Burger King Truck Parking Lot

I arrived a little before sunset and went in to ask if it was okay I park. They said yeah sure! I said “around back here?” And she said yeah or in the parking lot wherever you’re comfortable. I found that to be incredibly welcoming and kind as I was traveling by myself and the parking lot looked more well-lit so I felt more comfortable there. I parked towards the back of the lot and settled in. Around 9:30 I get a knock on my window. I thought it was a BK employee asking me to move but it was someone asking for money. I told them no thank you and he said “you can’t sleep here”. I advised that they said it was okay and he wandered off to the back of the lot. A few minutes later, another knock to which I didn’t answer. I saw him walking back and forth between BK and McDonald’s for about an hour and it was hard for me to sleep. Every time he’d walk by my car he would walk incredibly close basically brushing against it. Eventually a patrol car showed up and things seemed to settle in for the night so I stayed. Around 5am the next morning I am awoken by a knock again. Once he walked away from my car this time I just left. When you are on outsider staying on reservation land you just have to accept that some things may be different than what you are used to and not jump to conclusions. People here are very very friendly- I didn’t feel this man was threatening or unsafe at all. But it feels uncomfortable to have someone invading your space like that especially if you are alone. Besides the knocking on the door, the place was great and peaceful. I’d consider staying again if I was with someone else because I really didn’t feel these panhandlers were violent or dangerous at all (there were others as well who just didn’t knock on the window). But by myself it just wasn’t worth the tense feeling of wondering if someone’s right outside your car while you drift off to sleep. It saddens me to write that because the people at Burger King were so so welcoming. I suggest you stop and check out their WW2 Navajo code talkers exhibit even if you don’t end up staying.

I came here (September 2021) to stay overnight and to see the Navajo Shadehouse Museum next door. Overall the parking lot itself was fine, mostly level, all gravel and out of the way of customers. Trucks came and went the entire time I was there.

The reason I gave it such a bad ratings is because when twilight hit there were about a half-dozen dogs around the parking lot scavenging for food. They looked wild but then I thought I noticed someone off to the side of the parking lot with a leash. I have no idea what that was about but I couldn't take my little dog outside for several hours until the dogs moved on. Then right after the dogs left the panhandlers move in. I felt trapped in my RV the whole time I was there.

So I'm on my way to Valley of the Gods but it's getting late as I roll into Kayenta, AZ.. I find the Burger King and see a nice size open lot parking area for big rigs behind it. There were already (3) rigs when I parked for the night. Noise from additional trucks arriving wasn't too bad. It got really quiet past midnight. Free wifi was available from Burger King and Taco Bell. TMobile service was through CellOne with not data access. Area was clean and fairly level. Good solar production during daylight hours.