I know our experience may not count for much, but we’ve fulltimed for soon to be 8 years with two different buses and here’s our experience:We initially parked at Walmart’s. We hated it. People in Walmart parking lots would accelerate through the lot with their loud obnoxious trucks and rice burners and wake us up. Besides, they can be a tight fit for a bus and toad. Plus you have to be absolutely sure they allow overnighting. A lot of Walmart’s across the US are starting to ban it because of local codes. There’s an Allstays app that can help with that but I have found it to be sketchy on its accuracy. Our three favorite overnighting options are:1. Rest areas. Usually quiet and safe. The downside is they fill up fast and they aren’t everywhere. We pulled in early to one here in Illinois tonight and got a spot. Other downside: if they don’t have the truck parking in the rear of the rest area, you’re stuck listening to highway traffic all night. Our coach is insulated well (heavy pound density spray foam plus flooring felt plus 3/4” wood) so it helps. 2. Truck stops. Love them. People talk about noise, geez Walmart parking lots are stinking noisy. Truck stops quiet down usually by 9pm as they are mostly full. So all you hear is the gentle rumble of trucks idling or their reefers burbling or their tripacs humming. Has never ever bothered us. Worst thing is if a truck is backing into a spot in the middle of the night (rare) they sometimes have backup alarms. I purposely try to back into a spot between two trucks already parked to prevent this. What’s great is most of us have rear bedrooms, so we are 60 feet away from the truck engines, reefers, and tripacs. We are at the back of their trailers, the quietest place you could be. Honestly, I love staying at truck stops. I love going inside in the morning to get a fresh cup of jo or a Fresh cinnamon roll. I think I’ll buy stock in Loves come to think of it. 3. Side of the road. If it’s rural and the rest areas and truck stops are full, we exit on an off ramp, and then pull about 100 feet onto the on ramp shoulder and Park for the night. Quiet, dark, but usually not level. Never ever had issues doing this in 8 years of fulltiming. We’ve had to do this when the weather is rough. If it’s snowing hard and the roads are dicey the trucks pull off so the rest areas and truck stops are jam packed. When we park on an on ramp I always leave my parking lights and clearance lamps lit all night for visibility. It must be like a duck decoy because I always have semi trucks parked in front of and behind me when I get up in the morning. Never fails lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yeah, we live in the same state and pass each other on I-80 out west. Crazy.