Camping at walmart

[jeeepz]

Hey all, i was on my way to anchor down in dandridge tn and got tired in crossville tn,found a walmart close to interstate,found an out of the way spot,called the mgr.very friendly,no problem. Got in bed and then the the fun started.kids doing burnouts,loud mufflers showing off way too much,finally got to sleep and then the wife says an alien craft is landing next to us,turns out it was a parking lot cleaner that decided to pay extra attn in my area. Hmm next time maybe ill try cracker barrel.

[edkjr]

Jeepz, I know exactly what your taking about. Rt 81 NY, PA boarder, all was fine till around 10 pm. Than it started 1 car in the middle sets up the highout put speakers. Than they pair up go down the street and race than back to Walmart, and pair up again till. 2am.
BTW how is anchor down, we're going there end of August.

[TurnerFam]

these things certainly happen... but you can also find sometimes a very quite night in the right circumstances, at the right place, and parking out near the fringes or even in the rear of the building were less is 'going on'....

we use Lowes(especially like their wifi that tends to reach easily into the parking lots), HomeDepot, W*mt, Sams... most any big box retailer with very large parking lots, especially those with trees to park under, and areas where the typical shopper does not normally use, or drive by.
Many churches have very large parking lots, and may not mind the occassional overnighter, but calling and asking politely is best - the same for many 'business hour' businesses that don't have employees staying late or arriving early.
Even fast food or restaurants sometimes have very large lots and don't really care that you are 'there'. They usually have more pressing concerns than whether an RV is using their lot overnight.
There can be exceptions, but the general idea is that if you are not bothering them, they probably will not be bothering you : )

We never use the word 'camping' and W*mt in the same sentence, as overnighting is a more appropriate term for the short duration and the simple need of some place to 'park' the rig while sleeping.

While is fairly certain that a visit into the store will probably happen, it's certainly never a requirement for us... and it seems that none of these mentioned businesses make any requirement, either... if you are a good citizen, they are too.
While we have a Class A and have no need to 'exit' the RV in order to arrive, park, and stay for the night, some with travel trailers and fifth wheels have to be a little more discreet when using the 'trailer' for overnighting, such as keeping leveling and slide-out usage to a minimum, if any, or at least try to keep the slide on the curb/grass/out-of-the-way side. Keeping lights in the RV to a minimum is a good idea, too, as anyone driving by can easily see in.

None of this is from any 'rule book', but just some basic common sense type of ideas that help to keep all of us in the 'good graces' of the general business world when it comes to making use of their facilities, free of charge.

[jeeepz]

Lovin anchor down,nice pool with slide,great lake swimming area with big slides,big lake toys,,close enuff to gatlinburg with none of the traffic and most sites have killer lake views.were comin back again next year

[Mr Sunshine]

We have stayed at many W Mts across the country and in Canada, too, and never had a night like described.

Yes, Crkr Brrl is usually quieter. We've used some of the others mentioned and churches, too. Always, always ask permission. At WMt we almost always spend $50-100, and at Crkr Brrl we always have a meal. At those, you can count on the trash truck and at least one delivery truck early in the morning.

If you get in a situation like that again, roll on down the highway to the next town. You will probably still hear that "alien craft" street sweeper.

[Bob Denman]

You sure got a full night's worth of entertainment!

[Pete'sMH]

We stayed at Anchor Down last year and it is now my “gold standard” against which all other parks are compared. I’m quite certain it will satisfy all comers.

[jeeepz]

Originally Posted by edkjr

Jeepz, I know exactly what your taking about. Rt 81 NY, PA boarder, all was fine till around 10 pm. Than it started 1 car in the middle sets up the highout put speakers. Than they pair up go down the street and race than back to Walmart, and pair up again till. 2am.
BTW how is anchor down, we're going there end of August.

Anchor down

[edkjr]

Originally Posted by jeeepz

Anchor downAttachment 18264Attachment 18265

Looks beautiful, how long did you stay for. Was there other places you can visit?

[jeeepz]

4 nites.45 mins from gatlinburg,30 mins from bush bean factory,close to dollywood,30 mins from a safari park.

