Boon docking and off pavement with a 45' coach.

[richard5933]

Walmart parking has become a victim of lobbyist and local ordinances. Many localities have created ordinances to prohibit it, and many nearby campgrounds have lobbied to prohibit it.

There is no company-wide policy on the issue. Each Walmart sets its own policy.

We're at a Walmart as I type this, having spent the night. There was no hesitation when I asked about staying.

I read that the percentage of Walmarts allowing overnight parking have dropped from over 70% to about 50%. Fewer, but still a good number of potential overnight spots.

[luvrbus]

Walmart parking has become a victim of lobbyist and local ordinances. Many localities have created ordinances to prohibit it, and many nearby campgrounds have lobbied to prohibit it.

There is no company-wide policy on the issue. Each Walmart sets its own policy.

We're at a Walmart as I type this, having spent the night. There was no hesitation when I asked about staying.

I read that the percentage of Walmarts allowing overnight parking have dropped from over 70% to about 50%. Fewer, but still a good number of potential overnight spots.

Some W/M are adding RV parking in areas away from the stores I read in a news letter like 500 across the US ,it has always been a policy when Sam was alive for RV;s to park at the stores ,Rv.s have gotten heavier over the years and Walmart is trying to keep those off the light duty paving ,the heavy duty paving is in the truck access only and they do not want RV's blocking that area.There was a few of the super centers that were built that had 15amp electrail,water and dump stations people abused those so W/M closed those areas the last one just closed in Twin Falls Id I noticed when I pulled in to dump.There no ordinances here and they have closed both to overnight parking because in the winter time people abused the policy and would spend all winter in the parking lots 
   

[buswarrior]

Self inflicted wound...

Selfish bus life types ruin it for the rest.

And the facebook groups just speed it all up.

Don't be sharing your favorite gems online. Share 'em with your friends, but don't divulge these locations to every goof that reads these boards.

Or they'll be gone too...

You never saw the old generations sharing their stuff like this...

Happy coaching!
 Buswarrior

[someguy]

I'm amazed at how many young people have given up careers to do the vanlife/buslife thing.

I don't get it, at all.  It might be fun to do for a few months, maybe a year.  But full time at 30 years old in a van with no shower and toilet ?

[Jim Blackwood]

I understand it. What is today's poverty level? When two people cannot earn enough to rent or own their own living quarters. How many are below that level today? Far too many. And what does that say for a single person? The individual without a college degree and many with one are now below the poverty level. Who would willingly want to live within such a system?

Jim

[luvrbus]

I understand it. What is today's poverty level? When two people cannot earn enough to rent or own their own living quarters. How many are below that level today? Far too many. And what does that say for a single person? The individual without a college degree and many with one are now below the poverty level. Who would willingly want to live within such a system?

Jim

What is the poverty level ? raising 6 kids I think I was below that level for years 

[Jim Blackwood]

Did you have your own living quarters? That is the new (and possibly old) standard today. It is now common for multiple individuals to have to band together in order to even be able to rent a small dwelling that is not large enough for their number. The cost of quarters has risen astronomically.

Middle class is still defined by a single income family that can afford their own home. Low income by the same conditions in a double income family. Poverty is the inability to meet that minimum standard. Our number of poor is steadily increasing and it is not due to birth rates and immigration.

Jim

[someguy]

Which desert areas allow grey water dumping ?    I was reading up on Quarzite and it seems they do not allow grey water dumping.

[richard5933]

Which desert areas allow grey water dumping ?    I was reading up on Quarzite and it seems they do not allow grey water dumping.

Best to make plans for NOT being able to dump gray to ground. Then you can sing a song of joy when you can and still be able to handle places you can't. Having the ability to dump to the ground when possible would just give you more options.

I see some that build (mainly van conversions but some buses as well) assuming that they'll always be able to dump gray to ground. Since that's not always possible, they inevitably end up in a tight spot.

[buswarrior]

My prediction?

Dumping anything on the ground is going to be tightened right up.

Too many wingnuts out there dumping everything...

