Another Price We Pay for Free Boondocking Spots

Long ago I wrote about how much we save on camping fees thanks to the Escapees Days End Directory and Frugal Shunpiker’s Guides. Did I mention the price we pay for free boondocking spots listed in these resources?

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When free boondocking spots are anything but.

Our Free Boondocking Spots On the Road to Texas

The trip to Texas went well — mostly. Jim will soon share gory details about the mechanical things that transpired along the way. But on the plus side, we managed to marathon train on the road just as we had hoped. And we also camped in free boondocking spots like this one in Arizona.

Now, in the Days End Directory, members share all the details about how to get to a spot and what to expect. So when descriptions for a particular spot in Arizona read “Lot unlevel,” it was hard to imagine just how unlevel it was. I mean if it was so bad, why would anyone want to stay there right?

I disregarded that little gem, because it also said “Great scenery. Lots of trails. Easy turnaround for lg rigs.” Figuring we could just leave if the parking sucked, I directed Jim toward the spot. 

Well, when the road to get to a free spot is ridiculously long, bumpy and a hassle, leaving is often more of a pain than staying. And that’s exactly what happened. Late in the day, Google took us on a goose chase to get to this “close to Interstate 10” spot. And when we arrived at dusk and saw that the free camping spot was at a steep angle, we decided to suck it up.

It’s hard to tell from this photo how sloped the lot is. but I’m actually holding the camera straight. And I’ll give you a couple of examples of this poor choice I made, so you can picture the scene….

In the middle of the night, I had to get up, and tumbled downhill from the bedroom steps, right onto poor Wyatt who was laying in the galley. Later, Jim woke up and realized that while asleep, he slipped down to the very bottom of the bed. He literally had to scootch and climb back up to his pillow!

Yeah, free boondocking at its best. Have you ever put up with anything this crazy just because it was free? I’d love to hear about it!

2 thoughts on “Another Price We Pay for Free Boondocking Spots”

  1. Hey Rene,
    Can you tell me where my Frugal Shunpiker’s Guides steered you wrong? Unless it was a temporary weather-related, road closure, etc. situation, I’d like to know so I can correct, update, or delete that information (if I haven’t already in my most recent updates).
    Cheers,

    Reply
    • Hey Marianne, Oh gosh I hope I didn’t give that impression. I found it in Day’s End, not your guide, which has never steered us wrong. Thanks for caring!

      Reply

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