Day Parking

[omahajim]

OK, another post that could have gone in another forum (Parking Overnight). But this is more a full-timer question.

As I have said before on the other board, I am employed (currently living in Omaha, telecommuting to office in Denver area with trip to office once or twice a quarter), and intend to work full time when in my prospective coach. I'll be pulling a Ben - selling the house and living/working on the road.

One of the things that's been bugging me the most right now is the whole 'where do I park' thing. I don't intend to own property, and I can't afford one of those RV park deeded lots.

I have what you call a 9-5. Predictable hours, Monday through Friday, and since I'll be solo (like Ben), I can't work while someone else drives.

I *do* a fair amount of travel in my job already, all over the country, usually at least one a month to different cities (but not as often as Ben I think). The need to find a place to sit for a few days at a time, minimum, without moving, will be key. The idea will probably be find a place I can sit Sunday night through Friday afternoon, then pick up over the weekend to explore then plop down late Sunday evening for the workweek. Those monthly trips somewhere in the US will end up being parking opportunities, but I'll need a good plan for the rest of the time. I may have to end up budgeting for KOA or the like on a regular basis. Unless Ben writes a good book on '100 best stealth coach parking/boondocking locations in the US'.

Sorry Jon, instead of barraging a long list of questions, it takes me forever to get just one long question out. Still interested in your answer (and Ben's, too).

I think I have the 'easy' stuff decided (40', likely converter, cruise vs. bus, older shell/conversion (80s/early 90s), no slides (a given at that shell age), etc etc).

Thanks

[Just Plain Jeff]

Welcome to POG! Now that you have lowered yourself into abject humiliation to join others who will insult you, here we go: Check out this link on prevost-stuff.com: http://www.prevost-stuff.com/ronjonstory.htm I met the Ron Jon people in Florida. They have been full-timing for 17, yup, SEVENTEEN years and claim that they have yet to stay in a campground.

What they do is only take the Super Slab when necessary and hang out in smaller towns. Ron's thing is that he goes into the local diner and meekly asks a waitress, "Hey, anywhere around here we can park our camper for the night?" According to Ron, they alway say, "Oh, sure, such-and such." On the rare occasions that they are challenged, Ron tells the inquirer, "Suzie over at the diner told us to stay here," and they are good to go.

There is a book of dump stations around the country, the Wal Mart guide, Next Exit, and so on. You'll find that if you can get away from the Interstate Crowd, there's usually a commercial property for sale or an empty lot not far from the road, etc., and for a night, no one will hassle you. Just lock the bays and the doors and you're set.

The secret to the Ron Jon thing (I think) is that they are running a multi-million dollar business from their right and have a ton of communications gear on board so they are never out of touch and always pretty busy.

The other Big Lie that full timers will tell you is that they are really Full Timers; most have a 'home base' of some sort, or a lot with a big shed or someplace that they call, 'home,' be it ever so humble.

Best 'full timer parking' story I ever heard was a guy with company going to downtown Toronto, where the hotels were expensive. They drove right into a downtown parking lot and the guy told them they would have to pay overnight parking for 2 cars. So for 14 bucks they had a strategically located parking place, near all the restaurants, etc., and no one to bother them.

Think creatively. Churches are good; especially if you can find a pastor or priest and make a small donation for 'the poor.'

[truk4u]

Jim,
You could also pick up a membership for Coast to Coast or Thousand Trails like the snow birds do and that is cheap camping. I picked up a Coast to Coast membership a few years ago from a member selling their membership for 100.00 (they paid 1500.00) and signed up with the home park for 75.00 per year and you can't beat the rates.

[Orren Zook]

I like the coach parking lanes behind a Cracker Barrel for quick overnight parking, no lot sweepers like the Walmart and you can have breakfast as early as 6AM, before you begin your days journey.

[Ben]

OmahaJim,

First off, it's not a decision between cruise air and bus air. My bus has both (as do 99% of all Liberys). Bus air is only used when driving and then you have either cruise air or roof air for when parked. So, the decision is bus air or not (for when driving), and then cruise air or roof air for when parked (or might be able to run one unit when driving if they have the right setup).

Secondly, you'll have to figure out how often you plan to park in hot climates. When it's hot, you have to either be plugged in or run the generator to have air conditioning. The cost of running the generator for 8+ hours might cost the same as being at a cheap RV park with electrical. That means that you might have to budget for that no matter what.

