Walmart Camping Draws Mixed RV Park Owner Reaction

It's certainly a subject of controversy: Staying overnight in your RV on a Walmart parking lot can raise the hackles of local RV park owners who feel, 'You're stealing my livelihood.'

The Coulee News out of West Salem, Wisconsin recently ran a feature piece on the practice, interviewing a couple of fulltimers--and taking comments from RV park owners. We found the responses of those park folks to be interesting, not necessarily filled with the vitriolic, rabid rhetoric so often put out by the commercial crowd. All in all, a nicely balanced piece that you might enjoy reading. Find it on the Coulee News site.

The comments of the fulltiming couple, Dan and Linda Rowland, regarding "parking lot etiquette" always bear repeating and enhancing: Don't litter, keep the lawn chairs and the barbecue left on the racks, and don't abuse the privilege. Lot's of us enjoy "Camp Walmart," and as we all mind our manners, it keeps the welcome mat in place.

RV Park Bulldozed to Build Another Strip Mall

A nice RV park located in Sisters, Oregon is closing to make room for more retail stores. When I first heard this it made me mad. I thought, “I'm a full time RVer, if they plow under all the RV parks there won’t be anyplace for us to stay.” Then I put on my thinking cap and came up with a different view. First, I will now be able to park in the shopping center parking lot for free unless there is an ordinance against it. Second, this should encourage land owners and developers to build more RV parks. That’s right, it makes perfect economic sense to buy a piece of land somewhere in the growth radius of a town and make it into a revenue producing RV park while you're waiting for WalMart to make you an offer. There are few buildings that will need to be demolished and you can take tax write-offs and make money while you wait for the big contract. So how about it land owners? Get off the dime and start building RV Parks everywhere! Keeping you entertained - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing and ROAD Scholar

"Stilted" Campers? RV Park Thinking Amazes Us

It's been a long time since we've tried taking a truck camper into an RV park. Last time was years ago when we reviewed a new RV park, and the management--knowing who we were--was on their "best behavior." Most times we don't "do" RV parks, preferring boondocking or public parks.

Not long ago we attended a convention in Glendale, just outside Phoenix. On arrival at the RV park our "hosts," on learning we were truck camping, told us we had to leave the camper on the truck. "You can't leave it up on stilts," said the registration clerk, "otherwise the wind can blow it over." Stilts? Wind blow over? We were a bit baffled, but since we had other transportation to the convention site, it wasn't a big problem.

Back on the road, we landed in the Las Vegas area at day's end. With the monsoon season in full blossom, the humidity would have made a Mississippian happy. Not wanting to run a generator all night to run the air conditioning, we drove on into the Sam's Town RV park. A familiar refrain hit the air as soon as we mentioned we had a truck camper. "Of course," said the clerk, "you can't take the camper off the truck."

Hello? Maybe our lack of experience with commercial RV parks leaves us in ignorance. Is this the common attitude of RV park owners? Are we--heaven forbid--"camper trash"? Are these excuses of "wind will blow you over" rooted in real experiences that park owners have dealt with, or just that, a flimsy excuse to somehow hide the real issue at hand? We may never know. Maybe some RV park owner lurking here will leave an anonymous comment and clue us in.

Over the years we've cut the camper loose from the truck dozens of times. And yes, we've actually left the camper sitting around in some pretty gusty winds--right on the edge of Washington's Snake River for example. We've got enough smarts not to leave the rig stuck up high on the jacks like some kind of "America's Got Talent" routine. In addition to keeping that center of gravity low, we also bolster the support of the corner jacks with additional supports under the camper "tub" area.

What's your experience?