Walmart Camping

I drove my longest day on Wednesday, the 17th, logging over 300 miles from Mt. Rainier National Park to Couer d'Alene. That included my tour of the Park. I hadn't planned to drive that far, or that long (nearly 10 hours), but heat wave temperatures in western Washington took away all desire to stop and set up camp anywhere in between those points.

So late that evening, I planned for my first Walmart overnight experience. I arrived at the Hayden Walmart about 8:00p, by which time the temp had dropped into the 80s. There was a designated section in the parking lot for RVs, and there were eight other rigs besides my own in the asphalt jungle. All was well until around 1:00a when teens congregated nearby to talk (loudly) and practice bird whistles. Yes, that's what I said. Bird whistles. Fortunately, they didn't stay long, and things quieted down quickly. I slept well until after 6:00a.

The next two nights I found nice forest service campgrounds, Lodgepole adjacent to Georgetown Lake southeast of Missoula and West Fork southeast of Butte just outside the west entrance of Yellowstone.