The eternal question for us Van Dwellers – Where do we sleep tonight? Some nights are planned in advance, other nights we figure a few options. On rare occasion we have not really thought things through. Our evening at the FloraBama falls into the last category
We had originally thought we would stay somewhere in Mississippi. Mr Ram had picked out several promising state parks and Walmarts. We had chosen to avoid the Gulf Island National Seashore Campground because we were not sure if it would be open with the government shut down. An early start and a rainy day let us drive much further than we had expected for the day. Suddenly an evening of music at the FloraBama was just a short drive across Alabama.
As we sat in the FloraBama drinking, we thought that we might stay overnight in the bar parking lot. We had been given the idea by Jeff, a fellow camper in Colorado. And we had a great nights sleep in the parking lot of the B&J Pizza and Beer. The FloraBama parking lot had more concerns though. First the police will apparently go through the lot in the very early morning after closing and cite anybody sitting or sleeping in their vehicle for DUI if they have keys in the car.
Second was the beer cans. Mrs Ram found several of them near the van and they were not ours. We were not staying here.
We consulted our camping apps and they showed a welcoming Walmart only a few miles away. After midnight we joined a small Class A, a truck with a travel trailer and another van for a quiet nights sleep in the outer reaches of a Pensacola Walmart parking lot.
What does that say about us if we both think sleeping in a Walmart parking lot is step up from other possible accommodations?