When is it OK to Extend your Slides?
10-26-2017
Author: in Henley's Happy Trails
In addition to many great RV Resorts, we like staying at Walmarts, truck stops, and other parking lots when we are traveling. They are convenient and have many services we might need for a quick overnight stop. Each new parking lot brings the same question: can we extend our slides? In the RV world, whether or not to extend one or more slides is kind of a question of contention. Therefore, I would like to preface the following words with the statement that: the following is simply my opinion.
When it is OK...
When we first arrive at a parking lot that we want to stay at overnight, we always ask the management for their consent. If this is allowed, the manager will most likely direct us to the preferred overnight parking area. Once we know where to go, we try to scout out a location that will allow us to put at least one of our slides out. We judge that location on a couple of factors:
By asking ourselves these two questions, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of the business manager. The first question is easily answered by seeing if there is a parking spot that extends the slide over something like a grassy median or edge of a parking lot where no cars could possibly park. Like the rest of life, sometimes the first question does not have a black and white answer which is when the second question comes into play.
Sometimes there are no parking spots at the parking lot, but sometimes you end up being parked way in the back or the outer edge of a parking lot that doesn't get much traffic. If no one is going to be driving by that location or looking in that general direction, putting your slide(s) out later in the evening may not be a bad idea.
Ultimately, using the two questions above and a little common sense, as well as common courtesy, it's pretty easy to figure out when you should or shouldn't extend any slide when in a parking lot for the night.
When not to put your slide out...
Using the questions above, if you answer no to the first question or if you answer yes to the second question, then it is a good idea not to put your slide out. In parking lots, it is generally a matter that is up to your interpretation. In truck stops, it is much less so. It is almost never okay to extend your slide in a truck stop. Just like every rule, there are exceptions, so use discretion.
The original intention of truck stops was to have a safe place where truckers could stop for the night, get something to eat, take a shower, and get some rest. Truckers drive for long hours across long distances and they do not have all of the comforts that we have in our RV. Truckers have a very important job in our society; there is even a bumper sticker that says if you bought it, a trucker delivered it. It’s ultimately a trucker's domain and as an RVer, we are guests.
Most truck stops provide parking in a sardine can pattern. If you park at a truck stop and put your slide out, it will definitely go into the parking spot next to you. This removes a possible spot for a trucker to get some sleep for the night. This practice, which I have seen done, marks the undesirable answer for both questions one and two above. It also gives RVers a bad name as a whole. Putting your slide out in these locations is greatly discouraged.
Final thoughts...
It is a privilege for RVers to be able to stay in business parking lots overnight. It is important that RVers respect the property in order for that privilege to continue in the future. One of the best things that we can do to ensure this is to be as unobtrusive as possible. Ultimately the decision to extend your slide(s) rests with you, so be respectful and courteous to the business allowing you to stay.
When it is OK...
When we first arrive at a parking lot that we want to stay at overnight, we always ask the management for their consent. If this is allowed, the manager will most likely direct us to the preferred overnight parking area. Once we know where to go, we try to scout out a location that will allow us to put at least one of our slides out. We judge that location on a couple of factors:
- Can I put the slide out unobtrusively?
- Is the slide out going to look tacky in this particular parking lot?
By asking ourselves these two questions, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of the business manager. The first question is easily answered by seeing if there is a parking spot that extends the slide over something like a grassy median or edge of a parking lot where no cars could possibly park. Like the rest of life, sometimes the first question does not have a black and white answer which is when the second question comes into play.
Related Read: 5 Campground Rules Owners Want You to Know, but Won’t Tell You
Sometimes there are no parking spots at the parking lot, but sometimes you end up being parked way in the back or the outer edge of a parking lot that doesn't get much traffic. If no one is going to be driving by that location or looking in that general direction, putting your slide(s) out later in the evening may not be a bad idea.
Ultimately, using the two questions above and a little common sense, as well as common courtesy, it's pretty easy to figure out when you should or shouldn't extend any slide when in a parking lot for the night.
When not to put your slide out...
Using the questions above, if you answer no to the first question or if you answer yes to the second question, then it is a good idea not to put your slide out. In parking lots, it is generally a matter that is up to your interpretation. In truck stops, it is much less so. It is almost never okay to extend your slide in a truck stop. Just like every rule, there are exceptions, so use discretion.
Related Read: Road Rules: RV Campground Etiquette
The original intention of truck stops was to have a safe place where truckers could stop for the night, get something to eat, take a shower, and get some rest. Truckers drive for long hours across long distances and they do not have all of the comforts that we have in our RV. Truckers have a very important job in our society; there is even a bumper sticker that says if you bought it, a trucker delivered it. It’s ultimately a trucker's domain and as an RVer, we are guests.
Most truck stops provide parking in a sardine can pattern. If you park at a truck stop and put your slide out, it will definitely go into the parking spot next to you. This removes a possible spot for a trucker to get some sleep for the night. This practice, which I have seen done, marks the undesirable answer for both questions one and two above. It also gives RVers a bad name as a whole. Putting your slide out in these locations is greatly discouraged.
Final thoughts...
It is a privilege for RVers to be able to stay in business parking lots overnight. It is important that RVers respect the property in order for that privilege to continue in the future. One of the best things that we can do to ensure this is to be as unobtrusive as possible. Ultimately the decision to extend your slide(s) rests with you, so be respectful and courteous to the business allowing you to stay.
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Author: Levi and Natalie Henley