Also, your batteries will last for about 24 hours before they have to be charged and it will take 6-8 hours to charge them. That means that your generator is going to have to run for that length of time almost every day (assuming you use stuff in your coach like the microwave or lights)... you might as well time that so it happens when you need the air conditioning. That means that you have to budget for the fuel it takes to run the generator that long, or park at a RV park instead. You'll also have to change your generator oil every 100 hours, which will add to the cost.

I just want to make sure you understand that you'll have daily expenses that you'll have to budget for. When I first thought of doing this, I figured that I wouldn't need to be at an RV park or run the generator very often... but as it turns out, you have to run it quite often.

Some people use minimal electical and add solar panels to the roof and extra batteries and don't run the air conditioning and then you can save on your daily expenses. I'm considering adding more batteries and possibly solar if it could do an OK job keeping the batts charged.

I don't own property and don't plan to pay a deeded lot or anything. But that doesn't mean that I have to pay for parking very often. I park on the street next to friends houses (can usually get away with this for 2-3 days before people start complaining to the authorities), I park at Wal-Marts all the time. Wal-Mart is mainly for when you'll drive on in the morning. But you have to call ahead to make sure they will let you park. Some cities have ordinances that do not allow overnight parking and in those areas Wal-mart will not let you park. That's when I park across from a friends house. Or, just drive to a more industrial area where they won't notice you.

Beware of friends suggestions: they will assume you live in an "RV" and they will invision a class-C camper thingie. Ask them if you could park a semi trailer there and then they will think differently. They will usually not think about low trees or overly sharp corners, or will think it's no big deal to drive through 80 feel of sand to get to the place they think you can park. Everyone who sees my bus is amazed at how tall it is. That meanst that they really didn't think if I could fit in the parking spot they were suggesting. They also have no idea what 40 feet is. That's why I ask if a semi truck could fit in the area they are suggesting. They know semi's are large and get a different perspective.

Friends will also think they can run an electrical cord to your rig to help you. A standard electical circuit is something like 20 amps. There is nowhere I can plug that kind of a cord into the bus. I need 30 amps minimum and 50 amps would be best. FYI: 30 amps is 110volts and 50 amps is 220. That means that 30 amps is 30 amps total, and 50 amps is two 110 legs of 50 amp serivce. On 30 amps you can run maybe one air conditioner. On a real 50 amp service, you can run all the airs. Your generator will most likely deliver two 110 volt 70 amp legs which is more than enough to run everthing in your coach at the same time.

If your work involves working on a computer screen, then you wouldn't want to work while someone else drives. There is just too much motion to be able to focus on the screen for 8 hours.

During the day you should have no problem finding a place to park. You can park just about anywhere (grocery store parking lot, park, etc.)... it's nighttime when the restriction some into play. That's when you park in front of a friend's place, in an industrial area, or at Wal-Mart.

Parking for a few days while you're out of town: I've parked at off-airport parking lots (you know the type that has a shuttle to the airport and is pretty close by). In Denver, it costs $8/day, which is only $1 more than a car (and that's for the bus with car in tow!). Other times, I leave it parked at friends houses (my blog readers often give me tips on where I can park... my blog is www.whereisben.com). I also often call hotels to see if they can accomodate something as large as my rig and if they say "no", then I ask where buses park in that city. I was able to park in downtown Chicago for $20/day for my bus and toad right by the convention center. Try parking a car for that little in downtown Chicago. I also often park at Detroit Diesel and Prevost repair places when I fly out of town. I setup an appointment to get my oil changed or have some little thing looked at and then ask if it's OK to park there for a few days. So far I haven't been turned down and they haven't charged me a cent for parking.

So, if you're traveling for just a 2-3 days, it should be pretty easy to find a place to park that doesn't cost all that much. It's when you have to leave for a long time that it's more of a pain in the ass. Right now I'm out of town for 20 days and that wasn't so easy because I had to make sure the fridge would keep running and that the batteries would stay topped off for that long of time.

I hope this helps ya... let me know what it doesn't answer and I'll give you more detail.

[omahajim]

Ben and Jeff and the rest

Thanks for the helpful replies. Of course these things will (maybe?) all seem much clearer to me when I actually get a coach and just get to it out on the road. Will continue to ingest everything here (well, most of it) as I work through everything that needs to be thought of (if that's possible) before I jump off the deep end.

Whew, I'm beat now

thanks again
J

[Ray Davis]

Another minor thing to watch for. Quite often, even if you're plugged in to shore power, (like in Ben's long term stay), your 24 volt system may not be charged. My neighbor in my storage facility learned that the hard way, and I'm reasonably confident that my 24v batteries are not charged when plugged in to AC.

-ray