BLM, LTVA, etc... close to walmart with good internet

[RogerD]

I'm in FL and thinking of going west at some point next year and AZ seems to be very popular.

I have zero experience with the area, so my question is...

If your goal was to be able to camp cheap, but being as close to a Walmart as possible and have good internet was a priority. What would be the best places to stay at.

I watched all of Bob's videos on this, but nothing is really said about internet. Also, my thinking is if you have to travel long distances every few days for food/supplies, seems like it may defeat the purpose.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[John61CT]

Fine for starting out, but IMO

Best to work toward a setup allows you to boondock a week or two between resupply trips.

 

[highdesertranger]

IMO out west here you need to be supplied for 2 weeks minimum. big stores and cities are further apart. the closest WalMart to Quartzsite is in Parker about 36 miles. there are LTVA's around Yuma and I am sure there is a Walmart there.

keep in mind the whole Colorado River Valley and adjacent areas are extremely hot in the summer time and the LTVA's are not available then.

highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

My preferred winter area is along Ogilby Road, in far southeast California, west of Yuma. The cell signal is strong, there are three Walmarts in Yuma, and Los Algodones (cheap meds, eyeglasses and dental work) is just down the road. Though the area is posted with the usual 14 day camping limit I have never seen rangers. There are people who stay all winter. Since Yuma is at 140 feet elevation it tends to be slightly warmer than, say, Quartzsite.

There's a Walmart in Parker AZ. There's BLM land along Shea Road which is south of town. There's a good Verizon signal (don't know about other carriers) if you're in the right place. There's more BLM across the river in California along highway 62. I got a decent cell signal there.

There's a Walmart at the north end of Lake Havasu City AZ. There's BLM land for several miles south of town but I have no experience with the cell signal there. At the north end of town, just after the airport (which is pretty much across from Walmart) is the road into Craggy Wash. The cell signal there depends on your exact location within the canyon. There's more boondocking on a plateau farther north of Craggy Wash. It's popular with large RVs. I don't know what the signal is like there but I suspect it's pretty good.

There's Slab City in California where you could stay as long as you like. There's a Walmart in Brawley, 19 miles away. There's also a Walmart in El Centro.

Of course, there are a crap-ton of Walmarts in the Phoenix metro area, but your boondocking opportunities will put you kind of far from Walmarts.

There's boondocking around Tucson, but the elevation is higher and therefore chillier.

 

[Seminole Wind]

please dont take this as rude, but people please realize you dont need to be close to a walmart just to be able to "resupply" any town of 5000 or more will have a decent grocery store, gas stations, hardware store and such. you will be able to get everything you need for daily living and can online order specialty stuff if needed.

although the prices might be a little higher in the small towns for food and gas, you more than make up for it by driving less and getting away from the negative issues that plague the bigger cities

with just a little practice and effort anyone with even a small cooler can go a week without needing to resupply.

going the mobile vandweller life is a change to a different pace. it is a different way of life, embrace it.

as far as locations, well the arizona desert, weather it is LTVA or 14 day dispersed camping is great for the cold wet half of the year. then for warmer months when those areas are to hot. go north and/or up into the mountains. i really enjoy the oregon and washington coastal areas for those times of the year. plenty of state forest, blm, national forest to do the dispersed camping and there are plenty of small towns with what you need to resupply

good luck

 

[QinReno]

....
Also, my thinking is if you have to travel long distances every few days for food/supplies, seems like it may defeat the purpose.

I have minimal solar in my van, so no refrigerator, just a small cooler. In the summer time, ice will last maybe 3-4 days. So I will get perishable food for that period and then transition to canned and nonperishable dry after that. Check some of the threads on "non-refrigerated foods".

I could go longer if I had a "large" cooler, which could accept block ice or a couple of bags, and keep it longer. One thing you can do is put the ice in a waterproof bag, so the food doesn't get drowned. I do that even with the small cooler. Also, a lot of vegetables will last a while without cooling, and canned chicken breast is a good substitute for fresh.

The bigger problem with staying out for a week or two will be what to do with a couple of dozen bags of poop. There have been many many threads on this problem. No one good solution.

 

[lenny flank]

Some of us of course do not boondock, and urban-camp almost exclusively.

Alas, though, nearly all of Arizona's Walmarts are "no overnighting".

