Truck Stops or Rest Areas or Nothing??

[pcskier]

I pull over and sleep in rest stops, truck stops, Cracker Barrel's, etc. we have every right to be safely rested as the truckers do, and we are not 'taking up space' at a Walmart overnight. As long as it's allowed, walmart welcomes us.

When needing to cover a longer distance in a set amount of time to get to or from the camping destination, it's a pain to try to reserve or plan for or find campgrounds. Unless one has the benefit of unlimited time, i.e. retired, which I am not.

Different strokes for everybody. Having a fully self contained Airstream that I can pull off the road in, lock the door, and have all the comforts of a hotel, while getting some rest for safe driving, for free--is on of the great benefits of owning one.

[pcskier]

Originally Posted by travelczar

Never having used Pilot or Flying J or similar, I'm understanding you to say that there are designated spaces?? Need one pay for the use of the space?? How does one get a space??

They are free, just pull in. Some have signs directing rv's to a different area than the trucks. Which is better anyway, trucks are noisy they idle all night. I usually drive around a bit and find a decent spot where there are other rvs and even people catching a snooze in their cars.

Recently had to drive from Miami to Utah in 4 days--2500 miles. Miserable, but necessary. It was great to be able to drive as long as I safely could, then easily find a place to pull in to have a snack and get a good nights sleep. Even with a hit shower before bed or in the am right in the comfort of my Airstream.

Not the serene camping experience we buy them for, but certainly a great option to have in a long trip.

My advice--take yours for an overnight trip near home just to try it out and see if the experience is one you're comfortable with. Or even just take a drive in your car one night if you live near an interstate, and check out the truck stops, rest areas, etc. And no--you are not crazy, thousands of us do this, as you'll see when you get out there!

[Silver Pony]

If you're a member of WBCCI there always courtesy parking. I've never tried it but have spoke to Airstreamers who have.

[Rgentum]

This past summer, we drove from Seattle to the AS rally in WVA, approx. 2800 miles, in 5.5 days & stopped overnight in either a truck stop or a highway rest area. Our only problems were:

1. Heat at night 'cause, with no power, we couldn't use the AC.
2. Noise from the diesel refrigerated semis nearby.

The huge truck stops, ie, Flying J, Love, etc., were typically packed & just too noisy. We'd look for smaller, all-night stations providing diesel, which typically had only a few trucks overnight & which were a lot quieter.

[dames7]

We did a Casino one night and got a good dent in our AS while we went in to eat and get rid of some coin, only cost me $1000 DED.

[RudiOnTheRoad]

Travelczar... Many people use Walmarts for an overnight stay enroute. Allstays makes an app just for Walmart locations... reviews of how safe they are, where to park and whether or not they allow overnight parking. Good to have even if you never have to use it!

[Wingeezer]

We have been using FJ truck stops for the last twenty years or so on our annual winter trips south.

Initially I was a bit concerned about the safety aspect - but I can say that after all those years we have never had the slightest problem - certainly not to say it couldn'thappen of course.

You do not park with the 18 wheelers - you park in the separate lot up front near the store & pumps. Most have a number of designated extra long drive through spots that will handle a trailer and tow vehicle or motorhome and they welcome you to stay overnight.

Typically they might have 8 or 10 such spots - but some of the older FJ's have none. In that case, if the place isn't too busy we have been able to find a few car spots at the perimeter of the lot where we can park. I usually try to angle the tow vehicle out when I do that so as to eliminate the chances of finding myself blocked in the next morning. It has never happened.

We always reciprocate by filling up with fuel and eating supper at the FJ.

Because it is first come first served, we try to plan our stop for early evening to ensure a spot. Always been ok so far.

I like the fact that the forecourts are well lit and there are generally people coming and going - increases the feeling of security some! But as I said we have not had any issues at all.

We never have the slightest problem sleeping as we are usually pretty beat after a full day on the road.

It is usually quite cold overnight where we find ourselves stopping. In the earlier years, I would run the furnace in the evening, then before going to sleep, run the truck a bit to top up the batteries, and then shut t down and then unplug the trailer cable from the truck turn the thermostat down to maybe 55F so the furnace runs less (on the coach batteries) overnight.

Never had a problem doing that - but more recently I bought a Honda gennie - that way we can have lots of heat all evening plus use the tv etc. without concern.

I cable lock the gennie to the trailer tongue while using it, but don't leave it out all nigh. - I put it in the truck when we retire. I don't turn the thermostat down quite so much as the trailer batts are fully charged when I disconnect the gennie.

Depending on how early we leave in the am, I might run the gennie again for an hour to charge the coach batteries back up while we have breakfast.

I use the Pilot / FJ website to pick our overnight target truck stop, and I check it out on google satellite view to see how the car park is set up for RV's.

There are at least a couple of FJ's that do not have RV parking so this way I avoid suprises.

FJ's out of major cities are likely to have more space.

Haven't had the opportunity to stop a Walmart or Cracker barrel, but wouldn't have any concern about it - especially if at least one or two other RV's were present.

We did once pull into a Cracker Barrel with a view to possible having supper and staying - but at that particular one there was no way we couple park our rig in their smallish
car park - maybe that was not typical.


Brian.

[kyote]

All good advice here, but no one has mentioned public land

There is plenty of Forest service and BLM land across Nevada and Wyoming (I assume you are taking I-80).