[Bob Denman]

I was going to mention that I've never seen a Walmart parking lot look so nice!

[AZmc]

Originally Posted by jeeepz

Hey all, i was on my way to anchor down in dandridge tn and got tired in crossville tn,found a walmart close to interstate,found an out of the way spot,called the mgr.very friendly,no problem. Got in bed and then the the fun started.kids doing burnouts,loud mufflers showing off way too much,finally got to sleep and then the wife says an alien craft is landing next to us,turns out it was a parking lot cleaner that decided to pay extra attn in my area. Hmm next time maybe ill try cracker barrel.

Had a similar situation at a Walmart in northern NM. The alien space ship would not leave us alone. Never again will we stay in a Walmart parking lot.

[Calico]

Originally Posted by jeeepz

Hey all, i was on my way to anchor down in dandridge tn and got tired in crossville tn,found a walmart close to interstate,found an out of the way spot,called the mgr.very friendly,no problem. Got in bed and then the the fun started.kids doing burnouts,loud mufflers showing off way too much,finally got to sleep and then the wife says an alien craft is landing next to us,turns out it was a parking lot cleaner that decided to pay extra attn in my area. Hmm next time maybe ill try cracker barrel.

Dang. Too bad I didn't know... We live in Dandridge and have a quiet driveway! :-)

[Calico]

Note to everyone visiting Dandridge.... Go beyond yhe RV park and lake Douglas. This area is positively dripping with history! Dandridge itself is the 2nd oldest town in TN. Also, in addition to the touristy areas mentioned by jeeepz, there are wonderful scenic drives. From jeeepz noisy Walmart, take hwy 40 south into the mountains and stop in Hattford to river raft on the Pigeon river, which feeds into Douglas Lake eventually. Or, take 25/70 east and over the mountains into Hot Springs NC. If pulling a nimble toad, unhitch and test your skills on the Dragons Tail, hwy 129. And then, there is Moonshine Tasting!... Old Tennessee, Tennessee Legends, Cocke County Distillery, Popcorn Suttons Distillery, Sugarlands Distillery, Bootleggers of Hartford....to name a few of the GOOD ones.

[Long & Winding road]

Sounds like a great Town Calico. We hope to make our way to TN next year sometime.

[Long & Winding road]

We used TWO Diff WM over the last 7 days. Both were very quiet. No aliens..... Yet. Perhaps the Rosewell WM would be a better pick.

I tried the Cracker Barrel first at one location..... but it was right on top of the interstate and was very noisy. So we drove two blocks to the WM and it was much quieter (The buildings blocked the noise) and they had about 5 RV sleeping over that night (and about 5 Semi's as well - very popular place).

I wonder how many of the RV's showed up at CB parking lot then moved to WM (Like I did)?

[Calico]

Originally Posted by Long & Winding road

Sounds like a great Town Calico. We hope to make our way to TN next year sometime.

And this would be a great area for an owners forum get-together!

[Long & Winding road]

I would agree.... Its "kinda" centrally located too. Not too far South or too far North.... Not on the East Coast. But the Western states might disagree with me.

[Mr Sunshine]

If you are staying often at WMt or CBrl, you might like the app/web page OvernightRVParking They have a subscription cost of $25/yr, but much better info than the free sites, all crowd sourced. Your subscr covers both access methods. If you can update an older listing, they extend your subscription.

[Recalculating]

Originally Posted by jeeepz

Hey all, i was on my way to anchor down in dandridge tn and got tired in crossville tn,found a walmart close to interstate,found an out of the way spot,called the mgr.very friendly,no problem. Got in bed and then the the fun started.kids doing burnouts,loud mufflers showing off way too much,finally got to sleep and then the wife says an alien craft is landing next to us,turns out it was a parking lot cleaner that decided to pay extra attn in my area. Hmm next time maybe ill try cracker barrel.

Yup. This is where I live. We have quite a few inconsiderate people here, sorry. I usually stop at Pilots of Flying J's as they usually have parking for an RV and don't need to take up a truck space. Once in a while, they can get noisy as well though.