Overnighting on Cross Country

[GDeen]

All good stuff here folks - thanks! Good idea on the sat view Jim, especially for a rookie.

Loc, I was thinking somewhere in the Las Cruces area would probably be a good first day. Printed out a list of options from the website Joe posted the other day. The Tejas welcome center also sounds like a good possibility.

I will be solo, so however I feel will dictate the deal. Main thing is to be back Thurs night so we can load our "bus stuff" and take a shake down cruise this weekend to Buckhorn.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Gordon we have grown to enjoy the 2 night stay when in route. This way I am not saddled with hooking, unhooking and driving on EVERY day, after a few days it becomes too much. It allows 1 full day, every other day, I do not have to go thru it and allows us some leisure time to look around or just get caught up.

This one new habit alone has probably done more to increase the enjoyment of traveling than anything else we have tried or changed, accept the purchase of the bus.

[phorner]

I agree, Joe.

If we're in a campground, it's almost never for a single night. In fact, when we're just travelling about with no real schedule, we usually take advantage of the weekly rates, since you can save a couple of bucks better spent on entertainment

[Petervs]

All this brings up an interesting subject. I find that we are either in a traveling mode to get somewhere, or a vacation mode to enjoy ourselves, take more time, see more sights, etc.

The RV industry is missing half the boat in my opinion. The RV parks mostly act like they are a destination resort. They offer picnic tables, bathrooms, pools, meeting halls, etc... Trust me, when I am traveling, I do not need any of those things. I appreciate a dump site every so many days, and at that time like to refill my fresh water tank, but all the rest is not needed or wanted.

Add to that, just to get parked, you have to stop, go in the office to register and pay, it always takes way too long and costs way too much when all I want to do is relax INSIDE my coach, have a nice dinner, watch a little TV and sleep, and depart relatively early the next morning. It is all such a pain in the a__ that we prefer not to stop in an RV park unless absolutely necessary.

I think the RV industry needs to make a kind of private rest area, just a huge gravel lot, a couple of security cameras, mark some lines for easy pull throughs, provide a dump station and water at one location, and some kind of quick pay station, $10 or 20 a night would be easy. No trucks allowed, no trees, no backing in, no unhooking, park as you pull in, walk over to pay, first come first served.

Ideally they would be located a mile off the interstate to reduce the noise and provide easy access. Lots of RV parks are underutilized, and they might find this a nice way to add to their income. If the word got out that these kind of spots were available, I bet lots of people would prefer them to both the high priced full RV park deal or the free WalMart, side street, church parking lot options.

[phorner]

Peter, that's a great idea. I would GLADLY pay for a convenient, spacious spot to pull-through for a night's stay.

All I need is a keep-it-simple spot on a fairly level, hard surface with a clear view of the sky for my satellite and I'm happy

In fact, there are many times when I would have been better off paying to stay in the campground parking lot, or their storage area, rather than the crappy spot they sent me to that required half an hour just to squeeze into hoping for minimal damage!

[gmcbuffalo]

Peter you are right on the mark. If I can and don't need to dump or take on water I use Indian Casinos parking lots just as you stated. I was told once that if you are rousted out by the security patrol just come out of your coach like your drunk and had a good time in their bar. They probably let you sleep it off.


On taking trucker spots to stay over night I stay away from them only because I know that the trucker needs the spot more than I. I can drive a lot longer than the law allows them. If I take their spot for the night and these place fill up fast he has to move on down the road. And the BEAR maybe waitiing for him. Like the incident told on this site about the truck with "no blank pages for vacation". I do use them if I need a nap.

I do agree it is a waste of money to pay for the swimming pool and kids park for a one nighter. wish the wife would start driving a little and not sleep in the buddy seat.

GregM

[TG Transport]

I like the way Peter thinks. We are either in the "get there" mode or park for a few days. A $10 parking lot with electrical is something I would use. It probably costs me about the same to run the generator for 4 hours. There is a place on I-75 in Tifton GA that has this basic set-up. I think its a Agricultural Center but you can see it from the interstate.

That said, we are not big campground fans anyway. I'd rather park in a creative place as close to the action we travelled to see as possible. The superior dry camping ability of the Prevost conversions was a big factor in our decision to purchase our first.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

That's an old discussion. We supply RV parks and campgrounds and at trade shows I have mentioned this often. There are destination parks and there are transient parks yet they all seem to have the same amenities and the same BS when checking in.

I don't want to fill out a form, I don't want to hear where the showers and toilets and laundry are. I don't want the combination to the pool gate.

I want to drive to the first open spot, plug in my electric cord and sit down in the living room and chill out. In the morning I want to just roll up the electric cord and drive away. I will leave a $5.00 or $10.00 bill in the office.

The first time we were in a place like this it was a Best Western, and since have seen many others. We parked, I walked in to the desk and gave the clerk the $5.00 it cost at the time and that was it. No discussion, no leading me down hundreds of feet of gravel road to my site, no paperwork and not even a receipt.

The closest thing to that is Agrirama off I-75 in Tifton GA. All except having to fill out the damn form.

[phorner]

When it comes to forms, Janice got tired of that chore as well.

So, she ran off a bunch of peel and stick address labels with the usual info, slaps one on their form and adds the date.

Hey, if she's happy..........I'm happier

[rfoster]

I didn't fill out the form at Agirama.

It is just what a fellow needs for a stop over for the night.

I showed up after six pm and the guy came around to me while I was plugging up and I gave him twenty bucks. He thinks I am George Washington or Andrew Jackson cause I dont have a phone either.

Quicker that way.