A bit of time on google maps and you can find spots that are super quiet and secluded

[lovetokite]

my understanding is the OP wants to do this trip in February. Quiet a few folks suggested camp grounds for overnight stays. Aren't most closed at that time of the year in the Northern States?

[GeeSag]

As mentioned above:
Interstate rest stops vary by state.

This is straight from the North Carolina DOT web site:
"Rest Areas offer opportunities for convenient, brief stops and........staying overnight are prohibited at North Carolina’s Rest Areas"

[n2916s]

The Florida DOT website says the same thing.

[USAtraveler]

Lotsa good tips here. Personally, I steer clear of Walmart parking lots; not safe overnight, IMO. I've never had a problem at rest stops, but some do fill up with truckers along the interstates (Vallejo, for ex). Always nice to find a place where other RV's have stopped. Best advice: Don't travel late into the day. Find a place well before it gets dark.

[leslie mcb]

Many casinos also allow overnight parking. Some even have partial hookups. We've found these clean, safe and relatively quiet.

[FunyFarm]

Boondocking it
No your not nuts..

it took Mrs Funyfarm about 3 days to figure that out.

This is a forest service road 11 miles south of the Grand Canyon Nat. Park we spent 2 nights there on our :

2016 adventure . 8 weeks eastern Oregon desert to Cape Cod Via Texas with the kids longest travel day was 345 miles . We never stayed at a Walmart ( do the research there is more crime happen in Walmart parking lots than in Chicago)

We prefer solitude, as I saw someone here suggested the Allstays app it will be the best investment u can make! You tell Allstays where your headed and it tells you what is available.
Including but not limited to: Walmart, US FS, BLM, state parks, city parks, county parks, as well as Army corps of engineers Parks.,. It will also tell you about the truck stops ,, or KOA or all other RV parks just set the filters. We found the ACE ( Army Corps of Engineers) to be the most satisfying. Some of them have laundry facilities most all have electricity, some have electricity and water. And always a sewer dump.

Just a footnote on the forest service camping we invested in Honda generators quiet and powerful, also we on coachman .410 shotgun that's always at the ready, ( on the road you have to take responsibility for your own saftey ) you never know when you're going to run into a predator two or four-legged,more no legged for that matter think snakes!
Remember the 3 s's. Works for all kinds of problems.

On our whole entire trip we only had one night where we felt uncomfortable. That was in Kentucky , Guess what,, it only took six minutes to load up and get the heck out, it was just the way the guy covered in jailhouse tats said " amen". We moved on about 20 miles to a rest area. ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCTS ! That is also the only night we spent in a rest area. It was noisy that night but it wasn't the trucks it was the 3 inches of rain fell in nine hours! But the next day brought a new dawn , away we went. With a shiny airstream! I don't consider that to bad of odds one night out of eight weeks! But like I said we prefer solitude.

Anyway my advice is worth what y'all paid for it.

So I say enjoy your adventure, I know we did, it was our first in an airstream. It was much better than the 36 foot big country. We had for six years. It seems like the airstream is better accepted in small towns , if y'all need to just stop! People know you ain't movin in. Lol 😜🙀 btw like one guy said ,casino parking lots are not a good choice that's experience talking.

Have fun. C.U. Out there. Flashing our lights to ya..
Funyfarm

[FunyFarm]

Whoops. Lol

[glenrms]

You might want to join Boondockers if you travel much. Stay at private residences of RV folks like yourself. This may not work for quick overnight stops though. https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/
We have also found that remote areas of hospital parking lots are quiet and safe.

[barrettjl]

We have stayed overnight in Rest Stops a few times, out of necessity (too tired or too hazardous to continue) not out of planning. As others have said, not all states allow overnight camping. We always plan on short days if possible (6 hours driving or less) and staying in campgrounds.

On the road we use the "All Stays Camp & RV" app to find campgrounds (and truck stops for fuel and rest areas for breaks; it also lists WalMarts that do or do not allow overnights, places to get LP, Cracker Barrels, Bass Pro Shops, and other useful places). The app also has a summary listing for each state (like whether you can camp overnight in rest areas). We use their website for trip planning at home.

I didn't read all the replies to this thread, so if someone already recommended this app, consider this a enthusiastic second!

[banderabob]

We have done rest stops in East Texas as well as Louisiana. The one in LA was the Atchifalaya Preserve and we've stayed there twice. We scoped these out en route and both had cameras, and the one in LA had on-site security as well. On the flip side, we have checked out a couple, and moved on. As someone else has noted, they do fill up with trucks, but also other RVs. If it looks good, and safe, try it.

[WindyJim]

If you have a smart phone, you might consider adding a free app called "RV Parky". It shows you all the campgrounds, Walmarts, etc. on a map. You can then touch any one of interest, and it gives you the name, rating, reviews, address, rates, distances, etc. You can then touch the item just pulled up and it gives you all the facilitiy information on the location, 50AMP or 30AMP, TV, etc., and a button to call the facility.
If you click on one of the Walmart locations it gives you the address of the Walmart and a symbol indicating if overnight camping is allowed. If not, it shows a moon symbol, with ZZZ after it, with a diagonal line through it, indicating overnight is not allowed at that location.
We have found this to be very helpful when traveling through areas we are unfamiliar with, especially pricing, rating, facilities, etc. It is nice to be able to compare facilities before you lock on up for the night.

[kleimanr]

Pilot Flying J works for me. Never had a problem. Get the Good Sam Discount card.