Tennessee Weekend Getaway

When the weather turns cool and leaves turn colorful you think of heading to the woods, hills and mountains somewhere not too far away. If it is to be a camping weekend and if you don’t plan ahead and make a reservation to camp at a state park, you really can’t do that on a whim. We were lucky, however, to find a private spot along the Tennessee River very near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jackie says these spots are called Hip Camping, where a landowner might have just a few spots suitable for camping that they rent out – most are without any utilities, considered boondocking. But the River Life RV Resort is a new effort by Delon and Laura Henegar that does include water, electricity and sewer and was a perfect getaway for a weekend get-together with Judy and Craig.

They were anxious to try out their new Grand Design trailer and since the location was halfway between the two of us (Nashville and Kennesaw) it made a perfect meeting spot for the weekend. An added bonus is the location might be just 10 minutes from our son’s new house on the north shore of Chattanooga. We decided to head up Friday morning and stay through Monday morning – lucky retirees that we are.

I should add that we all kept our interactions outdoors, with plenty of hand washing and sanitizer, in an effort to stay as safe and healthy as possible.

Well it turned out to be a perfect weekend – the weather was sunny and warm during the day and darn cool (cold) at night, but that’s just what you want for a fall weekend. We might have been one weekend and one rainstorm too late for the peak leaf colors, but it was still a beautiful view of the brown and golden hillside across from our campsite. It was mostly a “sit around the campsite” adventure and I’ll give you a quick recap and post some pictures so you can see how very cool the site was on the curve of the Tennessee River.

 

River traffic was surprising. There was a flotilla of several cabin cruisers headed downstream on Friday and back upriver on Sunday. Also several racing boats came barreling around the bend, engines crackling with power. A long barge with tugboat powered past us going downriver and later returned with more barges, but at a much slower pace against the current. I chuckled at the grill that was fired up in the stern and wondered what was for dinner. “A pirate’s life for me” kind of rattled around my head.

Just prior to this trip I replaced the kitchen faucet in the motorhome with one that sat up just a bit higher and had a pull-out spray head. Always have my fingers crossed with plumbing, but it seemed that this was a solid install (in the driveway anyway). However, as I stepped out of the RV the first morning there was water dripping from under the general area of the sink, so “shut off the water, shut off the pump!” ensued. Turns out that the cold supply side had not quite seated properly and was, of course, spraying water everywhere under the sink. It got mopped up and I made the connection properly snug this time and all turned out fine, if a bit wet for a while. But we have some familiarity with water issues like these, as you may recall from previous posts. Ahh, never a dull moment in the motorhome.

We had a little trouble getting a good fire going on the first night, but with some fresh, dry wood for Saturday night it wasn’t long before the flames were kicking up and the heat warming our hands and feet. Alex and Bethany joined us for what the group declared as game night and much laughter ensued. Beer, bourbon sipping, s’mores and hot chocolate rounded out the evening, with a little stargazing, too.

Off site, Alex and Bethany took the girls (Rachel and Bailey) for some trail riding in the Jeep and Jackie and I took a short hike up along a beautiful stream that was clear, cold water amid a boulder field. That was after the brief rainy morning cleared out on Sunday.  It made for the perfect end to a crisp, clear, fall weekend.

Owner Delon couldn’t have been nicer and we enjoyed learning about how he crafted the sites on the hillside himself with bulldozer and excavator.  He grew up in the area and knows the spot well.  For just being the first year of operation it was well done – with more improvements planned for next year. If you would like to know more about our hosts and their resort, click on this link:  River Life RV Resort

Well, that wraps up another adventure. We are now back home getting ready for a socially-distanced Thanksgiving and making plans for maybe one more outing before Christmas. The deer are still hanging out in the backyard, leaves have covered our entire yard and driveway and I am back to baking all sorts of bread – and getting darn good at it, too.

 

Thanks for following along on the adventures and stay safe.