"Of all the things Walmart is best known for (low prices, litigation, the demise of mom-and-pop stores), an overnight stopping place for RVers is not among them."

It's not? I think it is. That sentence is from a (long!) NYT article about renting an RV and driving all over the western United States.

Somehow litigation is a stronger association with Walmart. Who knew? And I'm a lawyer. I mean, I know Walmart has been sued. (There was that unsuccessful effort to make a class action out of the lack of advancement of female employees.)

Speaking of law, how can you write a huge NYT article about RV vacationing in the U.S. and not mention Clarence Thomas? Here's an article to make up for the gap:

"We've been in dozens of Walmart parking lots across the country," said Mrs. Thomas. "Actually it's one of our favorite things to do if we're not having to plug in and we've got enough electricity ... but you can get a little shopping in, see a part of real America -- it's fun."

When Justice Thomas is recognized, "it sort of puts a damper on things... It's not that there's anything bad... What actually happens is we kind of get mobbed. We had to leave one site that, they got so friendly... they looked forward to seeing us every year that there'd be 20 - 30 people waiting for him to come out of the bus, so we just had to move on."

She says the tough economy isn't going to stop a lot of campers, "Campers are very resilient... if gas goes up, or the cost of camping changes, or if it's difficult to fit it in, they're going to find a way to vacation. There's a whole range of campers -- from tents to pop-ups to fifth wheelers... they're people who love their family, they love the simple life, they love to get away but not spend a whole lot of money ... it's the best of America out here."