Sleep in rest areas?

[TravlinMan]

Originally Posted by richw46

Found a website with some information:
https://www.careersingear.com/blog/s...st-areas-10210

States Where Overnight Parking is Allowed
Let’s start with a list of the states where you are allowed to park overnight:
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Indiana
Kansas
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Texas
Virginia
Wyoming

So what this means is that 36 states do not allow you to park at rest areas overnight. Even more so the states that do have some restrictions. In Connecticut you can only park overnight at rest areas along the Illinois Toll Road. Same for Indiana, except it is the Indiana Toll Road where you are permitted to park overnight. In New York you are only allowed to park overnight at rest areas in the case of an emergency. For truck drivers rolling through Ohio you can only rest overnight at the Ohio Turnpike rest areas. Oregon has imposed a 14-hour limit on your stay, while Wyoming has individual limitations at certain rest areas.

I have not slept in any rest areas, I just don't feel comfortable and won't get a good night's sleep. I've been able to stay/sleep in some Wal-Mart parking lots but there is all night traffic (loud exhausts, truck noise, loud radios, etc.) I researched one in Staunton, VA, it got good reviews. (Just Google "Is it safe at Walmart [address, city, state] for overnight parking?"). We've gone that way a couple of times and stayed there, several others are also there; RVs, commercial rigs, people sleeping in cars. I slept better there after the first time.

We've done Cracker Barrel a couple of times, found a nice one in Ocala, FL. It had its own parking lot across the street for RVs. We go in for dinner, ask and they say "see ya at breakfast".

I have also started adding clean, cheap RV parks to my Garmin / Waze favorites. It makes it easier to plan trips. I keep a ship's log of places we've been and added notes about any places we stopped at along the way, for when we go back there again.

Hi rich, most of this is good information but the information on rest stops is a lil misleading on account of the fact that 'overnight parking' and 'camping' are not the same thing as 'resting', which is what we have been sayin in this thread.

Such as what I had said about California, which ain't on your list but allows sleepin in your vehicle for up to 8 hours and encourages tired drivers to do that. They also allow stoves or heaters.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/policy.htm

And Utah, which ain't on your list either but encourages tired drivers to use rest areas for nappin. They prohibit 'camping' but allow 'extended stays'.
https://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=1...0:::1:T,V:1863,

Or nebraska, which also is not on your list and allows neither 'overnight parking' or 'camping' but lets ya sleep in a vehicle for up to 10 hours and provides grills.
http://dot.nebraska.gov/media/1215/r...egulations.pdf

Missouri and Mississipi both consider sleepin in your vehicle 'resting' while sleepin outside is 'camping'.

These rules are to weed out the folks that are truly restin from the folks that are lookin for free campgrounds or maybe a place to be homeless for a while.

If, again, ya ask the local authorities, you will find most of them are very welcoming to tired drivers who wanna catch a lil shut eye.

[Hiwheel Joe]

I see Oklahoma on the list. Sorry to say, our state is so broke they can't even keep a rest stop open.

[accordionman]

Never thought of a church ( for staying overnight !) Not to sound naive, but do you go in and ask the pastor or priest ?

What would be the best way to find them ?

[sheriff1]

Pulled into a church parking lot late one Friday evening with. Class c motor home, woke to the smell of bacon. They were holding a parking lot breakfast and I was trapped. Ended up having a nice breakfast and stayed to help on KP duty.

[TravlinMan]

Originally Posted by accordionman

Never thought of a church ( for staying overnight !) Not to sound naive, but do you go in and ask the pastor or priest ?



What would be the best way to find them ?

For me, it's one of those things ya get a feelin for. I've only stayed in 3 church lots in several years of traveling. Once it was a real nice town in Utah with nowhere to stay at all. I looked them up by the name of the church using google and I called and explained I would love to see this town but there ain't nowhere to stay and may I spend the night in their lot and they were real flattered. They were there in the mornin and I said hello and gave em a donation. If it had been Sunday I woulda gone to service.

Another time it was a big church with a sign that said 'welcome strangers' and at that one I removed my hat and walked in and spoke with an administrative type man who was happy I wanted to stay the night.

And then the last one was a Baptist Church in Pennsylvania that had a sign that said free overnight parking, so that one was easy.

I find ya gotta feel these things out as ya go, rather than search em out before hand. Like many small town restaurants or farms that have let me stay the night. I just realized I liked the vibe and I was happy to buy a meal or produce and they were happy to help. But not always. Sometimes they ain't ever heard of such a thing and that's ok too.

It's all part of the adventure, in my opinion. But it ain't for everyone, and ya gotta know how to be real polite and also be ready to move on if they can't help ya out.

On a side note, I once stopped at a Mission in California and they gave me a place to spend the night and also made me a blt sandwich and offered me milk. I bought many things from their shop in exchange, it was a very nice experience.

[Dobber]

<< Never discount envy, friend. >>
well said S.M., well said.

[KellyAndersson]

Almost forgot -- check online before you reach a certain town, and see if they have an Elks Lodge with RV parking. Many of them do, many of those require you to be an Elks member, but if they're not full and you ask nicely I'd bet most of them would let you overnight. And nearly all of them have a nice person who serves adult beverages in the evening.

