Our bus will be ready to bring home from North Carolina soon (it's at Gene's having Power Steering installed). My plans are to fly up and drive it up alone, I suppose I could stop at a motel on the way home but is there a reference guide that would help me find RV sites that are on my route home? I'd really rather sleep in my own bed in my own coach.
Dave Siegel
Try www.rvparkreviews.com (http://www.rvparkreviews.com)
Goodluck Matt
Hi Dave,
Gene will tell you he always stops at truck stops. We have stopped at a Flying J and parked in the RV sites and also parked at truck stops and parked with the trucks. Either is OK. Unless you have to have the hookups, that is what I would recommend. Also check out the FMCA stopping spots along the way. They have a list of folks that have parking spots for overnight stops. I am sure if you tell your route on here there are some of us along the way that have a place for you to pull in for a night's rest.
By the way I live 10 miles from Gene and talked to him yesterday and he was telling me about your bus. I know you are going to be happy with the upgrade.
Tom Hamrick
1984 Eagle 10S
Thanks for the overnight stopping tips, and Tom you are making me even more excited. Thanks I can't wait.
Dave
Why not stay overnight at Walmarts? They are typically a lot quieter than all the trucks idling at a truck stop. Rest areas are just as bad as truck stops at night.
I'm really starting to hate truckers at rest areas. If there is not an available spot they just park anywhere. We stopped at a rest area last month late at night to switch drivers. We almost couldn't get out of the rest area because a trucker was parked right in the driving lane. We ended up having to drive up on the sidewalk to get out of there.
Ive stayed at different walmart stores in 3 or 4 different states without any issues. I also like the fact that they have survelliance cameras on most everything.
We've stayed at truck stops, as far out of the way of the trucks as we can. no one has ever given us a hard time. We also stay at Walmart, Lowes, home depot, and sometimes eat breakfast at cracker barrel. All the "sites" are pull - thrus, so no unhitchng each nite. We usually fill at the truck stops, or buy a few things at the stores to "pay" for our site. i always need something at a home depot or lowes, and fran can usually find something worthwhile at Walmart.
i wouldn't stay at campgrounds unless you need the hookups. takes too much time to get to them because they aren't usually next to the road, too hard to get into the site and get hooked up each nite.
we're gettin ready to leave CO for OH and we have no plans for a campground. i've got to get to ohio quickly, so we don't have time to play.
park away from the crowds, sometimes in the back area. just make sure it's still well lit up and there is some traffic. We just run the genset a couple hours to keep the water hot and fix meals.
I agree with the Wal-Mart suggestion. There are always a handful of other RV's parked for the night so there is some safety in numbers. A lot of Wal-Marts even have private security that drives around the parking lot and keeps an eye on things. Security is aware of the RV friendly policy, so they are no problem... Also temperatures are very mild now in NC and all points north, so you can get away without running A/C for sure. Also, if you are just picking the bus up you will probably find plenty of stuff to buy at Wal-Mart in the automotive section. They carry lots of basic RV stuff.
Congrats on bringing your bus home.
Here's a post we wrote about finding camping spots, including finding overnight parking:
http://www.technomadia.com/2010/10/how-to-find-rv-parks-campgrounds-and-free-boondocking-updated/ (http://www.technomadia.com/2010/10/how-to-find-rv-parks-campgrounds-and-free-boondocking-updated/)
There are a lot of resources out there that track the options. Not all Wal-Marts/Lowes/Camping Worlds/Cracker Barrels, etc. allow overnight parking (local ordinances overrule), so it's helpful to know before you route towards one.
Have fun on your adventure home!
- Cherie
About the only WM's that do not allow overnight parking are the leased stores WM owed stores are very open to RV parking at their 24hr store regardless of city code they work that out before they build on a site.
And it is best to ask a manger even with signs posted only problem they have is WM doesn't like you blocking the truck lane their drivers pull in and spend the night in those no overnight parking lots
The WM's with the low clearance bars in front you drive to the back and use the truck entrance park there stay out of the front parking lot they were not design for heavy traffic that is the reason for the bars .
We always stay at CrackerBarrel in Yuma and Tuscon where it says no overnight parking permitted by city code never a problem and the law patrols the lots
good luck
There are definitely city codes that do not allow parking at some Walmarts. The 24 hour Walmart Supercenter at the Wisconsin Dells has signs all over the parking lot stating no overnight RV parking. I pulled in there on the evening of Dec 25th last year and stayed overnight. I didn't see the signs until morning as it was dark when I pulled in. I doubt any campground was open at that time of year anyhow.
