"Can't beat the wide open spaces"
The Chronicle-Journal, August 20, 2002
by Erin Conway-Smith

The crickets aren’t chirping tonight, but maybe the hum of electric lights and the gentle stream of traffic will lull the Johnstons to sleep.

That’s about as soothing as it gets in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Not that Al and Missy seem to mind. They’ve driven all the way from Fort Worth, Tex., in their RV, up to Alaska and back down through Canada, and this patch of concrete suits them fine.

They even seem a little surprised when asked why they would want to stay overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Heck, why wouldn’t you want to?

"It’s free, we can get whatever we need, you know, supplies or repairs,’’ Missy said, sitting in the door of her vehicle in the early evening.

This couple vacations at ‘Wally World’ — as it’s referred to on Web sites offering advice on free RV camping — every few nights. The rest of the time, they pay to stay at campgrounds offering hook-ups for their recreational vehicle.

But what about the scenery — or rather, the complete lack thereof?

"We’re driving during the day, so that’s when we see things,’’ she said. "At night it doesn't matter much anyway.’’

The Johnstons aren’t the only couple who feel the magnetic pull of the Wal-Mart parking lot. It’s a much larger phenomenon, only part of which gravitates here to Thunder Bay’s store.

This is Nowhere, a documentary released this year by Montana-based High Plains Films, looks at the estimated tens of thousands of RV enthusiasts who make Wal-Mart stores their travel destination each year.

For the people in this film, mainly older couples, Wal-Mart is the final destination. Not nearby national parks or tourist attractions, but the store itself.

While I didn’t encounter any of these true blue Wally World fanatics in Thunder Bay, Mike Strange, manager of this city’s Wal-Mart, estimates roughly 700 RVs stay
overnight during the course of the season.

Strange said five or six vehicles pull in every night in July and August. Two or three a night appear in the spring and during hunting season in the fall.

There are maps you can buy marked with the locations of Wal-Marts across North America that offer a free stay, he said, though they’re out of stock right now at the local outlet.

Most stores permit overnight parking — it’s even discussed on the company Web site. Rumour has it, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton was an avid RVer, perhaps explaining the lenient attitude.

The estimated 700 vehicles parking for free isn’t much compared to the 8,000 to 10,000 RVs that pay $18-$29 (depending on hook-ups) to stay at the local KOA campground between April and October.

What’s interesting — yet frightening — is the notion of turning Wal-Mart’s charmless parking lots into hot vacation spots.

This company, having runneth over many stores on the road to becoming the retailing giant that it is today, seems to have redrawn the travel map of North America.

Maybe it’s the disturbing comfort of brand recognition that attracts people to sleep in Wal-Mart’s shadow. Or the predictability, providing a safe and recognizable haven from strange new states and provinces.

The question is, why do these Wal-Mart fanatics even bother going on vacation, when every parking lot looks the same?

Standing on the pavement at Wally World, next to a few RVs, I could be anywhere.
Or absolutely nowhere at all.

© 2000-2002 Thunder Bay Independent Media Center.