[KellyAndersson]

Originally Posted by sheriff1

Pulled into a church parking lot late one Friday evening with. Class c motor home, woke to the smell of bacon. They were holding a parking lot breakfast and I was trapped. Ended up having a nice breakfast and stayed to help on KP duty.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha !! I can so see that!

[3wd67rg]

Originally Posted by richw46

That article was published August 24, 2016, fairly recently. It is posted by a site that helps people with job searches for becoming an OTR trucker. It is about how to remain safe when on the road.

Information about anything in this world is dynamic, subject to change. There is very little posted in this forum that I deem to be useless and I try very hard to make sure anything I post is current. YMMV

Oh Rich, I wasn't speaking about your article, I was speaking about all the information in Rest Stop Apps! They have not proved quite reliable, so a traveler must learn to be flexible, willing to drive another 60 to over 100 miles to find another one. We use info from three of them to get a better idea. I was thinking of adding some more.

[Rich W]

[QUOTE=TravlinMan;2001113]Hi rich, most of this is good information but the information on rest stops is a lil misleading on account of the fact that 'overnight parking' and 'camping' are not the same thing as 'resting', which is what we have been sayin in this thread.
QUOTE]

Obviously, rest stops are for resting. Whether you rest/sleep in the daytime or night time, 1 hour or 8 hours, resting is resting. In those states you just cannot park overnight.

What I shared from the trucking site was for overnight parking and which states allow it. I didn't create the list nor did I say that the site/list was to be construed as a guide for camping/resting at rest stops. I provided a link for reference and changed the font for references to that site's information; that's all.

Like most threads that meander from the original posting. I merely meant to share what I had learned about overnight parking and what the trucking site had to say about (truck) driver safety. To me, overnight parking is just that, parking overnight. The states in the list, according to the trucking site as of the time the article was written (8/2016), didn't allow it. The article didn't explain how they enforce it, it was just talking about safety and (more or less) how long you can stay there.

I'm sorry if anyone was confused about overnight parking and resting at a rest stop.

[3wd67rg]

Originally Posted by KellyAndersson

Almost forgot -- check online before you reach a certain town, and see if they have an Elks Lodge with RV parking. Many of them do, many of those require you to be an Elks member, but if they're not full and you ask nicely I'd bet most of them would let you overnight. And nearly all of them have a nice person who serves adult beverages in the evening.

Very Nice! I wonder if the VFW would do the same? Chris and I served during the cold war years, but hey, we're Veterans. Wait, he served during OIF, but he wasn't there. Of course Chris would rather stay on the freeway for simplicity. I like options.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by airdreamers

Wish I was Bob the barrel guy here in SW FL. $$$$

I always wondered if "Bob" of "Bob's barricades" was Bob Graham, former governor of Florida?

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

I always wondered if "Bob" of "Bob's barricades" was Bob Graham, former governor of Florida?

A simple search suggests not IMO . . .

"Bob's Barricades, Inc. is the largest privately owned barricade company in the country and one of the largest in the world. Bob's Barricades, Inc has been providing temporary traffic control since 1975 under the same ownership of Happy Alter, Owner/Chief Executive Officer and Alan Chesler, President/Partner with cost-effective, quality products, dedication to safety, and reliable service."

http://www.bobsbarricades.com/

[TravlinMan]

Thanks, Peter. Happy Alter sounds like a pretty interesting guy. Apparently he was friends with Mr. Mohammed Ali!

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/th...obs-barricades

[cwf]

Yellow tape labeled "GRIME SCENE"...

[KellyAndersson]

Originally Posted by KellyAndersson

Almost forgot -- check online before you reach a certain town, and see if they have an Elks Lodge with RV parking.

I'm busy fussing with kids' wedding logistics (and fire-related road closures) this evening, but thought of you guys and my recent post on Elks hosting for RV spots. Here's from Eugene, Oregon:

Lodge Rv Spaces
5 Electrical and water RV spaces and up to 8 or more dry camping spaces. On-site dump station. Also Hi Speed Wireless Internet. FCFS
Donation of $15.00 per day.

https://www.elks.org/lodges/LodgeFac...odgeNumber=357

[sheriff1]

From Allstays:
$, 5 sites, RVs only, All ages, No tent, 407 ft elev, electric only sites, water, dump, internet, Members only, Dry RV parking (C)

[JamuJoe]

Rest stops are an option in some states. I used a few on I 75 for quick overnights in FL recently during my run from CO to Punta Gorda to attend to my sailboat after Irma, and they were fine. I generally prefer to use a State or County park and am willing to detour a bit to do so. Costs are quite reasonable and the environment is much nicer. We use Allstays Camp and RV App to find these while on the move.

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by cwf

Yellow tape labeled "GRIME SCENE"...

I would SO buy that if I could find it. Google and Amazon are silent on it (sad)

[rodsterinfl]

Originally Posted by JamuJoe

Rest stops are an option in some states. I used a few on I 75 for quick overnights in FL recently during my run from CO to Punta Gorda to attend to my sailboat after Irma, and they were fine. I generally prefer to use a State or County park and am willing to detour a bit to do so. Costs are quite reasonable and the environment is much nicer. We use Allstays Camp and RV App to find these while on the move.

While I am glad you were able to rest in the FL rest stops, it is prohibited for overnight stays. Perhaps the hurricane situation made them overlook any violations. They were certainly busy enough.