Parking the big RV when visiting family and friends? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

ddcrvd · RV-Dreams Community Member

Parking the big RV when visiting family and friends?

DebbieM · RV-Dreams Family Member

Has not been a problem for us so far. We've been able to stay at a local state park or county park. Sometimes our friends/family have property or know someone who does. We've considered staying in a mobile home park for a shorter stay if we cannot find somewhere else while we're in San Jose, CA.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

We usually find a RV Park nearby if the family/friend doesn't have room to park us. It's been about a 50/50 type thing since half our family/friends live in rural areas and the other half live in city type. A lot of cities have regulations for parking large vehicles on the street. Some have a fee for 72hours up to 2 weeks for visitors, others don't allow it at all except for loading and unloading.

Never has been a problem. We did stay overnight in a local small town grocery store parking lot (with owner permission) when we discovered there was no way to get our 5th wheel down a relative's driveway eventhough they had plenty of land to park us on.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our experience is much like The Bear II. Sometimes we have to drive 20 or even 30 miles from where we are to visit, which we live with. Sometimes we driveway camp, if we can.
If this is very important to you, buy as small an RV as you can and learn to live on less than 15AMP electric. A 25' Class C will fit almost anywhere, but most will want larger.

ddcrvd · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks all. :)

Camper Chronicles · RV-Dreams Family Member

We talked about parking in my sisters driveway and staying in her house but they have rules in her community about that...in the end we stayed at a local state park and I am really glad we did. Love my sister, but having my own place allowed us to decide when to visit and when not to and gave us some separation. If it's a long visit highly recommend just getting a camping spot

-- Edited by Lee and Trace on Wednesday 11th of February 2015 07:08:06 AM

A-S Travelers · RV-Dreams Family Member

There have been many comments, in forums, of people parking their RV in a friends driveway and having the friend not understanding why you don't want to sleep in their house. They may have a hard time understanding that your RV is your home. It is your bed, your bathroom and all the stuff you may need at night is right at your fingertips. I'm sure there have been occasions where the homeowner was insulted that the RV'er would prefer to stay in that little box instead of coming into my large beautiful guest room and large private bath.

Even if you don't fulltime, spending a few months of the year in your RV, it becomes your "home" while traveling.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our experience so far is that it really varies on where you are visiting. An area that caters to snowbirds such as AZ or a touristy area, usually not a problem unless they are all full and you didn't plan ahead. We've found this to be less of an issue in smaller communities, but much more problematic in large city areas such as Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco. Absolutely hated the daily "commute" to be with family when we were in the Dallas area, there is always construction and issues. While I loved staying in a COE park just outside of the city, the daily drive to visit family was very tiring.

There are some cities, Dallas and San Francisco being 2 of them, that just don't have a lot of RV parks and what you do find may not be convenient, may not want short term visitors or can be very expensive.

And my husband wonders why I spend so much time researching!!

ddcrvd · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for being honest about the challenges you have faced NWescapee

At least three of our visiting destinations will be in large metropolitan areas, so this is relevant to us

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most who offer a "real bed and bath" will change their tune when you give them a tour. Because, they will see a real bed and a nice shower in most larger RVs.
I will also say that long term driveway/street camping can be difficult in many places due to ordinances, busybody neighbors, the space your RV takes, causing the electric rate to jump to a higher price (happened to us when camped with hookups at a relatives place) and more. We mostly have we stayed only a few days. If you intend to driveway camp for more than a few days, be prepared to move sooner than you expected the first time. The cops did show up at a friends house in the SF Bay area a couple days after we left to kick us out, but we were already gone.
If your plan is to be close to family for periods of weeks or months, it might not work out in some places. Driveway camping might be only short term or unavailable. Real campgrounds might be too far away, too expensive, not safe places, etc. That is reality, not me being negative.
Check out the Elks, Moose, Eagles, VFW or American Legion, if you can become a member, since they might have a place you can camp, with or without hookups. But they might also be limited in how long you can stay.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Camping in relative's driveway also leads to the problem that you will likely have to use 20 amp electric for your RV, not 30 or 50 amp. Thus, if the weather is hot, you may not be able to use your air conditioners.

And, if you are there for an extended time, disposal of the contents of the holding tanks will also be a problem.

Terry

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dave's brother had a spot behind his house with 30 amp power, water, & sewer and we could stay 2-4 weeks as needed. While nice, the pressure to always have dinner with them every night got to be a bit much. While it is great way to save money, make sure that you have somewhere to go after a week or two - - like fish, relatives tend to spoil rather quickly. Much better to find a park within 20-30 minutes, then make visits 2-3 times a week with 'rest' days in between. That way it is special to everyone. Even when we are nearby, we don't see them everyday.

Barb