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Do you know of a SAFE, FREE, place to stay in Bakersfield, while traveling south.


mr. cob

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Howdy All,

We had planned on already traveling south but had trees fall on the house and garage so our travel date has been put off until sometime hopefully in early January.  I have our route planned and one of our usual stops was at the Flying J, a bit north of Bakersfield, however this year my wife will be driving the Jeep so we won't be stopping in truck stops as I don't want to take a full space from a trucker while parking the Jeep.  Don't want to spend 50 dollars plus just to sleep and leave, the Walmart in Bakersfield is out so kinda at a loss as to a place to spend the night.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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Just now, jkoenig24 said:

I'm not familiar with the area in regards to safety but, is it not possible to park the Jeep in the passenger parking area for several hours?

Howdy jkoenig24,

Yes it is possible, but with the breakins that are happening all over and Bakersfield is NOT the best place to be I hate to leave a new Jeep unattended, the Jeep Gladiator is one of the top vehicles to be stolen or broken into.  I had my Freigthliner broken into and lost my GPS, microwave, refrigerator, CB and TV while parked in a supposedly secure long term hotel parking lot while in Ontario ca, lets just say all I want to do is get through ca without spending any money or incurring any loss.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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Good to hear that you're back on the road!  Was worried that I would hear of another tree crashing into your rig!  Can't help you on the Bakersfield area.

There are 4 Home Depots in Bakersfield.  ( that surprises me!)  Never had a problem staying overnight at HD.  Maybe there is a city or even a state rule?  Wouldn't surprise me.

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Just now, HERO Maker said:

Good to hear that you're back on the road!  Was worried that I would hear of another tree crashing into your rig!  Can't help you on the Bakersfield area.

There are 4 Home Depots in Bakersfield.  ( that surprises me!)  Never had a problem staying overnight at HD.  Maybe there is a city or even a state rule?  Wouldn't surprise me.

Howdy Rocky,

Good to hear from you hope all is well with you and yours.  I don't know about the Home Depots but all the Walmart's are not allowing overnight anymore in ca that I am aware of, signs posted some local law prohibits it and I have been told by the Walmart folks not to do it or risk getting tagged or towed.  I "ASSUME" that goes for all the big box stores.  Looking at the parking lots in google earth, shows lot of trees in many of the lots, very sharp turns and curbs that would limit maneuvering with rigs like ours, old style flat open parking lots are a thing of the past it would seem.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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The free overnight spots in CA's populated areas went away when homeless folks started living in older RVs and cars there.  While it's not free, Bear Mountain RV Park about 10 miles south of Bakersfield (Hwy 99 at Bear Mtn Rd / Hwy 223 exit) is $42 a night including tax.  If you're coming south on I-5 take the Hwy 223 exit and go east.  Nice modern park, no orange trees, swimming pools, etc. just wide roads and 90 ft long full hookup pull through spots.  It was originally built as a mobile home park not too long ago and then converted to well kept long term RV spaces when the mobile home market didn't pan out.  There's a whole section reserved for overnight/short term stays.  I usually stop there for a night whenever I go through Bakersfield - it's out in the country so crime isn't a problem and it's a good place to dump and fill the tanks on the way out or back from the desert.

Edited by Lou Schneider
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3 hours ago, Lou Schneider said:

The free overnight spots in CA's populated areas went away when homeless folks started living in older RVs and cars there.  While it's not free, Bear Mountain RV Park about 10 miles south of Bakersfield (Hwy 99 at Bear Mtn Rd / Hwy 223 exit) is $42 a night including tax.  If you're coming south on I-5 take the Hwy 223 exit and go east.  Nice modern park, no orange trees, swimming pools, etc. just wide roads and 90 ft long full hookup pull through spots.  It was originally built as a mobile home park not too long ago and then converted to well kept long term RV spaces when the mobile home market didn't pan out.  There's a whole section reserved for overnight/short term stays.  I usually stop there for a night whenever I go through Bakersfield - it's out in the country so crime isn't a problem and it's a good place to dump and fill the tanks on the way out or back from the desert.

Howdy Lou,

Thanks for the information.  I appreciate it.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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There's a Cracker Barrel in Bakersfield but I'd call to ask about staying overnight. Satellite view shows enough room but I don't know about that particular store's policy. 661-636-6200

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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I don’t think I’d stay anywhere in Bakersfield except in a park (I’ve stayed in a couple of them in the past couple of years), crime is definitely an issue in the whole city (at least it was several years ago).

I would stay at the Flying J in Lebec, if you don’t mind driving another hour south to get there.  The last time I was through there was this summer and it looked about the same as always.  I’m pretty sure they still allow overnight RVs in a different lot than the truck lot.

If you are going to head east on hwy 58 out of Bakersfield, there’s a couple of reasonable places in Tehachapi.

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There's a Camping World that allows overnight parking, no service appt. needed. You might check them out with a phone call.

The Days End Directory, put out by our fellow Escapees, is a terrific resource for free and low-cost overnight options. It's worth the small amount they charge, and if you help keep it updated you can get enough "points" to get it free. We've used it successfully several times.

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13 hours ago, sandsys said:

There's a Cracker Barrel in Bakersfield but I'd call to ask about staying overnight. Satellite view shows enough room but I don't know about that particular store's policy. 661-636-6200

Linda Sand

Howdy Linda,

Thanks, we like Cracker Barrel, I'll give them a call.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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12 hours ago, fpmtngal said:

I don’t think I’d stay anywhere in Bakersfield except in a park (I’ve stayed in a couple of them in the past couple of years), crime is definitely an issue in the whole city (at least it was several years ago).

I would stay at the Flying J in Lebec, if you don’t mind driving another hour south to get there.  The last time I was through there was this summer and it looked about the same as always.  I’m pretty sure they still allow overnight RVs in a different lot than the truck lot.

If you are going to head east on hwy 58 out of Bakersfield, there’s a couple of reasonable places in Tehachapi.

Howdy fpmtngal,

Thank you, we will be going over Tehachapi, but we will have already put on 400 miles before getting to Bakersfield, should arrive there around 6-7PM so going further would make the wife unit extremely unhappy to keep going until later at night.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, nawaa said:

There's a Camping World that allows overnight parking, no service appt. needed. You might check them out with a phone call.

The Days End Directory, put out by our fellow Escapees, is a terrific resource for free and low-cost overnight options. It's worth the small amount they charge, and if you help keep it updated you can get enough "points" to get it free. We've used it successfully several times.

Howdy nawaa,

I have thought about officially joining the group, thanks for the tip.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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