If you ask the manger and he gives the ok not a thing they do about it and the mangers love doing that lol and like I said leased stores are a different animal and 32% of the WM's are leased not owed by WM
good luck
Have fun with your new bus and my vote is Walmart, they have the cheapest rates in the country and they serve breakfast.
It seems to me that every time you are about to fall asleep in a rest stop, the truck next to you starts up and leaves. I vote for walmart.
Dave,
Good luck with your bus repairs. I run from NJ to Cape Coral Fl and mostly stop in rest stops. The state line locations seem to be nicer & cleaner, but all I have seen were very acceptable.
Maybe I am really tired, but I have only once been annoyed with a neighboring reefer.
Fuel in Ga. before entering Fl, has been my experience.
I would vote for Walmart mostly except for the Flying J on I95 in Latta, SC. A huge lot is at most half full ever.
if you need a campground try ST George, SC. There is a Passport America park in the back side of a motel. Right off the highway but lower in elevation, noise goes over the top. PA price was $15.
Flying J in Brunswick, GA is busy and full all the time. Instead push on to the Florida Welcome Center. Stay to the far right and go to the RV pull through spaces. From thier to Naples is a days drive. A suggestion is to avoid accident city, I 75 especially around the Tampa/St Pete area, is US 17 south to FL 80 turn right and I 75 in Ft Meyers is about 5 miles from there.
Enjoy your trip and good luck.
Bill
Bill,
Where is accident city ?? Never heard.
I like to take Rt 301 thru Callahan, Starke, etc etc, to Ocala. Watch your speed however. Peaceful route for me.
I think its safe to say many here avoid campgrounds. The reasons are many, not only cost, but most are far off the route were taking, and if were just traveling and need a spot to sleep, its really rather idiotic to burn up $4 gallon fuel going out of your way to blow $20 to sleep somewhere, not knowing what youll run into there. Having a bunch of drunks outside your spot laughing and carrying on with their yippie dog barking til the butt crack of dawn, I vote truck stop and rumblin diesels.
We stayed at a WM up in northern Missouri, I dont think anyone in that town had a muffler of their Truck or Camaro/Mustang, and they continually drove through the parking lot gassin the loud pedal until we gave up and drove on down the road.
When we first came into NWA, we asked about staying at the WM in Bentonville, which is the home of Walmart. Manager said not to, that although it was WM policy to allow RV parking, Bentonville would ticket you if you did. He directed us to park over at Rogers Sams Club, which is closed at night and quiet and dark as anything.
Campgrounds do have a place if your planning on hanging around somewhere a while, let the kid run and play and swim, and we use them. We generally like State and US Forestry campgrounds best, usually very quiet and nice. Somehow have a hard time paying $20-$30 just to park in some campground though. Weve stayed in rest areas, truck stops, walmarts, back lot of mom & pop restaurants, never really had a problem. Basically we drive until we dont want to anymore and start looking for a place to land.
Dave -
There is a Yahoo Group dedicated to "WalMarRVing" that you should seriously look at for your travels.
Once you join, in the files section (tab on left of main page), you'll find a .pdf document you can use to find out which WMs allow ON parking and which ones do not.
The list is maintained and updated frequently, well worth having it bookmarked.
Here's the link to the group's main page:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/walmartrving/ (http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/walmartrving/)
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
Thanks RJ, that was a great link. Turns out I had an old Yahoo account so signing up was a breeze they just had to re-verify some things and bada-bing I was in. The links looks just like what I was looking for and I will be sure to use them.
Thanks again,
Dave Siegel
QuoteFuel in Ga. before entering Fl, has been my experience.
But don't wait until you get too close to the border. The dealers have figured that one out. Load up at least 50 miles before the border.
Quote from: Len Silva on September 25, 2011, 06:47:14 AM
QuoteFuel in Ga. before entering Fl, has been my experience.
But don't wait until you get too close to the border. The dealers have figured that one out. Load up at least 50 miles before the border.
Same thing in Wyoming on the Utah border. Utah prices are much higher so prices in Evanston are higher than Wyoming prices, but still lower than Utah prices.
Dave on your way home. try 321 and 301 You will be traveling with a lot of local trucks and logging trucks. The diesel is a lot cheaper than on the interstate and the ride is a lot ease on the nerves.
uncle ned
I don't like CG's for quick overnight stops. I usually prefer truck stops or rest area's. Look for the rest area's that have "overnight security"....