 

[crofter]

True, when your house has wheels you will spend less on taxes and more on gas for the rig. Some people shop every day and that is their lifestyle.  If you want to stay out for a while longer than fresh food lasts, you will have to use some dry foods and shelf stabile stuff.  I always carry some extra rice and extra drinking water in case I still don't want to go to town when the groceries run out.    ~crofter

 

[skyl4rk]

Imperial Dam LTVA on the Colorado River in Yuma would be an option for winter.

 

[RogerD]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

So what my deal is that I'm diabetic. So I really try and eat only 0 carb food. Which is much more limiting.

I eat a lot of chicken and have a 50q 12v fridge. However, raw and cooked refrigerated chicken has a short shelf life.

While I have yet to try because Walmart is less than a mile from where I'm at. I'm sure I could easily go for a week and probably 2 if I didn't try and be quite so frugal on what I spend on food. It's not that I have to be, it's just that I have become that way in my older age.

I have been pondering over the idea of buying a small enclosed trailer and getting a freezer and putting separate solar on it. Which I should be able to do pretty cheap. Which would really solve a lot of things. But do I really want to always have to be dragging a trailer around...probably not???

I really like the idea of being able to stay somewhere for 14 days or longer VS always having to move. However, internet is a must because that's how I make my living. No internet - no money. Being able to move during hot months to where it is cooler is really appealing, as I have been in FL for over 15 years and I'm over it. Except for the winter when it's great being here.

Do any of you guys also have a trailer?

Where do you when it gets too hot?

 

[QinReno]

Roger, in the areas around Quartzsite, Parker, and Lake Havasu City there are BLM areas close enough to town that you can probably get internet. And especially if you get one of those directional antennas with a booster.

In regards your medical issues, it sounds like the best way to go is to put a LOT of solar on the roof of a van or trailer and run a good-sized 12V frig. This would require probably 300W of solar "minimum", and maybe better 400W. Otherwise, as people have said, just don't plan on boondocking very far from a town or for very long.

It's all a compromise.

Also, when it gets hot, as Bob Wells and everyone else knows, you go to higher elevations, preferably above 5,000 feet. There are many towns up there of course .... all over the west. Choose any state. For long term travel, go south in the winter and north in the summer. It's all good.

 

[Almost There]

I run a pair of 12V  65 qt Whynter units, one at fridge temp and one at freezer temp with 450 A/h's of Trojan 6 V golf cart batteries.

Having the freezer allows me to keep as much meat as I could possibly want (well except for that 20 lb turkey...    ) .

Other than my need for fresh fruit and veggies I could probably go for 2 months with the meat that is in the freezer.  During the summer when I'm an hours drive from the closest grocery store of any kind, I shop once every 2 weeks.

 

[RogerD]

Solar won't be an issue. I plan to put 1100-1400 watts of panels on top of the van. However, my goal is to try and run an AC unit. If I get a trailer, I'm sure I can put more than enough on it to run a freezer.

Everyone says to go up in elevation. I just don't know where that is that has camping, internet, etc... I guess I will learn.

 

[QinReno]

Everyone says to go up in elevation. I just don't know where that is that has camping, internet, etc... I guess I will learn.

Not to worry. Just throw a dart anywheres west of central Colorado. Probably half of the area in the west is mountains, and the mountains are full of towns. I searched on towns over 5000' high, and came up with a list 100 towns, and they're all over 7500' in fact. That's just for starters.
- http://www.city-data.com/top13.html

The best mountains states are CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, CO, and NM. Check Verizon and AT&T coverage maps.

 

[Cammalu]

Roger you can camp at the LTVAs around Quartzsite for $180 for seven months I believe. There are bathrooms, water, dumpsters available

 

[C-Cat]

Easy: Yuma LTVA in the winter, Flagstaff and surrounding National Forests in the summer, several more options for spring and fall. Cell signals are not a problem in these areas... Arizona for the win!

 

[Seminole Wind]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

So what my deal is that I'm diabetic. So I really try and eat only 0 carb food. Which is much more limiting.

I eat a lot of chicken and have a 50q 12v fridge. However, raw and cooked refrigerated chicken has a short shelf life.

depending on the model of your 12 v fridge you should be able to set it as a freezer and then you can keep meat, raw or cooked for quite a long time. i too avoid carbs as much as possible and consume large amounts of meat, chicken, fish, beef, pork... i run my 12v unit as a freezer and if i need something just cold i have some "blue ice" that i rotate in a cooler. last year when i went to the rtr i did not buy any meat while on the road to and from or while i was there. i had stocked up where i could get better deals and better quality. if i could only have one, it would be the freezer