The wise busnut will design their coach to be self contained, and any facility to dump to ground will be kept innocent and hidden.

The authorities are not as hindered as they were when the hippies were loose in the wild... the clamp down on this free spirited behaviour will continue...

Be happy, plan to tank all your waste. Anything better than that is a bonus.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[luvrbus]

La Posa LTVA at Quartzsite doesn't allow gray water dumping they have dump stations and water included in your parking fee from Sept to April, you don't need to dumping on the ground there so they get a little pissed when people do.The Mojave (Mohave) desert covers 25,000 miles it depends on the person over the district where you can dump or not.Me I live here in the desert and don't dump the gray water because of our high water table believe it or it's 13 ft average in the desert here 

[Jim Blackwood]

That's a pretty high water table.
I felt that 120 gallons of waste capacity was reasonable and with the idea of being able to overflow the gray tank to the black tank with an inverted trap makes it seem a bit more so. And a mostly concealed gray water drain could help at times. I don't really anticipate getting out west very much, and I don't really foresee the water restrictions out there moving east. Totally different conditions that western residents often have a little trouble understanding. I've lived in both places and here, grass and such is supposed to be a very bright and verdant green, not a sort of dry brown. If you give it water it really doesn't care because it has all it needs already and sometimes too much, whereas out west if you give it water it turns from brown to green and gives you away. As a result people in the east just don't get excited about a little water on the ground. It tends to be everywhere anyway, there's really no way to control it when it simply falls out of the sky at regular intervals.

jim

[luvrbus]

That's a pretty high water table.
I felt that 120 gallons of waste capacity was reasonable and with the idea of being able to overflow the gray tank to the black tank with an inverted trap makes it seem a bit more so. And a mostly concealed gray water drain could help at times. I don't really anticipate getting out west very much, and I don't really foresee the water restrictions out there moving east. Totally different conditions that western residents often have a little trouble understanding. I've lived in both places and here, grass and such is supposed to be a very bright and verdant green, not a sort of dry brown. If you give it water it really doesn't care because it has all it needs already and sometimes too much, whereas out west if you give it water it turns from brown to green and gives you away. As a result people in the east just don't get excited about a little water on the ground. It tends to be everywhere anyway, there's really no way to control it when it simply falls out of the sky at regular intervals.

jim

 yep people think nothing about washing their cars.truck and buses with water,soap and chemicals but yet here we are talking about gray water on the ground lol funny you ever notice people camping in tents where they dump their water after dishes or bathing,most have signs telling people do not wash dishes in water supply areas  you take the water wash dishes and dump it

[Jim Blackwood]

Yeah I'm not trying to say it isn't a good idea to send gray water through the regular sewage treatment. It is. And if regular hookups are available it's very inconsiderate not to use them. Then there's the whole pollution/protect the planet argument which we have proven valid by reducing auto tailpipe emissions. Overall I think the inhabited world is a much cleaner place than it ever has been in human history. So we are on the right track at long last. It behooves us to stay the course.

However. If 4 days remain on the site stay, the waste tanks are nearing capacity, the wife wants to take a shower and it's possible to inconspicuously drain enough gray water away to let that happen would you tell her no? Sorry man, I'm just not that brave.

Jim

[luvrbus]

Yeah I'm not trying to say it isn't a good idea to send gray water through the regular sewage treatment. It is. And if regular hookups are available it's very inconsiderate not to use them. Then there's the whole pollution/protect the planet argument which we have proven valid by reducing auto tailpipe emissions. Overall I think the inhabited world is a much cleaner place than it ever has been in human history. So we are on the right track at long last. It behooves us to stay the course.

However. If 4 days remain on the site stay, the waste tanks are nearing capacity, the wife wants to take a shower and it's possible to inconspicuously drain enough gray water away to let that happen would you tell her no? Sorry man, I'm just not that brave.

Jim

It's no big deal here some park people will ask you to use a hose to water other trees they call it but to me it is a bush they just don't want you dumping in one spot the best I can figure out with the hose deal