All Aboard Were Asleep

We don’t plan overnight stays at Walmarts when we travel. We don’t operate the coach when we are tired. We try to keep a day’s drive to a maximum of 5 or 6 hours. We avoid driving the coach at night.

But what happens if you decide to park at a Walmart to spend the night only to have the police come around and tell you to leave?

A couple had attempted to boondock at a Walmart in Warrenton, Virginia. I suspect that they did not ask for permission to camp overnight. Warrenton has had ongoing issues with homeless camping going back to at least 2013. Warrenton seems to be very focused on keeping RVers off city streets and parking lots.

This couple obeyed the directive given by the Warrenton police and left the Walmart parking lot probably quite late at night. The woman was asleep in the bed at the back of their 36-foot Itasca motorhome as the husband was driving the coach. The husband then fell asleep at the wheel. Everyone aboard was asleep when the motorhome veered off the right shoulder and impacted a large tree. The wife was trapped in the coach and it took the fire department over an hour to free her from the wreck.

This video was taken by the tow truck operator at the scene. I found the footage quite dramatic and upsetting. It takes time and effort to plan a safe trip in a large motorhome. Being forced out of a Walmart parking lot late at night led to a dreadful outcome.