I would think that staying at many Walmarts would be right up there with camping at a highway rest stop.
You see some strange individuals shopping at Walmarts these days.
Awesome! You saw us!! /waves/
Susan
__________________ "Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?"
1984 310 Limited Motor Home "The Rockin' A"
1974 31' Excella (soon-to-be carhauler)
1974 20' Argosy Motor Home
My local Walmart doesn't allow for sure because they found yucky dead body from overnight parking car trunk. I remembered this matter when I parked my Airstream, security guard came to check nervously. This Walmart is not in bad neighborhood anyway. The crime was happend hot summer on 2006, people complained for whole parking lot had bad smell. Sorry to tell you nasty story
I worked for a while at the Wal-Mart in our town and asked the store manager about the RV policy because there are usually several parked on a given night. He said the policy is not advertised but RV's are welcomed to stay for a night at the distant end of the parking lot. This is where courtesy parking etiquete come in so as not to abuse a good thing.
After hurricane Katrina, loads of RV's took up the parking lot and they had generators going, eletrical cords going all around, awnings and lawn chairs set up, clothes lines stretched out. It looked like trailer park from hell! That of course is at the extreme end of teh spectrum. After 2 days, Wal-mart had everyone out of there. Now you see 6 or so RV's parked a night and there's no problems.
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Courtesy parking-- water, elect. and wi-fi.
To those who are about to Stream-I salute you!
Parking is allowed, but as good things go there are some who take advantage of good things. For this we all pay the price Parking is just that. This does not mean pull out the lawn chairs and BBQ grill. Dump your gray water in the storm drain. Throw your empty whatever's on the parking lot surface. I speak from experience having parked at a lot of Wal-Mart lots. I have witnessed people taking advantage of this free kindness. They give us security and we give them grief come on. When I see campers doing this I let them know it is all of our duty to do this or loose it..... Sorry this irritates me.
Our local Wal*Mart (Exit #191 off I-95 in FL) has a sign posted in the truck parking area--No Overnight Parking. We frequently see RV parked in the opposite corner (SW corner) of the parking lot for overnight stays. Most seem to be just parked for the night and not doing anything stupid. There is no sign there . And FYI, this Wal*Mart has gas pumps.
We're with you silver&gold. On our way to the Can Opener, we overnighted in a Flying J. We parked in the RV area, and an SOB MOHO pulled in next to us, deployed his slide-outs and started the generator. We could barely get our door open due to the slide-out in our way. I went inside the truck stop and asked the security guard if we could move to the back where the big rigs park. He thanked me for asking and said okay. We took a spot in the back and had a fairly quiet night.
__________________ Randy and Pat Godfrey
1st VP Florida Unit WBCCI# 7591 - AIR# 17017
2007 Safari SE 23' - Daisy
2006 Lincoln Mark LT - Hoke
... we overnighted in a Flying J. We parked in the RV area, and an SOB MOHO pulled in next to us, deployed his slide-outs and started the generator. We could barely get our door open due to the slide-out in our way.
That's the type of S.O.B. (literally) that makes it hard for all other RVers. I't just flat out discourtesous to be running a generator at night and to put out the slide outs. I don't even like staying next to people like that at campgrounds.
__________________
Courtesy parking-- water, elect. and wi-fi.
To those who are about to Stream-I salute you!
I guess I am planning ahead because my trailer is in parts, but when I start to pull my trailer I plan on staying at a Walmart overnight. I have one picked out because we will be going to the same place each time. I can see abuse of the parking lot being a problem, but I know all I will do is go to sleep and then leave in the morning. I know in past years when I did some traveling I used to sleep in my truck at a truck stop and pay for a shower in the morning. Hotels are just way to expensive these days and that is one of the reasons I got my Airstream to fix up.
I've found that the reason many Walmarts don't allow overnight parking is because more cities are passing ordinances that forbid it. The best approach is to locate the Walmarts on your route, then call each one ahead of time to find out their specific policy. Some will say that their city doesn't allow it (in that case, you are assuming the risk of being asked to leave); others just say that they don't encourage it, etc. Those are the ones that will tolerate it if no one abuses the privilege. Walmart, like most other retail chains, has a "locator" website that covers the nation.
On our recent trip back from Big Basin Redwoods State Park, we thought we would sleep the night in Oxnard, CA, which has a Sam's Club lot that we have used several times. This time, we were told we couldn't stay by a security guard. We spent the next hour driving down Hwy 1 to Malibu, and finally "dropped anchor" along a stretch of hwy that was not posted to prohibit overnight parking. We spent the night undisturbed, and it was in a more scenic spot than a parking lot!
__________________
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. -T.S. Eliot
Jerry & Susan
2007 19' Bambi SE
2003 Dodge Dakota 4.7L V-8
Has anyone experienced over nighting in a Wal Mart lot in Canada? I plan on going North of the boarder this year and started to wonder if the Canadiens are as friendly as we are down here south of the boarder about this?
Every city and every WalMart will have different ordinances and experiences with overnighters in parking lots. In my town, city hall passed a bylaw a few years ago preventing overnighting in lots, but I see just as many RVs at the big boxes as before. I think if the store were to prevent you from overnighting, they would probably send out the security guy at closing time and not at 2 am, which would give you time to drive the 1/4 mile to the next box lot. In Prince George, the Chamber of Commerce and City Hall are very aware of the dollars spent by visitors (even if they are just passing through to Alaska) and don't want to ruffle feathers over parking issues.
there are a couple of threads on here from 2004 about over nighting at Wal Mart-Canada, just wanted to see if things had changed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4slice
Tsunami,
Every city and every WalMart will have different ordinances and experiences with overnighters in parking lots. In my town, city hall passed a bylaw a few years ago preventing overnighting in lots, but I see just as many RVs at the big boxes as before. I think if the store were to prevent you from overnighting, they would probably send out the security guy at closing time and not at 2 am, which would give you time to drive the 1/4 mile to the next box lot. In Prince George, the Chamber of Commerce and City Hall are very aware of the dollars spent by visitors (even if they are just passing through to Alaska) and don't want to ruffle feathers over parking issues.
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Parking is allowed, but as good things go there are some who take advantage of good things. For this we all pay the price Parking is just that. This does not mean pull out the lawn chairs and BBQ grill. Dump your gray water in the storm drain. Throw your empty whatever's on the parking lot surface. I speak from experience having parked at a lot of Wal-Mart lots. I have witnessed people taking advantage of this free kindness. They give us security and we give them grief come on. When I see campers doing this I let them know it is all of our duty to do this or loose it..... Sorry this irritates me.
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