Sleeping in my car in SD? (San Diego, Bell: coupons, month to, dorm)

[peasantgirl]

edit: added some pics from Friday night at the campsite and Saturday at the truckstop.

**Dangit, how do you add captions to the pics?**



So, I got a last-minute pet-sitting gig last night. A friend had gone out of town and had arranged for a neighbor to take care of his dogs, but the neighbor is flaky and wasn't answering the phone so my friend said I could crash there in exchange for checking on the dogs.

See how things work out?

AADAD: My dress code is basically "khaki casual", my hair is short and I wear minimal makeup.


Showered at my friend's this morning and went to McD's to upload my assignments. No outlets there so when my battery got low I went across the street to Wendy's (had outlets, yay!) to finish up. Eating a Frosty now and deciding what to do with my afternoon. Here's the unexpected perk of this experiment: if I was home, I would just be wasting time right now, goofing on the net, or watching Netflix, etc. I'm kind of a homebody, especially this time of year. Cold weather makes me hunker down and become a hermit. This is forcing me to "get out there" and be more active.

I thought I might practice "emergency fundraising" in case I ever find myself in a bad spot financially (in SD or otherwise). I had this idea of "selling jokes" at a truckstop. Here's how it goes: Go up to a parked truck where the driver is in the front seat (you don't ever knock on the door of a truck where the driver might be trying to sleep, unless you REALLY want to tick him off!) and say, "Can I ask you a question?" He/she says "yes" and I say, "What do you call a cow with no legs?" Answer: ground beef. Of course, they're not expecting that kind of question, so hopefully they get a kick out of it. I'll be holding a clearly marked Tip Jar, and they can give if they want, and if not that's fine too. I'll keep telling jokes as long as they keep "donating". I don't want to outright beg; as a former truckdriver I've heard so many sob stories and you never know if you're being scammed or not. You want to help but you don't want to get "taken", and enable someone's habit at the same time

Don't need any safety advice; as a former driver I know how to handle myself around a truckstop. I'm mostly just wondering if this will get me in trouble legally? I know laws vary but anybody have any experience/opinions on this?

Still gotta figure out where I'm sleeping tonight; too cold to camp as I don't have the right gear yet. Guess it'll be the car.

I don't know how many people are still following the thread; I won't post unless someone else does or unless something really interesting happens.

[oddstray]

I'm still following. I'm not sure how much you'll make with your jokes and tip jar. But I don't know any truckers, so maybe. Might make more sense to save some "emergency money" and turn it into a gift card that doesn't ever expire and is accepted anywhere. Then keep it save until you need it.

Yes, get proper camping gear! Don't let yourself get chilled like that - it'll wear you down. Eat more protein than you otherwise would if you think you'll be in cold conditions (learned these hints from Sierra Club backpacking class).

[Lost Roses]

Yes, we're still following. As a mother and grandmother I'm concerned about your safety even though you say you can handle things. I like that you're including pictures so we can see what you're doing. No on the joke thing with the truckers.

[Hawk J]

Howdy peasantgirl .

These are mighty nice photos. Thankyou for sharing them......

[RD5050]

Yes ... you're being followed here. Threads like this tend to be interesting.

We had a member a while back named Carlos who lived essentially the same as you, except without a car, and his threads were extremely popular.

Keep in mind car camping at a campground will be a lot different than car camping while parked on a city street.

At a campground you have restrooms, outhouses, etc. to use if needed during the night. You can even use the woods, since few are around to notice.

And at a campground you don't have cars riding past your car all night long while you are trying to sleep.

[peasantgirl]

oddstray: Hey, I like the GC idea! And the protein, I think that has something to do with the slower digestion? Generates heat, right?

I found a zero degree mummy bag at WM that I like, and a tent, and a cook-set (So I can boil my own coffee!). I couldn't find the water purification tablets so I asked the kid at the sporting goods counter and he told me to go to Housewares. Huh? I guess he thought I meant Brita pitchers, lol.

Lost Roses: Really, don't worry too much. I know which truckstops to totally avoid, I know not to walk along the back row (I didn't even park there when I was a driver), I won't do it after dark, etc. I like to think I'm a smart cookie

Hawk J: Glad you like 'em! I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in them.

-----------------------------

So, I spent a long boring day between window shopping at Wally-World, and hanging out in fast food joints mooching their wifi, and now I'm in a 24-hour diner, again for the wifi, lol. I had a McGriddle for brekkie, a frosty and chili for lunch, Taco Bell burritos for dinner, and now coffee and pie. I feel like I've gained 5 pounds today.

I picked a dandy time for this experiment....this weather SUCKS! It might not be snowing but it's cold, wet and miserable. My biggest danger is dying of boredom. I can't try my joke thing in the rain, I ain't trying out new camping gear in the rain....guess I'll find a library tomorrow. I've got two new assignments but they're not due til Thursday so I'm gonna spend the next two days researching camping spots for that area.

It occurred to me that when I get to SD that if I spend my "down-time" in the Natl forest areas then I can probably forget about wifi. That's gonna cause some serious withdrawals, lol.

If I was in San Diego it wouldn't be cold and rainy....grrrrr.

[peasantgirl]

Originally Posted by RD5050

Yes ... you're being followed here. Threads like this tend to be interesting.

We had a member a while back named Carlos who lived essentially the same as you, except without a car, and his threads were extremely popular.

Keep in mind car camping at a campground will be a lot different than car camping while parked on a city street.

At a campground you have restrooms, outhouses, etc. to use if needed during the night. You can even use the woods, since few are around to notice.

And at a campground you don't have cars riding past your car all night long while you are trying to sleep.

Hey, you posted while I was typing

I don't plan on spending a lot of time in campgrounds, most of them charge more than I want to pay. When I camp it's usually a "hike-in" situation, either on a trail or to a stealth location off-trail.

I wish I was doing something more adventurous to entertain y'all with!

Here's a link to the mummy bag (can I post links?) Ozark Trails Everest Mummy Sleeping Bag - Walmart.com

and a link to the tent. Ozark Dome Tent, 7' x 7' - Walmart.com

I have half a dozen tarps (for a groundsheet) at home so I'm not buying another one. I'll cruise by the house soon to pick one up. That doesn't count as going home, does it?

[peasantgirl]

Originally Posted by RD5050

Yes ... you're being followed here. Threads like this tend to be interesting.

We had a member a while back named Carlos who lived essentially the same as you, except without a car, and his threads were extremely popular.

Keep in mind car camping at a campground will be a lot different than car camping while parked on a city street.

At a campground you have restrooms, outhouses, etc. to use if needed during the night. You can even use the woods, since few are around to notice.

And at a campground you don't have cars riding past your car all night long while you are trying to sleep.

How do I find Carlos' threads? There's a lot of Carlos's here....?

Oh, is this him? //www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...clothes-9.html

[bloom]

^ yes that is him

[bloom]

this is getting a bit creepy with the photos