For parking-lot "dockers"

[lterry]

Have you ever been holed up for the night all nice and comfy and...nope not the police, not a manager, none of the usual. A stupid store alarm goes off. Guess what - you can't just leave because then you look suspicious if security cameras are pointed at your vehicle. 
It takes forever for the police to come. You can't leave after they've arrive because, yeah, that's not suspicious at all <sarcasm. They might not have noticed you before, but they would definitely take notice once you try driving off with the "burglar alert" still screaming in their ears. Then it takes another forever for a manager to come and turn the sucker off because, of course, it's a false alarm.
Good news is my dog slept through it all - I think she even had a dream about chasing rabbits in the middle of the ruckus. Maddie was kicking her hind leg as if she were close on their trail.

On another note, I'm in Mississippi tonight. I've turned into a "don't say no" person. Someone invites me to her wedding even though I don't know her that well...sure, I'll go.

 

[highdesertranger]

ah chasing rabbits, it must be nice to have such a simple life. highdesertranger

 

[Mobilesport]

The car alarms are what drives me nuts , it's like "Not again " damn

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I would just leave. No wrong done... nothing to hide.

 

[TMG51]

I would have just left also. You live in a van, good luck finding you. And the same cameras that show you leaving will show you weren't in the building.

 

[Almost There]

Have you ever been holed up for the night all nice and comfy and...nope not the police, not a manager, none of the usual. A stupid store alarm goes off. Guess what - you can't just leave because then you look suspicious if security cameras are pointed at your vehicle. 

No but I and several others had to leave a Sam's Club parking lot in the middle of the night because the sweeper truck was making passes closer and closer to us. And then he started beeping his horn at us at every pass to make sure that we were awake and moving so he could finish his job!

One of the men from another RV got out and spoke to the guy. He led the parade to the far side of the adjacent W/M parking lot where we could finish the night out in peace.

It was most annoying!!

 

[lterry]

I would have just left also. You live in a van, good luck finding you. And the same cameras that show you leaving will show you weren't in the building.

I KNEW there was something my sleepy brain just wasn't computing!
BTW, I think of you every time I stay at Lowes which is every forth night...

 

[lterry]

No but I and several others had to leave a Sam's Club parking lot in the middle of the night because the sweeper truck was making passes closer and closer to us. And then he started beeping his horn at us at every pass to make sure that we were awake and moving so he could finish his job!

One of the men from another RV got out and spoke to the guy. He led the parade to the far side of the adjacent W/M parking lot where we could finish the night out in peace.

It was most annoying!!

What an ass.
In Mobile the sweepers come to all the parking lots every night. They're a little annoying, but just doing their job. And no one has pressured me to move out of the way yet, thankfully.

 

[TMG51]

I KNEW there was something my sleepy brain just wasn't computing!
BTW, I think of you every time I stay at Lowes which is every forth night...

Have you found their WiFi signal yet? Good for Netflix and Pandora!

I also ignore the street sweeper guys.

 

[lterry]

Have you found their WiFi signal yet? Good for Netflix and Pandora!

I also ignore the street sweeper guys.

For sure! Some Lowes' signals are better than others, though.

 

[rvpopeye]

I do the parking lot shuffle too.

I use my night at Lowes wi-fi for my downloads . It's usually not screaming fast but it sure takes the load off my hotspot.

Wally night is for groceries !

If it's really hot I try to go to the ocean though ....lots of boat launch parking lots around.

We have a town common but they just put up a gate so just good for bikes and hikes now .

Wish I could go to the lakes but too far away , have to be at mom's 9-9. No parking there though......

 

[ZoNiE]

It was most annoying!!

Well... It is their lot, they are paying this guy to clean it.

Although I'm a bit sympathetic, and the honking sweeper could have been more polite, You get what you pay for.

:-/

 

[TravelDerby]

No but I and several others had to leave a Sam's Club parking lot in the middle of the night because the sweeper truck was making passes closer and closer to us. And then he started beeping his horn at us at every pass to make sure that we were awake and moving so he could finish his job!

One of the men from another RV got out and spoke to the guy. He led the parade to the far side of the adjacent W/M parking lot where we could finish the night out in peace.

It was most annoying!!

   Years ago I had a job as one of those "annoying" parking lot sweepers in Sarasota, Florida.     

  While I left most stealth campers alone, sometimes it was just ridiculous.  During the peak season the RV parks would either be filled or more expensive than some people liked.  I had 2 Sam's Clubs on my route and the number of stealth vans and RVs would often get up into the double digits on weekend nights.  It made it much more difficult to clean the lots as I had to physically get out of the truck and pick up anything around the vehicles by hand or with a backpack blower.  Otherwise the managers would get there in the morning and with the RV's gone would assume I just left it unfinished.  We finally ended up requesting that they post their lots as closed to overnight RV's. 

   So if anyone here used to park at the Fruitville Rd Sam's or the one on 70 in Bradenton  (Circa 2004-05) my apologies for the noise and for getting you kicked out oif the lots!

 

[rvpopeye]

I usually fill a bag or two with lot trash when I park in one O/N.

 

[speedhighway46]

For those of us who enjoy/need the option of borrowing someone else's property to use for a night of free parking, most times with the convenience of an open full-featured retailer at our whim including bathrooms, know that Menard's has joined Walmart in establishing a corporate policy of encouraging RVs to overnight at their locations.

I stayed my first night at Menard's in Ionia, MI about three weeks ago; newer store, nice and clean, etc., etc. about 9:00 comes a knock on my door. I open to find a young man in a clerk's vest standing there. He says, "Really sorry to disturb you. I thought you should know that starting around 11:00 tonight they are going to be painting the lines here in the parking lot and I wouldn't want any to get on your camper." I thanked him very much for his effort. I was parked in the far corner of their lot and this fellow had to walk a long way out and back just to tell me this. I was very impressed. I moved across the street to Walmart to finish the night.

Sure, there are inconveniences that happen around us when we are overnighting for free. Either learn to tolerate minor disturbances, or move to another location. You are a visitor and can't always have things "your way."