For RVers, it’s a No. 1 destination

Ah, dump stations.

Not exactly one’s favorite subject, but as every RVer knows you can’t live without them.

Lowell Lehman of Spokane sent in an e-mail asking for help in locating year-round sites in the Inland Northwest.

“We hunt and fish in various areas around Spokane well into winter, using our travel trailer,” wrote Lehman.

“But, we are having a difficult time finding RV dump stations open that time of year,” he said.

“The only place I’ve been able to locate is Devine’s Shell station at Pines and Mission,” he continued. “But it is very difficult to get a trailer jockeyed around close enough and then it slopes the wrong way.”

He asked: “Do you know of any other places in or around Spokane that are open in the winter?”

After several telephone calls, I confirmed three additional cold weather dump stations in the Spokane-Post Falls area (listed below).

Being a research junkie I jumped on the Internet and found a young Web site called SaniDumps.com (www.sanidumps.com).

The site appears to have the most extensive list of RV dump locations online.

“I started the Web site in April,” said longtime RVer John Clarke from his home in Kelowna, British Columbia.

“My wife and I wanted to take our 30-foot fifth wheel on longer trips, but there wasn’t much available online about where we could dump our tanks,” he said.

“So, I saw an opportunity to create something that would be helpful for all the RVers and just see where it would go.”

In a little over six months the free site has exploded from an initial couple hundred listings to more than 7,500 in six countries.

“I update the information constantly,” said Clarke. “As more and more people learn about the site they send in more and more locations.”

How it works

Once you are on www.sanidumps.com, click on the “Sani Dumps” button on menu row at the top of the home page.

From there select which “country” you want from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand or the United States.

From there you will choose the region, state or province of interest. The list is sorted by city or nearest city location.

Web visitors can print a list before they leave for their trip.

Other resources

• Another online site, www.rvdumps.com, lists locations of many sites across the United States. It is run by Roundabout Publications.

• If you don’t have computer access, there is a paperback book version available, “RVers Guide to Dump Stations,” by Roundabout Publications ($11.95, 176 pages, 2006). It can be purchased through RVbookstore.com online or by calling toll free to (800) 274-9378.

• The Washington State Department of Transportation Web site (ww.wsdot.wa.gov/traveler/safetyrestareas.htm) reports that the 19 rest area dump stations are schedule to close mid-November, depending on weather. Call WSDOT customer service at (360) 705-7438.

Dump stations

• Argonne and Montgomery Car Wash, 8915 E. Montgomery Ave., Spokane Valley; (509) 924-3675. Free, open 24/7.

• Devine’s Shell station, 1520 N. Pines Road in Spokane Valley, on the southeast corner at Mission Ave., approximate two blocks south of I-90, take Pines exit; (509) 922-3911. Cost: $3 or free with purchase, open 24/7.

• Flying J Travel Plaza, 3636 W. Fifth Ave., Post Falls, Exit 2 off I-90; (208) 773-0593. Free, open 24/7. Find other Flying Js at www.flyingj.com.

• Riverside State Park, (509) 465-5064, Aubrey L. White Parkway at “Bowl and Pitcher” area on the Spokane River. Dump station is just inside campground gate. According to Washington State Parks Web site (www.parks.wa.gov), winter hours are 8 a.m. to dusk; $5 dumping fee.

• Johnson RV in Spokane Valley has closed its dump station for the season. “We look to reopen sometime in March,” says owner, Denzel Johnson, “depending on how cold it is.”

Question

It’s time once again to start making those holiday gift lists for your avid RVer friends.

I will be writing about gift suggestions in the Thanksgiving weekend Wheel Life and would like to include your ideas.

Please share your thoughts about gifts and gadgets for people on the move – thoughtful or funny, useful or frivolous, perfect or just plain dumb.

Call (509) 459-5435; e-mail juliannec@spokesman.com; or write to Wheel Life, The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99201.