rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 4, 2017 10:43:13 GMT -8
That's a good point about sleeping outside. That's kind of the whole point of camping, right?! I would still bring my backpacking tent, and hopefully do some overnighters with it. But shelter is a consideration, as is not packing up a wet tent after rain. That's what makes me eye the Eurovan. Not sure I'd want to sleep in it all the time, but having the option, and the option of indoor cooking, is nice at times. We usually have the in-laws along when we go to the desert, and with the wind we often experience, the van is a great addition. (incidentally, that's the aspect that would allow me to consider a cruise - you don't have to pack up and move every night!) I hadn't thought about a cruise in that way. I'd kind of like to do the Inside Passage to Juneau, but for the most part, being on a boat is too inactive for me. Plus: motion sickness.
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markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on May 4, 2017 11:37:51 GMT -8
Quick RV story...ongoing actually. Friend, last year, for whatever reason, bought a 22' 1983 Chevy 30 diesel...$3,000 - was cosmetically in nice shape. Drove it out to Burning Man where he had arranged/ rented it out for $2,500...so far so good. Afterwards, coming back, the engine broke down (caught fire!) near Placerville, where the rig stayed all winter at the mechanic's...$1,800 for the re-build. Yesterday, engine work completed, we drove from Mammoth over to Hang Town to pick up the Class C RV - attempting to drive it back home. On the way back, coming over 50 just before Tahoe, big puff of white smoke - blew out the transmission...had it towed... back to Placerville! Now he has to decide if a $2,500 transmission job makes sense...RV living in the Sierra? I don't know.
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on May 4, 2017 13:16:51 GMT -8
Although I rarely use public or private campgrounds and rather disperse camp, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places to legally do such outside of national forest and BLM areas. When I was a twentysomething, one could park overnight most everywhere. This was an era before RV's, SUVs, and homeless. But it was the age of Hippies and after the Viet Nam War when large numbers of Americans were emigrating to new places in the country. Of course vast numbers of truckers had been doing so for decades by necessity. It was not long before authorities began clamping down on various issues.
The first restrictions were due to the explosion of RVs and vans people began using to park overnight. Back then in most states one could park overnight even in cities. But RVs particularly have sewage issues and usual minor issues of parked vans used by counterculture types, surfers, hippies, ski bums, and criminals resulted in restrictions. My ski resort ended parking overnight in their lots a couple years ago because of excuses like public urination. What can one expect when there are not even Port-a-Potties for use in the lots? For a time in the 70s there were major news stories of perverts in white vans picking up hitch hiking young women and then r/k them. Some horrible crimes here in California. Hitch hiking which was huge in the late 60s by a decade later was essentially zero. Today here in California it is often impossible to find free overnight parking in large areas of the state, especially urban and coastal areas.
Another reason for the restrictions are the big money interests in lodging. About most resort regions, there is almost always an excess of lodging beds outside of holiday and seasonal weekend periods. And at the low end the mom and pop motels in many areas absolutely could not stand that numbers of visitors were camping for free a few miles from town. Over the years they have gained control in local resort towns. With RV's the issue has become RV parks and there are about 40,000 of them now across the nation, all of which loathe boondocking as they work to stamp such out and force people with campers and RVs to pay $35 to $50 a night to use their facilities. And then there are public campgrounds almost all of which now charge over $25 a night, double that of two decades ago. Along our California coast it is much worse. In Monterey County, all tent camping is at least $38 a night. A couple decades ago one could find cheap motels in most towns for less than $30 a night. Motel 6 built an empire on that fact until greedy motel groups took over that corp.
What there really needs to be are bare bones free public places to park overnight totally inside vehicles for single nights all over the country with trash/sewage removal, restrooms, contract policing via Internet video, automated pay stations, and a skeleton administration to manage such. And such is not going to cost anywhere near $38 a night.
David www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_Chronicles/2017_Trip-Chronicles-0.html
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2017 13:34:24 GMT -8
What there really needs to be are bare bones free public places to park overnight totally inside vehicles for single nights all over the country with trash/sewage removal, restrooms, contract policing via Internet video, automated pay stations, and a skeleton administration to manage such. And such is not going to cost anywhere near $38 a night.
I do this myself in roadside rest areas; on most trips I go on. Just to sleep for a few hours and move on. In Texas, they are often well-illuminated, although not patrolled. They had wifi at some point; I'm not sure about now. 18-wheel trucks use them quite often.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 4, 2017 15:29:38 GMT -8
I do this myself in roadside rest areas; on most trips I go on. Just to sleep for a few hours and move on. At most rest stops that's fully legal. You can't pitch a tent, and are limited to 8 hours. That works pretty well for most of us, though in fact we can't sleep in the car. Well, maybe 2 of us could, if we can shove all the other stuff out of the way. I should test that sometime.