On the road where wi fi or the net is not available we use the WM atlas cost you $4.95 and lists every WM,Sam's and their grocery store chain in the US that prohibits or allows overnight parking gives you the directions to that store that is were the people on the Yahoo group get their info fwiw
I have saw people dumb enough to pay $19.95 at CW for book for free parking at a WM locations lol
good luck
wonder who Gene is?? lived in NC for 27 yrs but do not know who this could be, could you please let me know
Frank Allen
Hello: Russells diesel repair 2080 John Shehan road, Mill Spring NC 828-863-2102..
Right off rte 74 exit 170. Approx 30 miles north of Spartonburg SC..
Just left there friday. Had a problem with my 50 Dn alternator. Lost a pulley in NY state and called Gene. He had an 70 amp 24V alternator (air cooled) waiting and we fabricated a bracket and got the bus back on track. The boys identified a leaky exhaust manifold gasket which was replaced and we were on our way. Great place and great poeple to work with. Gene has 40 years experience working with diesels and big equipment. His knowledge is very extensive.
Daves bus looks great. power steering and other additions.
just got home and the bus is in the barn.. whirlwind trip to CNY for a funeral and some work that was promised a while ago.
Had to duck and dodge the flooding in Pa when going north. Interesting trip.
Regards and happy bussin mike
Clifford -Quote from: luvrbus on September 25, 2011, 11:19:51 AM
. . . that is were the people on the Yahoo group get their info. . .
That may have been true initially, but currently, many members of the group contribute to the site and the list is updated almost monthly - certainly much more frequently than the printed atlas.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
That's probably true RJ if you fill out the card in the altas WM sends you the update along with their Neighborhood Markets that allow overnight parking I haven't heard if they are going to allow overnight parking at their new Express stores or not anything on the Yahoo group about over night parking at those
good luck
Hello: I did discuss Genes shop in my last post but the original thread mentioned a way to get back to florida cheaply .
In my case I had to get to atlanta so I took I26 to I 85 south. we stayed at a flying j at carnesville exit 160. THen I85 to I 75. Two flying Js @ 201 and 2 then into florida and home.
However to get to the eastern part of florida take I26 to I95 head south. Flying J @ brunswick exit 29. Great barbeque at the Georgia pig @ 29.
I stay at flying J or pilot because it is easy and usually not much of a problem. you can run your generator if necessary.
flying J has a book published monthly with all the stops listed although I did find one in georgia not in the book on 85. Usually has pilots listed also.
I park in either section truck side or Rv side.
Regards and happy bussin mike
Quote from: mikelutestanski on September 26, 2011, 05:32:51 AMflying J has a book published monthly with all the stops listed although I did find one in georgia not in the book on 85. Usually has pilots listed also.
I guess you know (but some people don't) that the company that owns Pilot truck stops bought Flying J a few months ago. They're consolidating the two systems but there's still some overlap -- some stops are changing name and brand so "location" information is pretty fluid. Most Flying J's are beginning to have info on Pilot locations and vice versa. I think that they're taking each others credit cards, etc. now. It's probably best to check the websites for the latest info on your route before you begin a trip.
Hello: Our old loyalty card was replaced at a pilot station in may . Most flying j s now have new gas pumps with provisions for visa ($495. limit per swipe) mastercard is only 100. per swipe. You usaully get the cash price when using your rv loyalty card even if you use visa. get receipt and everything all at the pump. The newer pump units electronics are better. One place we did have problems was carlyle pa milemrker 50 I 81. The place was a zoo because they were working on the pumps .
Regards and happy bussin mike
Quote from: mikelutestanski on September 26, 2011, 10:09:25 AM
Hello: Our old loyalty card was replaced at a pilot station in may . Most flying j s now have new gas pumps with provisions for visa ($495. limit per swipe) mastercard is only 100. per swipe. You usaully get the cash price when using your rv loyalty card even if you use visa. get receipt and everything all at the pump. The newer pump units electronics are better. One place we did have problems was carlyle pa milemrker 50 I 81. The place was a zoo because they were working on the pumps .
Regards and happy bussin mike
Thanks, Mike. That's pretty much been my experience with Pilot and Flying J lately. One big kicker around me was that Flying J used to discount fuel to draw business - now that the remaining Flying J's are pricing fuel pretty much what everybody else is, the other stations/stops around them don't feel the competition and they're putting their prices up. There used to be little "puddles" of low priced fuel around Flying J's on the east coast -- stations within 10 miles of them were typically 12-14-15 cents lower than most stations along the road. All things change, I guess.
