Truck stops

[eDJ_]

If  $15 bucks sounds like a lot,  the Flying J nearest me gets $15 just to get a shower & shave.  But then the cheapest motels get $60 a night.

But wasn't this why we went to cheap RV rigs ?

 

[RoamerRV428]

we do big truck stops, Loves, Flying J etc.
never had issues.
we love them and will continue to stay overnight as a rest stop when needed.

 

[NctryBen]

Usually when you have to pay it includes a shower eat the price of a shower. $18 seems a little excessive... but what are ya gonna do... example: Donnas in Marysville WA is ten bucks a night includes a shower.

 

[Camper]

There's no way I would pay to sleep in a truck stop parking lot.

 

[tx2sturgis]

There's no way I would pay to sleep in a truck stop parking lot.

In the high traffic areas where truck parking is in short supply, that's exactly what they are counting on....if you are not a professional driver, move along please.

 

[Camper]

I have a CDL, but I would never park a van in a truck spot either.

 

[TravelingZombies]

My wife and I regularly stayed at the more popular truck stops and while doing laundry at one of them a truck driver kept harassing my wife and offering her money to go back to his truck. We have a system set in place for such occurrences and it worked well and I was able to intervene and halted the harassment. It's rare but does happen

 

[Koyote]

I've seen stuff in Oklahoma and Missouri. (In fact, my rule for 40 out there is the same as all the northern routes through the Midwest. KEEP DRIVING) - but I've never seen any issues in the SW or mountain west. (I've never tried to overnight at a "truck stop" that's actually an urban station, though. )

A few bucks with a shower wouldn't be awful, but if I go back the the stuff east of the Rockies again I'll probably use one of the chain apps and make sure I know where I'm staying.

Personally, I prefer truck stops. Any Walmart lot that has more than 3 or 4 obvious RVs in it I am going to get panhandlers, "socialized" by people a little bit less sober than myself... Rest stops on the open interstate tend to be okay for bathrooms, but amazingly overlit and sometimes... Pretty drama. (Last night south of wickenburg, there was a group of 3 cars cooking and shooting juice in the bathroom. )

The trucks and trains and highway sounds don't bother me at a truck stop. Maybe I adapted from time in service, maybe I just have an easygoing anxiety system, or maybe I'm half deaf from decades of patrol aircraft. Either way, I like truck stops.

And I think they are just a touch safer

 

[MGfromBC]

One night I pulled into the furthest corner of a roadside rest stop along the Trans Canada Highway in British Columbia. I had a small Saturn station wagon with a wooden platform, air mattress, etc behind the passenger seat. I had made myself comfortable and was reading before I went to sleep. A set of headlights pulled up beside me and I got a knock on the window. A Mountie said he had seen the light and thought I might need help. I told him I was tired, needed some sleep and was just reading first. He seemed to think that sleeping when I was tired was a reasonable decision.

MG

 

[Dangfool]

Truck stops are my favorite place to park. They're open all night and there's always activity, which makes me feel much safer than being in say, an empty Wal-Mart lot in the wee hours. Besides, I'm just naturally drawn to truck stops; kind of an oasis in the desert to me. My favorite of the big chain truck stops is Flying J, because they seem to be the most four-wheeler-friendly. The one chain truck stop I don't like is Love's, because they seem downright four-wheeler-hostile. Haven't seen one yet that didn't have those unfriendly "2 hour parking" signs up in the four-wheeler area. Well, I know truck stops do have some problems from four-wheelers, from drug pushers to lot lizards, so I'm not knocking them. Still, when it's late on the interstate and I'm really tired, nothing makes me happier than the sight of that big J.

 

[NctryBen]

In the high traffic areas where truck parking is in short supply, that's exactly what they are counting on....if you are not a professional driver, move along please.

Your assuming people are parking in the truck parking area. Well, I was... I was trucking! Haha! I was commenting on the shower situation not advocating parking in truck parking areas. Many truck stops have parking for smaller vehicles also. I’ve been blessed to have slept in many and recall where these are when I need just that. Having a CDL, you know when your hours are up driving under DOT regs, they are up. You can’t just drive all over creation finding a place to boondock even running bobtail...
This was just an example of many such I’ve run across. And yes, be mindful of truck parking if your not trucking...

 

[shadowmoss]

The Loves in the west side.of Amarillo saved me and Mom last month when the ritzy rv park there turned my older motorhome away. Stopped for gas before getting back on the interstate as I'd driven almost to empty just trying to get to the rv park for the night, asked if we could stay, and was welcomed with open arms (pumps?). Kinda an older truck stop, but if you need a place to stop I recommend them. Bought $200 worth of gas from them the next morning as well as coffee and breakfast snacks.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Your assuming people are parking in the truck parking area. 

My reply that you quoted was in response to PAID truck parking (post#24). The busy trucks stops in high traffic areas where parking is in short supply and they charge you for parking, my reply to 'Camper' is that the business is catering to trucks, primarily, and they don't really expect campers and RVers to PAY to sit on a piece of pavement...hence my statement that they prefer the non-paying vehicles to 'move along please'. In many (if not most) of these facilities, there are 8-10 foot gantries above the entrance to the car parking area, so trucks and RVs can't even access the 'free' parking slots.

I was assuming nothing. I KNOW the situation in those busy truck stops where they charge for parking.

 

[Camper]

I park out front with the cars, if I go to a truck stop. Never near the trucks.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I grew up traveling with my family. We always owned an RV or Westphalia it seemed. And we often worked festivals.
So I have nostalgia for truck stops. The kind with a greasy spoon diner and well stocked car junk aisle.
Seems that many have been replaced with chains that only offer franchise food like Arbys, Subway and Taco Bell. And the cool junk aisle is replaced with junk food.

As far as sleeping at them. I rarely do, they are so damn noisy!
Plus I hate being pestered by lot lizards and worse.
But in some areas as I'm sure you know, the regular rest areas are posted and patrolled to discourage sleepers. More than once I've gotten a 2am knock on a window and had a highway patrol tell me I'm not welcome, and told my only option is the truck stop.
Had a sheriff escort me down the road to one once.
After getting jolted awake like that with flashing lights and cop attitude I just got a very early breakfast and drove another hundred miles to the next county. Couldnt sleep.

 

[Koyote]

I haven't seen a wandering lot lizard in years. (I've seen some girls who were obviously with a trucker for a reason, but never wandering around knocking on doors. Not in years.

Not sure what the worse is. The worst I've had is panhandling, and they know not to wake you up.

 

[Casa De Wherever]

During these over-stressed heady economic times, perhaps a bit of levity might be in order... :huh:

  Truckers, Truck Stops, & Lot Lizards

 

 

[Freelander]

On my way back from Quartzite this year I stayed in a parking lot behind McDonald's in Winslow AZ and I swear I heard gunshots in the middle of the night, I thought it was ok because there were several Trucks parked for the night.

Needless to say I didn't look outside to see what was happening.

 

[Koyote]

Haven't tried a McDonald's. I've heard gunshots I. The middles of the night out in the desert, usually night hunting or people playing with wizard mode (night vision) on their backyard ranges.

Not sure about Winslow. Seems a bit .. crowded for that.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Oh yikes that reminds me of the BLM land up in Lake County Ca. that we used to hang out at.
It was also a popular place for locals to go drink beer and plink.
I thought it was keen to go dig out the spent shells from the dirt to see the various calibers.
Until we heard all hell breaking loose one night just over the (not terribly tall) ridge.
Luckily for us these guys seemed mostly interested in shooting over the water.
Still we moved our camp.