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on May 4, 2017 16:07:33 GMT -8
Indeed California has many roadside rest stops, all along major highways and interstates.
www.dot.ca.gov/cttravel/carestareas.html
I use them occasionally however there are large regions where there are none and they are all well away from any cities obviously so as not to compete with lodging. And likewise are absent about many regions with outdoor recreation. The way it should work if we citizens had our say, would be to have many more to give people on road vacations another choice instead of being mugged by the recreation and lodging industries.
David
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 4, 2017 16:53:21 GMT -8
That's what makes me eye the Eurovan. Not sure I'd want to sleep in it all the time, but having the option, and the option of indoor cooking, is nice at times. I have always wanted a Eurovan but they seem scarce as can be around here. Be nice to pull over somewhere in the rain, park, make a hot meal and sack out, all inside a rolling little van like that. But there is more room albeit more hassle setting up an REI Basecamp 6. Much less expensive though. The last rest stop I slept in, I was 16 years old. Nowadays they are high crime. I avoid them and like to hide in the hinterlands of BLM or USFS. Once I got the Senior version of American the Beautiful pass even the National Parks are free for life (again we don't do campgrounds). I heard the measly $10 fee for those passes is going up steeply.
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whistlepunk
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Post by whistlepunk on May 4, 2017 20:48:32 GMT -8
Walmart is pretty friendly to RVs in their parking lots, unless local ordinances say otherwise. Also Cracker Barrel Restaurants and Cabelas.
The truck stop chains of gas stations (Pilot/Flying J, Loves, Petro, TA, et al) also allow overnight RVs, but you are sharing the parking/sleeping area with large semis idling all night. May be worth it if you can find a quiet corner, the truck stop stations usually have showers and laundry available, dump your waste tanks, and fill up with fresh water.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 5, 2017 8:05:28 GMT -8
have always wanted a Eurovan but they seem scarce as can be around here. They didn't make them for all that long, and they are really nice, so I'm not surprised they're hard to come by. ALso seem to be well-made: the two in our family are what, maybe 15 years old? and have very few issues. The last rest stop I slept in, I was 16 years old. Last one I slept in was out east of Tonopah, NV, and actually has a designated camping area attached (tents legal). It's not comfortable in some ways, but there is nowhere to camp, formally or dispersed, for a looooong way either side.
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Post by hikingtiger on May 5, 2017 8:49:24 GMT -8
I hadn't thought about a cruise in that way. I'd kind of like to do the Inside Passage to Juneau, but for the most part, being on a boat is too inactive for me. Plus: motion sickness. My aunt and uncle did this on a cruise of Hawaii. They were basically only on the boat at night, and it moved from island to island while they slept. I think I could deal with that. It didn't move every night as they had multiple days on some islands.
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 5, 2017 12:05:52 GMT -8
Last one I slept in was out east of Tonopah, NV, and actually has a designated camping area attached (tents legal). It's not comfortable in some ways, but there is nowhere to camp, formally or dispersed, for a looooong way either side. Oh yeah that is some desolate country. I can see why you stopped there. I have been in Tonopah several times while doing some mapping photography. We stayed in the old historic Mizpah hotel with all the antique furnishings. We did rent mountain bikes while there and toured some very interesting old sites. Been so long that I have forgotten any land designations up there.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on May 5, 2017 13:56:10 GMT -8
I hadn't thought about a cruise in that way. I'd kind of like to do the Inside Passage to Juneau, but for the most part, being on a boat is too inactive for me. Plus: motion sickness. My aunt and uncle did this on a cruise of Hawaii. They were basically only on the boat at night, and it moved from island to island while they slept. I think I could deal with that. It didn't move every night as they had multiple days on some islands. The wife and I did this some years ago in the Virgin Islands on a *FREE*, end-of-the-year-reward company cruise. The cruise ship would travel at night, usually starting some time just before onboard dinnertime. We started in San Juan, Puerto Rico, traveling to St. Croix, St. John's, St. Thomas and St. Maarten's. During the day, after a sumptuous (and complimentary) breakfast onboard, we went on tours shopping, swimming on some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, or snorkeling in secluded bays and reefs. One of the best trips I've ever taken. As far as "motion sickness" is concerned, if you're on a large enough cruise ship, you don't really feel anything. The ship we were on was a catamaran style (the now retired to Asia Radisson Diamond), and it was very stable. It had a gym on the top deck, with a small oval running track. I put in 3 miles every afternoon before dinner, even while the ship was underway on one of the longer trips. There was a shopping center and "gaming area" onboard (if you like that sort of thing), and a theater down below where there was a show every night. Posh.
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