We Got Into RV Rest Stops Last Minute Despite Some Online Hysteria

The Colonel likes to be on the road before reveille sounds!

As newbie RVers, we heard the warnings. I have been seeing video after video from seasoned full time RVers who are sounding the alarm, “No Walmart overnight parking!” or “Cabela closing up parking lots” or “Turned away at Pilot/Flying J’s!” I’m not talking about a few of these video influencers. I subscribe to a long list with hair raising stories, one where they were literally stranded with a broken down rig and they could not find anywhere to park until they could get a tow and a place to stay.

Pilot in Dubois, PA where we spent a great restful afternoon and night. The staff was very nice!

So as my daughter’s wedding approached July 11, my anxiety level began to ratchet up to some serious levels because we were taking The Blast ( Our beloved 2021 Jayco Greyhawk Prestige 31FP) from Okemos, Michigan to the Earle Naval Base Weapons Station in New Jersey.

My son, Alex, daughter-in-law Kristen and two grandsons were following in our Tahoe and would be spending the night in a hotel in Dubois, PA, however, the hotel did not allow RV parking. So we knew we had to find another overnight stop. There was a Pilot right across the street but as many RVers know, if you want a reserved spot at even the RV friendly Pilots/Flying J’s, you can not make a reservation until 24 hours out.

You can see all the empty reserved spots next to us, there were also a number of empty spots on the other side as well when we arrived at around 3:00 pm on a weekday afternoon, in an RV friendly, reserved area.

Given we were the mother and father of the bride, I called the Pilot in Dubois, and the manager assured me if we arrived before 3:00 pm we would have no problems securing a reserved RV parking space, but she was kind enough to personally take our reservation over the phone anyway due to the special circumstances because we were having trouble with the app even 24 hours out.

The is the rest stop we stayed off of the Ohio Turnpike going home, again, leaving at around 5:00 am from our destination, and reaching this stop at about 3-3:30 pm. Plenty of spaces to choose from.

This alerted me to something. She told my husband, they were “never full prior to 3:30 pm.”

Sure enough, when we arrived, other than one truck in the reserved area, we were the only one in the numerous reserved spaces that were available. After we paid our $15.00, we had our spot and later, all those spaces did fill up, I’d say after 5:00 pm or so, however to me, the is the key here, early arrival.

This was the case coming home. This time, we didn’t even bother using the app to even attempt to make the reservation. We left New Jersey at 5:00 am. We arrived at an Ohio Turnpike rest stop at approximately 3:30 pm and other than 1 Class A, we were the only other one in their RV designated parking area. $20.00 got us our spot for the night with electrical hook up and we were able to comfortably put our slides out. Later on, well after 5:00 pm, the lot filled up to capacity.

I believe what may be happening from those who are sending out warnings is a few things. One thing is I believe they are not starting out early enough. For them it is very late, well past 5 pm and that is going to cause huge problems in finding a spot to boondock in any rest area, Pilot or any of the RV favorite spots like Walmart (which is cutting down on allowing overnight stays anyway). I also recently heard the same thing about Cableas.

When I looked out late in the evening of the Pilot we stayed in going to New Jersey, while most of the free spots were already full when we arrived (see photo), by evening, we were surrounded by trucks in the reserved area too.

So here is my advice for what it’s worth.

Perhaps it’s the Army in us, but my husband likes to get up before reveille and get on the road. The earlier you do, the more likely you are to find a spot in those great super cheap rest areas or Pilots/Flying J’s or others like it. Another thing you do is miss all the traffic. We get at least four hours of good solid no-problems, smooth driving in addition. Even in construction areas. No backups, no traffic jams. Just you and some truckers.

As an aside, I’m not sure if it’s just our wonderful Jayco 2021, but before our rig was delivered, I read articles about staying at truck stops as being a nightmare experience. I read about how we should not even stay at truck stops altogether as RVers (we’re taking a space from truckers), it’s horribly loud, and other such negative horror stories.

My experience is quite the opposite. First let me state, we pre-planned and found a Pilot that was definitely RV friendly. I absolutely understand the concept of not taking a free spot from a trucker in a Pilot/Flying J or similar place that is not RV friendly. However, if the establishment specifically states they welcome RVs, then—-well, as an RVer, you are welcome.

That’s exactly how I felt at the Dubois Pilot. They couldn’t have been nicer. So easy to drive our rig to a great RV reserved spot.

Another advantage of driving so early is it’s just you and a few truckers on the road.

We had free Wifi for our amazing $15.00 cost and of course use of all of their facilities inside the building if we chose.

So I think the plethora of warnings online of how totally unwelcome RVers are in seemingly all truck stops is daunting and in my opinion misleading.

Another was constant warnings not to turn on your generator. Guess what? We did and we noticed all the trucks around us had theirs on all night as well (it was a steamy horribly hot night). So that “the sky is falling” warning bell was a myth in this case, yet I have seen video after video, articles and blogs of the “don’ts” about generators running especially at truck stops and methinks they perhaps need to chill out a bit.

Also, another big complaint is the noise at truck stops. I do believe it must have something to do with our particular rig because it was not noisy yet I have read blogs and watched videos of this being a terrible problem. We not only enjoyed TV without a problem, but I slept like a baby and let me tell you, it’s noisy! When my husband opened the door to take the garbage to the dumpster first thing in the morning when the place was packed, it was loud. So thank you Jayco!

Until next time when I’ll tell you about our brief but lovely experience camping at the Navel Base and our spectacular bitter yet so sweet experience giving our daughter away in marriage—drive safely, treat others the way you’d like to be treated and cherish each day as the blessing it truly is!

Duty, Honor and Seeing the Country RV Style!