In Phoenix, How I Choose Rest Areas to Stay In

From Cracker Barrel in North Phoenix

Here is the back, and only, entrance to the Cracker Barrel in North Phoenix where we met our good friend Laurie tonight for dinner, and where we are staying the night … hoping to get out before they open in the morning.  This is the first time we have stayed the night here, with permission of course from staff (who commented that RVers do it all the time).  Although this is right along I-17, there is a sound wall between the Interstate and the Cracker Barrel, and the RV parking is behind the building. 

Finding a Rest Area that is going to be ‘good’ for sleeping, which means that 1) it is allowed, and 2) it won’t be loud with trucks coming and going all night, is a hard thing to do. One source I use along the Interstates is Interstate Rest Areas.  There are ones you can purchase access to, such as OvernightRVParking.com, but I have not found the need to spend $25 to access this…I guess it is the librarian in me…I can find it myself.  Many states have rest area locations on their Department of Transportation websites.  I Found another good rest area last night in west New Mexico, in the town of Lordsburg.  We were going to stop at a rest area near Gage New Mexico, but when I saw it, I knew it would be a killer for sleeping.  I looked further and found this one in Lordsburg.

First choice above, I thought we might be able to get into one of those white dots areas, but that is closed off at night.  We would have had to park parallel like the trucks are doing, close to the Interstate.  Also, above the rest area is a very active train track.  Yes, you can stay over night, No, we would not want to unless it is our only choice.

30+ miles down the road from where we planned to stay is Lordsburg, which has a Welcome/Rest Area, shown in the bottom left of the picture above…the red circle is the area that we, and other, motorhomes parked last night.  Even though the Love’s Truck stop is nearby, and a Pilot/Flying J there in town…we still had about four trucks…but they were quiet…other than the one motorhome which ran its generator (started around 8 pm and never stopped even though they got there before us!)  The train tracks were plenty far away, and this parking area is buffered from the Interstate by the building and also the Interstate drops low for the bridge…so it overall was quiet.  Thank goodness the motorhome, which was an upscale model, had a very quiet generator.

Now the rest area we stayed at on Thursday night was better…the trucks are in the upper portion on the other side of the raised Interstate, the cars and RVs are separated in the south section, and the RVs are in that red circle.  The only thing you really hear are trucks coming off the eastern bound Interstate ramp, and also as they go back up…but it is not that bad unless they are using a engine brake.  Personally, I was tired from driving I did not hear a thing at either.

After we ruled out the Walmart in Boerne Texas, we went down the freeway and stopped at this rest area near Kerryville, but what we needed to do was dump our waste tanks…which is in the red circle area highlighted in yellow.  Thank goodness we saw the Cracker Barrel sign just before the rest area, and called, and we were able to stay there.

This Cracker Barrel is ideal…it is away from the Interstate, RV parking in back, and they do allow overnight stops.  It was great until around 4 am when Marcia woke me up with, “Don’t you hear that beeping?”  (Well, no, because I was sleeping….)  “Yes, I do now…I’ll get up and look into it.”  The beeping was not coming from us, nor our car…it was coming from the direction of the Hampton Inn.  It sounded to me like the Fire Alarm we had in the Altheimer Library, but from a distance.  When I build the Altheimer (oversaw the construction as the Library Director), they insisted that ‘code’ required a fire alarm…which did not have to be hooked up to any agency, but had to be active.  So if a kid pulled the alarm, no sirens would come…but it was as loud as could be inside until staff remembered ‘how’ to turn it off.  Anyway, that ‘beeping’ Marcia heard lasted a good 30 minutes or more…probably more for I would not know because I went back to sleep. 

We have stayed at as many Cracker Barrels in the seven years as we have rest areas…but way more Cracker Barrels these past three years than rest areas.  Have never been turned down at a Cracker Barrel, and never kicked out of a Rest Area or a Walmart.  Have also stayed at Casinos, Fred Meyers, Bass Pro Shop, Cabela's, and a few others.  The key is to search the Internet, ask the manager or staff, and be sure to look on Google Map, Satellite view and Street View.  Even then, you might not spot the nearby railroad tracks…but at least you can have an idea what you are getting into.

It is 5 am, slept ok...Marcia struggled, I think she is anxious to see Bubba...off we go (once coffee is ready in another 10)