The Walmart in Yreka, CA is a popular place for RVers to spend the night, and by the looks of it, some of them spend several nights here.
Believe it or not, but spending nights in Walmart parking lots is actually a strategy that Sash and I incorporated into our budget, mostly to offset expenditures. We try to spend a few nights each month mooching off of big-box retailers for their expansive spreads of asphalt and turn just a tiny patch into our bedroom digs.
This particular Walmart parking lot seems better than other Walmarts we’ve stayed at. It’s for the most part, quiet over night. No screaming kids, no cars roaring by.
While we did not ask the Walmart manager to let us park our truck and trailer there overnight, we read reviews on Allstays.com that dozens of people have stayed there overnight with no issues. I’d say about 6 or 7 other RVers were there when we stayed there.
It’s not easy to switch into my coding/webdev brain after an afternoon of towing trailer up and down mountain roads. And it’s not convenient to set up my laptop and hard drive on a futon with motorcycles inside the trailer. But I was able to get some minor work done for a client that night.
Sometimes it’s crazy to think that we’re sleeping on a mattress at the edge of a parking lot, with only aluminum framing and composite panels concealing us.
But, that’s RV life.
Steve & Sash, sounds like you’re having a great trip. I did a cross country from NJ to Oregon and back with my 89 year old dad last spring towing a 27′ tt. Great times! Thinking about purchasing an ATC toy hauler. What are your thoughts on the quality of the trailer itself? Do you foresee any major or minor problems with the build and constant towing? Thanks for any input!
Ed Carmen, retired AF Vagabond!
Ed, we are thus far very happy with the ATC 28 footer. It’s been six months of full-time living in this trailer, and we’ve pulled it through nine states, and camped in numerous places. The trailer has held up great, no structural problems, no rain leaking into the trailer, no plumbing problems, nothing deteriorating. The few problems we’ve encountered were due to appliances, but these are things that ATC did not build, but installed. For example, the direct-spark igniter on the furnace failed within a week of having the trailer, and ATC dispatched a repair guy to fix it right away. The stopper in the bathroom sink failed, and they had another guy come out and fix that. The thermostat tends to shut itself off in the middle of running the AC, about once every few days, and requires turning it off and back on. Otherwise, the the parts that ATC built themselves has been pretty solid.