Shower & empty tanks for $5.00

[gp]

This is just a reminder&nbsp;if someone&nbsp;likes to keep moving instead of staying in one&nbsp;area. &nbsp;You don't have to pay overnight camping fees just to take a shower and use the dump station&nbsp;at state parks. You can just pay the $5.00 day rate, shower, empty tanks and have a full day of entertainment, and maybe even catch dinner.&nbsp;Texas state parks don't even&nbsp;require a fishing license. Pretty good deal. &nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

[Sunny1]

That is something that I would never have thought of.&nbsp; You could even do laundry if they have washers and dryers.<br /><br />Great tip!

 

[VanTrekker]

Same idea in Iowa... Most of the state and county parks have signs saying that shower facilities are just for campers but you can slip in and out for a shower and nobody is any the wiser.&nbsp;&nbsp;We don't have day fees, either...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />I've done it too.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You can't beat free!<br /><br />V.T.

 

[kappydell]

Wis has an hourly fee for the same stuff! Pretty handy.

 

[She]

This is good to know!

 

[cedric]

has anyone been to a truck stop and checked out the showers?<br />I'm wondering how that works. Do you pay someone or do they take quarters like at some campgrounds? Are they pretty funky or nasty?<br /><br />thanks

 

[dborla01]

I used to drive over the road trucks and used Pilot and Petro stops and they were clean, quite useable. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" /> Darrell.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

There is a pilot near my work that opened 2 weeks ago, ill check it out to see.

 

[Guest]

Cedric -
Truck stop showers:
How clean depends on the truck stop and what time of day you're trying to get in there. East coast truck stops tend to be kinda nasty and hard to find a parking spot - too few truck stops for waaay too many trucks.
End of day at any truck stop is busy time, you may have to wait until they call your number and the more ppl in line, the less time they spend cleaning the showers and bathrooms.

Cost - usually around $10. That includes soap, towels & usually a built in blow dryer. Truckers get free showers for fueling up. If you have a CB, get on CH 19 and ask if anyone has a free shower they aren't going to use.

If you own a diesel vehicle, see if Pilot, Petro, Love's, Flying J (whatever truck stop) will let you have a truck driver card, so that you can put your fuel gallons towards getting free showers. Some locations will, some will tell you No.
All the big truck stops have websites for you to find them and get their fuel prices.

 

[cedric]

$10 bucks could get expensive.&nbsp; I don't mind a sponge type / spray bottle cleaning a few times a week but man-oh-man I really enjoy a hot shower.<br /><br />Has anyone tried finding / joining a national health club / gym. Just thought I's ask before I spend the next&nbsp; few days trolling through google m<span class="st">inutia. <br /></span>

 

[Doc T]

last shower I took at a truck stop: $11.00. Alot of times the drivers will give their shower tickets away if they aren't going to use them.
Anyone thought of using the new $10.00 a month gym membership at anytime fitness?

 

[cedric]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the responses. I will google that gym

 

[vagari]

Anytime fitness is only $10 per month? <br /><br />

 

[tex0322]

If you are going to be in Texas a lot and travel around Texas all year, you can buy a yearly state park pass that will get you in to any state park for about $70 for the year.

 

[Elf]

Planet Fitness is also $10 month

 

[vagari]

Thanks for info on Planet Fitness. I appears that $10 per month gets you access to a single location and $20 per month gets you access nationwide to any location. That is cheaper then Anytime Fitness.

 

[Rollin]

vagari said: Anytime fitness is only $10 per month?&nbsp;<br><br>I am wondering the same thing? I'm a member of Anytime Fitness&nbsp;and pay around 40/45&nbsp;a month!!! I have a month to month contract and was told I was getting a great deal.&nbsp;<br><br>Here is my&nbsp;experience&nbsp;with gym's...<br><br>Before joining Anytime Fitness I was a member of another gym called Access Fitness. This gym although very&nbsp;similar&nbsp;to Anytime was&nbsp;different&nbsp;in a few key&nbsp;area's.&nbsp;<br><br>The biggest and the main reason for (ME) joining the gym is to be able to use there shower&nbsp;facilities. This is were Anytime shines. They provide a&nbsp;private room that has a shower, sink/mirror, and toilet. They are also keep very&nbsp;clean.&nbsp;<br><br>One the other hand Anytime Fitness's shower room were anything but&nbsp;private. The shower was inside the main bathroom and there was&nbsp;absolutely&nbsp;no&nbsp;privacy.&nbsp;Plus the bathroom was always dirty/smelly. I think the reason was&nbsp;because&nbsp;of the&nbsp;increased&nbsp;traffic.<br><br>These gyms can charge less by making it up in&nbsp;volume.&nbsp;Access seemed to draw the younger crowd and in younger I mean teenagers. If you are&nbsp;truly&nbsp;interested in working out, another area that Anytime shines in is fewer people and better&nbsp;equipment. They last one I used had a tv at every treadmill and a sitting room.<br><br>&nbsp;Anytime offers with the membership free classes (yoga,&nbsp;kickboxing,zumba,ect.) if you are interested in joining a group workout. Also they are the largest gym in the world with many many locations. I just used one last week as I was&nbsp;travelling&nbsp;through Indiana. I was very impressed by the shower facilities, nicer than many nice hotels I have stayed in, and they offered&nbsp;towles&nbsp;to boot!<br><br>I&nbsp;haven't&nbsp;checked into all the gyms (golds,&nbsp;planet,ect) but in my&nbsp;experience&nbsp;of the two gyms I have been a member of, I&nbsp;believe&nbsp;its like the old saying goes "you get what you pay for". My advice is if your main reason for joining the gym is to take a shower, make sure and really check it out&nbsp;before&nbsp;signing on the dotted line.<br><br><br><br>&nbsp;<br><br><br>

 

[thinker]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/01/03/compare-and-contrast-the-best-gym-membership-for-your-money/<br><br>great article on nationwide gyms. (snap looks best)<br><br>be aware, many of those 24 joints give members a key to the local gym for after hours, so a nationwide membership may not be all it's cracked up to be for vandwellers, though if you wanna use the shower during normal hours, it should be all good.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

When I traveled on motorcycle and later in vans I asked truck drivers for their unused shower tickets with great success.
I could catch a free truckstop shower about every day on the road.

The gym idea sounds like a workable plan too.

 

[joey]

&nbsp; &nbsp;Pilot/Flying J has a rewards program for RV'ers too. &nbsp;&nbsp;http://myrewards.pilotflyingj.com/rv_customer.aspx