Overnight at Wal-Mart

In the three years we have been fulltime RVers, this is only the second time we have stayed at a Wal-Mart.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Wal-Mart policy for overnight parking, let me explain a little.  It is my understanding that several years ago, Wal-Mart opened their parking lots for truckers to use as a safe place to park overnight.  This was a generous public service to get sleepy truckers off the roads.  At some point, RVers were also extended that invitation and many have taken advantage of Wal-Mart’s hospitality.  No all Wal-Marts allow overnight parking.  In some cases there are city ordinances which prohibit overnight parking.  The first time we tried to stay at a Wal-Mart, the manager said no one was allowed to stay overnight at that location on that particular day.  The reason was we were at the store in Johnson City, TN and it was a race weekend at Bristol Speedway.  Whether or not parking is allowed is at the discretion of the individual store managers.  Bottom line—always ask permission to stay.

There are some RVers who use Wal-Marts as often as possible when traveling from place to place.  That is what we are doing tonight.  We called ahead to get permission and find out where in the parking lot we should park.  We are as close to the curb as we can get and we only put the slides out on the curb side.  To show our appreciation for the privilege of staying overnight, we bought over a hundred dollars in merchandise while here.

Of course, this isn’t like a full-service camp site.  We have no electricity.  Our house batteries will run a few lights, but we need to be careful with that because we are going to need those batteries to keep the furnace blower running all night.  We have propane for heat and technically I could cook, but the kitchen slide is not out so I can’t get to the stove.  The refrigerator and water heater will both run on propane so I don’t have to worry about perishable food and I will have hot water for hand washing and the few dishes we may use.  Yesterday, I prepared a wild rice salad with grilled salmon for tonight and Burger King is on the other end of the parking lot for our breakfast tomorrow.   We have a 50 gallon fresh water tank which should be sufficient for all our water needs.

As I mentioned before, this is only our second Wal-Mart stay.  The first time was early in our first trip in the Montana.  We had read so much about “boon-docking” at Wal-Mart that we just had to try it.  We were a little uncomfortable that time and were not eager to try it again.  Now, with more experience under our belts, we were willing to give it another shot.

Tomorrow, we have only about 150 miles to Livingston, Texas where we will stay for at least a week.