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Date:         Mon, 17 May 2004 16:19:30 -0700
Reply-To:     jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeff at Vanagonparts <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM>
Subject:      Re: cross country camping suggestions?? - WALMART
Comments: To: Chris Sullivan <feedle@FEEDLE.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <A8C9023E-A856-11D8-B3F6-000A95CCF96E@feedle.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

The "urban center" rule is probably a good one. I, for one, refuse to shop at our local Walmart here in Sacramento (on Truxel Road) due to the huge number of morons and low-lifes that frequent the place. Unfortunately, that includes the people who work there. It seems that this Walmart only hires people with a 6th grade education or less. I just couldn't handle it anymore.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of Chris Sullivan Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 4:05 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: cross country camping suggestions??

On May 17, 2004, at 1:14 PM, Stan Wilder wrote:

> Who are the Wal Mart customers at your neighborhood Wal Mart?

A lot of it depends on the local Wal-Mart, I'd gather.

I've done the "boondocking in Wal-Mart's car park" thing, and in all but urban centers it's a perfectly safe thing to do. In fact, there's a lot of good sides to using a Wal-Mart parking lot, including having a convenient place to purchase supplies (and often fuel as well). In a couple of circumstances, I'd further add that it was downright pleasant: I had friendly "neighbors" (other RVers) who were quiet, and at one Wal-Mart (St. George, UT if I remember right) the security staff made an effort to be friendly to the boondockers.

There has been a lot of discussion on many of the RV lists about "Wal-Mart do's and don'ts". In brief: be discreet, don't set up tents or outside furniture (pushing up the tent-roof on a Westy is usually okay), and don't set up the charcoal BBQ. Don't leave a mess, and don't throw away massive amounts of trash in outdoor trashcans. Some Wal-Marts have set up a dumpster or other such waste container near the edge of the parking lot: a small reasonable amount of trash dumped here is OK. It's also a good indication that "this is where RVs should park." Specifically asking permission is usually not required, however keep a lookout for "No Overnight Parking/Camping" signs, and if they are present, move on. Overnight stays only.

An interesting documentary on the Wal-Mart Boondocking phenomenae: http://www.highplainsfilms.org/fp_nowhere.html Also worth reading: http://www.phrannie.org/boondock.html

A recent trip in my Westy resulted in me doin' the Wally World thing in Northern California, with a couple of elderly couples as neighbors. Got a lot of comments on the ol' Wedge. It was a Good Thing.

-fedl


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