rough for those who try to do the right thing. We just need to remember it is a privilege and if we abuse it, we could lose it altogether.
We have never spent the night at a WalMart but would if there was one around when we were ready to stop. Our last trip, we ended up spending the night in a truck stop and it was difficult to sleep. Trucks running constantly, tightly packed in, and coming and going at all hours of the night. I realize that a truck stop is a place for truckers to stop so it certainly serves their purpose well, but definitely not the place for a good night's sleep. We were actually looking for a WalMart and it was getting very late and hubby was just to tired to drive any further and we came across the truck stop. It was our first time to not spend the night in an RV park. Has anyone ever had trouble in a WalMart parking lot, such as strangers knocking on their door? Even though we are always "packing heat" when traveling in the rv, that does worry me.
Try getting some soft earplugs. They work great when you have to use a truck stop for overnighting. You can get them at Wal-mart.
