Scary and funny at the same time

[LockChuck92]

Recently, my family and I drove our ACE motorhome to Charleston (from Kentucky), which for us, is almost a 9-hour drive. I had hoped to make the entire drive without stopping, but after having to leave Kentucky in the early afternoon, I was fighting sleep like crazy going through South Carolina. We decided to look for a WalMart parking lot in which to spend the night. My wife hit google, and we found a Walmart not far off the interstate in Orangeburg, SC. We stayed the night there and headed out the next day, got to our destination, and had a nice time in Charleston. After leaving Charleston, we headed to Tybee Island for a few more days to wrap up our trip. Needing gas, I stopped at a small gas station near the S.C./Georgia line that was big enough to accommodate my rig at the pumps. I’m a pretty outgoing fella, and I usually like to strike up conversations with people, especially when I travel (you can learn a lot from locals). As I was talking with a friendly South Carolinian, he asked me where we were headed, and where we’d been. He had some RV experience, and told me he had “Walmart camped” before. I replied that we had Walmart camped on the way down (although I didn’t tell him where we stopped), and depending on what time of day we would head back to Kentucky, we might have to Walmart camp on the way back home. His reply? You guessed it: “Man, whatever you do, don’t stop in Orangeburg. It’s the murder capital of South Carolina! It has more murders Per Capita than Chicago!”

Gulp.

I’m tellin ya, only WE could find the murder capital of SC and decide it’d be a good place to stay the night!

Anybody else have similar stories?!?

[Pete'sMH]

Not in the MH, but we have to go to downtown Detroit for an errand and DW is genuinely afraid. Too many stories and news photos I suppose. It should be interesting

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

Not in the MH, but we have to go to downtown Detroit for an errand and DW is genuinely afraid. Too many stories and news photos I suppose. It should be interesting

LOL! Downtown Detroit is pretty safe these days. Lots of new stuff down there now. Its the "buffer" zone between downtown and the suburbs that you have to worry about; as long as you stay on the freeways you're fine

[Bob Denman]

Look at it this way:
Since nothing ugly happened: it's best that you find this out AFTER you've left there!

[The Gritz Carlton]

Jamie...you're term "buffer zone" is so perfect. We have that in ATL. It seems as if it's like liquid sand around the inlets of the coastal areas. It slowly moves in and out but you can tell when you're in it. No retail branded anything...jail bars on every store...more people walking around than cars driving. It's the "zone" you feel very comfortable running through a red light. As it moves further away from the city, the working class jump back over it, rebuilding everything...then it starts all over again. The Never Ending Story!! Good description!!

[Funhog]

So I Walmart camp often ... since many of our trips are in excess of 6 hours from the house.

Recently on the way back from San Antonio, we stopped in Dumas, Tx. at the Walmart right off US 287. It was early evening, and when we pulled in, there were a few 18-wheelers in the south lot. As I prepared to park, two of the big rigs pulled out and left me a premium spot along the curb. Walked to dinner a few blocks away, came back to an empty lot and thought WOW - got lucky.

Had the genie running for the house AC since it was about 1000 degrees outside. Read for a little while and hit the sack.

Up the next morning and started the coffee. Peaked out the window and WHOA - surrounded by big rigs. Not a few, but at least 10 trucks in the lot.

No big deal, just a little surprised:
A) never heard a thing all night long
B) everyone respectfully left everyone else room to maneuver
C) Great bunch of guys to chat with over coffee in the morning

Oh, and I figured out the RVs were parking on the west side of the lot to stay away from the trucks. However, the west side of the lot is adjacent to the highway so a lot of road noise all night.

Wife and I just chuckled as we motored up the road.

[Bob Denman]

What phone number do you call; when making reservations at a WalMart?

[Lt Keefer]

Never had that type of experience at Wally World but had similar situation in Dallas. The DW was admitted to the VA hospital which is in South Dallas. I parked the camper out of town and commuted every morning during her stay. The neighborhood around the VA hospital looks like a war zone. I would have felt safer in Syria or Afghanistan.