Harsh, I know, but I have never felt so unwelcome in a state and based on some reviews from other free campers my experience isn't unique.
First WM I stopped at was fine. Spent a day lounging and enjoying my sunburn, figuring I'd head out the next day. Woke up to crappy weather and decided to stay and extra day.
Now, I park far away from the entrance and back into a spot on the edge whenever possible so I only take up one space. I don't litter, I don't run a generator and I shop at the store where I'm parked. In other words, I'm not even remotely obnoxious.
Fine.About 10am there's a knock on my door. Officer friendly is informing me that I have overstayed my welcome and the manager would like me to leave. Okay, It is a small lot and parking here is a kindness, I have no problem leaving. The officer then asks for my ID and I assume he just wants to make sure I'm legit and all that --- NO! He took my ID and ran my name through their little system! WTF! Treating someone like a criminal is so not cool. I was kind of torqued about that (OK, still am).
Anyway, after some internet research I believe that I don't have to hand a cop my ID unless I'm suspected of committing a crime so on the off chance this ever happens again I'll be denying the officer my ID and filming it. I'm starting to understand why these videos show up on YouTube.
So. Drove in the wind and rain to a nearby casino. Although not a pretty place, I parked there for two days and no one cared, so that was nice.
Drove a little farther to another casino. And I parked in the big-rig area - a gravel pad away from the parking lot, and it was empty, and the parking lot wasn't full, and I was paying my "fee" by eating at the casino restaurant but no, you can't stay here unless you are gambling. Seriously? Do you wonder why there are no rvers when other casinos typically have dozens of rigs in their lots?
Delaware casino. Note the complete lack of rvs in front of me, and the (possibly four but maybe only three rvs over to the left). Casino is barely visible to the right of the grandstand.
Washington casino. Yeah, packed.
Fine. Whatever. I checked my WM parking app. Hmm. Many stores have no overnight parking policies but some allow it. Let's check the reviews:
Max 24 hours. Must leave by six am. Must leave early.
Really? Okay, well, I guess there's nothing to see in Delaware anyway. There are plenty of states that welcome tourism.
Since my friend in New Jersey wasn't going to be available after all, I hightailed my butt outta DE and into the spectacularly beautiful state of Pennsylvania.
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