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