We ran the genset while we ate breakfast to bring the house batteries up to near full charge.  We were not in a hurry to leave as we did not want to get to our next destination too early.  We topped off the fuel tank and departed the Iowa 80 Truck Stop for Sioux Falls, SD around 10:00 AM CDT.  Most of our travel was in Iowa via I-80, I-680, and I-29, only crossing over into South Dakota towards the end of the drive.  We took exit 77 (41st street) east to the first major cross street and turned left (N) to the Wal-Mart.

Boondocking at Wally World

We had called ahead to verify that it was OK to spend the night at this particular “Wal-Mart”, but we still checked in with the Customer Service desk when we arrived.  This was our second boondock and our first at a “Wally World” (as Wal-Marts are known among RVers).  Wal-Mart permits overnight parking (but not “camping”) as a matter of corporate policy, although this is sometimes superseded by local ordinances.  Companies like Wal-Mart that permit this use of their parking lots provide a great service to RVers who just need a place to park for the night while traveling along with convenient shopping if they need it.

The big RV clubs, including The Escapees RV Club, the Family Motor Coach Association, and The Good Sam Club (all of which we belong to), have all signed on to a good neighbor policy regarding boondocking on private property.  Among other things, it says: one night only, ask permission, and no “camping”.  This later point means many things, such as: don’t put your slides out, your awnings out, your leveling jacks down, get out your lawn chairs and grill out, or crank up the outside TV set.  We often see this policy violated, even when just driving by a Wal-Mart in our car, and it is very discouraging.  Widespread violation of this policy will ultimately cost all of us the ability to use this resource.  There is never a charge to stay, although you inevitably end up buying a few “things” that you need, and this stop was no exception.  This particular Wal-Mart was in a more suburban/commercial setting than we expected, but egress was OK, and it was a pleasant place to spend the night.  (Note:  Had we used Google Maps aerial view to check this store ahead of time, we would not have been surprised by its setting.)

The two days travel from Twelve Mile, IN to Sioux Falls, SD had been very windy and the bus cockpit had considerable wind noise, including a loud whistle by the entrance door.  Linda determined that the operable window was the biggest problem, so I bought several weather-stripping materials at Wal-Mart that might fix it, at least temporarily.