Friendly Confines

Not every day of our trip ends in the quiet comfort of a state park or beauty of a national park campground. Some of our days conclude with late night stops in the busy parking lots of 24 hour Wal-Marts, and brightly lit Flying J truck stops. Some of those stops are better than others.
Occasionally, you find yourself parked next to a convention of local kids who, not unlike myself several years ago, talk loud and long and have little to say. Other times we slide into the last RV spot in the lot, only to discover that the huge RV next to us plans to run their generator all night.
On these nights, I'm glad that we are able to sink deep into the comforting solitude that our RV walls afford us. It has occurred to me more than once how unusual it seems to some people to sleep in a parking lot. And yet, once you put it in park, and pull the curtains, you are surrounded by the familiar. You see the people that you want to be around, and the things you brought with you. We engross ourselves in our usual night time activities, and when Carter is beating me in backgammon for the third straight night, I forget the outside.
In fact, I've sensed that when the outside is not as welcoming, that we collectively draw closer to feed off the comfort of the familiar. In the end we do many of the same things no matter where the Cruiser is parked for the night.
However, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that if you plan to sleep in a parking lot it is much more comfortable if you bring your RV.