We use WM parking lots when available, if not we use truck stops, except when we need to dump or do laundry or it is so hot we don't want to run the genset at night.
WM parking lots are better than TV!!
Are you saying that you can not use a gen set at night in a Wal Mart parking lot?
Dave
No, I'm saying that I don't want to run my genset all night, primarily because of CO danger. The sound of a genset wouldn't even be noticed!
Making noise is no problem at WM with all the trucks and reefer trailers, traffic, local hot rodding, horns and etc!! Same for truck stops.
Thank you Gus for clearing that up. Our bus is all electric and we either have to plug into a wall or run the generator for power, and that worried me, thinking that a generator was not allowed in their parking lots.
Thanks
Dave
Petro is where i usually go. Stay with the truckers, they have full vehicle service & the Iron Skillet restaurant, showers & is very clean!
On my last trip to TN I noticed that one of the Petro's had replaced the Iron Skillet with a Denny's. I have nothing against Denny's but it isn't an Iron Skillet. I hope that is not going to become the norm for Petro.
Frank
All pretty good advice. Just be aware, and i think most busnuts are, parking is getting tougher for the big trucks and inconsiderate RV's arent helping. I have heard some pretty po'd drivers because of rv's taking up too many spaces with dumb parking. which is why i usually park truck side back out of the way. Be really carefull walking the lot and watch yourself and family day and nite.
Just reading this topic for the first time.... all i can say is that the only time we tried to stay in a WM parking lot, we ended up staying in front of RJ's house. ;D
Quote from: Slow Rider on September 29, 2011, 06:40:43 AM
On my last trip to TN I noticed that one of the Petro's had replaced the Iron Skillet with a Denny's. I have nothing against Denny's but it isn't an Iron Skillet. I hope that is not going to become the norm for Petro.
Frank
Frank that must of been a Petro bought out by "Flying J/Pilot" maybe around Fort Chiswell, VA where Flying J bought out the Petro before going broke and being bought out by Pilot.
All Flying J restaurants are being changed over to Denny's
;D BK ;D
Dave,
You will probably be the quietest one in the WM lot if you park anywhere near big trucks!
When truck stop lots are crowded we try to park in a spot that is difficult or impossible for a truck to get into. Ironically, these spots are usually caused by another trucker parking at an odd angle. Anyway, the turnover in these lots is so quick that whatever the situation is when you arrive quickly changes. I also try to buy fuel wherever I stop.
One other thing, be sure to park in the front of the spot so some truck doesn't back into you in the middle of the night thinking the spot is empty! Same goes for rest stop parking, always park so your bus is easily seen.
The only real problem with truck stops is most of them are gravel and have huge holes, too deep for some low buses, and are dusty. When the holes are full of water it is even more exciting!!
Wow, it really sounds like I am in for an adventure when I bring the old girl home. We have always stayed in a campground, so I have found it very interesting reading about everyones adventures in other truck stops and Wal Marts, etc.
I have to stop before nightfall because I have not hooked up my corner roof markers yet and I am afraid I would get stopped by a trooper or DOT officer. Plus my vision is not great and worse at night time.
I got this great app for my phone that integrates Google maps with Wal Mart locations so I can see where those various stores are as I travel south. And depending on how tired I am or late in the day it is I can find a good stop while I still have light.
Thanks for all the great advice folks. I think it will be soon, I talked to Gene yesterday and he had been road testing the bus to calibrate the electric speedometer. That was the last project on my list so I'm hoping I'll hear from him with an invitation to come and get it within the next couple of weeks.
Thanks again,
Dave
P.S *side note* Has anyone ever had experience with a truck car wash by running their RV or bus through one of those things?
Dave - There is a good bus wash on I75 @ Wildwood exit (exit weat on north side of strret) cost about $1.50 a foot (not cheap) - HTH
Dave,
Buy a road atlas from WM for $6.95 which lists all WM and Sam's stores in the US, addresses, interstate exit numbers and if they have diesel.
Someone posted on the board a while ago that truck washes use an acid wash, not good for Al as I remember.
The truck wash is not acid wash - they do offer acid wash for those getting their rims polished - FWIW
Thanks for clearing up that acid wash thing. I was under the impression that the truck wash stations did use an acid wash and I was concerned for the paint.
But now let's consider the two a/c's up on the roof and the batwing antenna. Trucks generally don't have appendages like that over head, are they safe when buses have those things up there?
Dave
Yes!
They pull you in a large wash bay and use spray wands and brushes to wash it.
It's not a giant automated kwickie gas station car wash.
;D BK ;D