Disappearing Dumps

We are at the Wal-Mart in Hialeah Gardens, Florida (map). We came here to Hialeah because two different dump station directories indicated there were dump stations here, at the truck stop next door and also one across the river. I walked to them last night, and the dumps do not exist. Perhaps these truck stops had them at one time, but they've been gone for so long now that the employees know nothing about them.

Knowing we were coming here, however, we had already scoped out coin laundries in the area, and after leaving Miccosukee yesterday morning we headed right for the one with the largest parking lot. Wow, was that lot ever busy; fortunately, there was room for Odyssey around back. A different coin laundry was just across the street in this overwhelmingly Cuban neighborhood, making for one of the least expensive laundry experiences we've had in a while. By the time the laundry was done, we decided to stop here for the night so I could scope the dumps on foot, and hit one of them in the morning.

While we would not otherwise have stopped here if it had not been for the phantom dumps, it was a fine place to stay, and there is a fantastic Cuban (what else?) restaurant right here in the parking lot called Don Cameron ("Sir Shrimp"), which not only had beer and wine but also served up heaping plates of food that we could not possibly finish. We have yet to go into the Wal-Mart, but I understand the in-store food venue at this location is also a Cuban restaurant, Sergio's. I'll find out shortly, as I ordered a prescription refill here via the web site, and it should be ready later this morning.

Frankly, I was somewhat surprised that overnight parking here was not forbidden outright, as we are fairly close now to Miami. However signs at the entrance forbid only trucks, no surprise since the two truck stops next door both charge $12 a night for truck parking. I understand the stores in Hialeah and Miami Gardens are also permissible options, and those were our backups in case we were unable to stay here.

With the purported dump stations here turning out to be a delusion, today we will proceed to the Topeekeegee Yugnee county park in Fort Lauderdale, known locally as TY park (even the locals don't want to pronounce it), which has 61 full-hookup RV sites for $40 per night, but also a dump station for a mere $8. I expect we will end up at the Bass Pro shop in Fort Lauderdale tonight, unless that, too, has become restricted, where we will meet up with friends Steve and Harriet for dinner at the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant in the store.

Photo by kxlly, used under a Creative Commons license.