Townsend Great Smokies KOA Holiday - Townsend, Tennessee (August 2021)

If we had to create a list of favorite places to camp, the Florida Gulf Coast and the Smoky Mountains would be high on it. Both places are associated with very happy family memories. Maybe that is one of the reasons heading to the Smokies made sense when we postponed our WBCCI Southwest Adventure Caravan. 

Once we decided to head to the mountains, the next question was where to camp? We limited our choices to Maggie Valley, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Townsend. All of these places are on the Tennessee side of the mountains except Maggie Valley, which is in North Carolina. They are all special places to our family, but we ended up choosing Townsend. This is on what they call the quiet side of the Smokies. We felt fortunate to book a site on the river in the Townsend Great Smokies Campground on short notice. 

The sign at Townsend's KOA Campground

I was disappointed when we arrived at the park. There were several loops with sites along the river. I hoped our site was in the lower loop, which is closer to the water. We ended up in the other loop where the sites were on a hill. That meant we were farther from the river and the sounds of rushing water. We didn’t know it at the time, but our site assignment turned out to be fortunate for us. More about that in a minute. 

Rosie up a hill from the river

Becky enjoying the Little River behind Rosie

The Little River behind Rosie

In the category of firsts, we received a text from the campground telling us that a bear was in the park and everyone needed to be in a safe place. A few minutes later, a text was sent out saying the bear left the park. We didn’t know if we should be happy or sad that we missed seeing the bear. 

Bear warning text message

We discovered a hiking/biking trail across the street from the campground. We enjoyed taking Suzy, our dog, for walks along that trail. Since this campground was a family destination with lots of children and campfires, we enjoyed being able to walk without having to smell campfire smoke. The walkway has probably been there for years, but it was new to us.

On Townsend's hiking trail

Suzy enjoying the hiking trail

Townsend is close to Cades Cove in the National Park. Somehow we missed going there this time, but we enjoyed driving through the Smokies and visiting spots our family members loved. 

Sign at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Smokies

The mountains

Newfound Gap in the Smokies

Another view of Newfound Gap

We did drive through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg one day. The busy traffic and crowded sidewalks screamed that we had made the best choice by camping on the quiet side of the Smokies. 

A diner in Pigeon Forge our children enjoyed when they were younger

Tubing was the noisiest activity around the campground. It was entertaining to watch large groups of people float down the river on inner tubes past Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

Tubers on the river behind Rosie

Tubers on the Little River

While we were there, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred passed through our area.  It rained and rained and rained. For nearly two days it rained ranging from downpours to steady rains. That would have been a miserable time if we were in a tent. Of course, it was nice and dry inside Rosie. 

Then we started watching the river. It grew from a lazy pace behind Rosie to a swiftly moving flood of water that would make an experienced white-water rafter fearful. We were surprised to see two men holding their beverage cans as they went zooming down the swollen river on inner tubes in the rain that afternoon. 

Two tubers during a tropical storm

Later that day, our amusement at watching the river rise turned into concern as we watched the campground start evacuating the lower loop sites along the river. Those trailers were being moved to open sites deeper inside the campground.  As “insurance,” we hitched Rosie up to the truck leaving only the power connected. If necessary, we wanted to be able to move quickly. 

Rosie hitched up in case we needed to evacuate during the tropical storm

Water rising on the river and flowing much faster

It was still raining as night approached. By the last light of the day, we saw that the river was flooding the low lying areas of the campground. We noticed that a campground staff person was driving his yellow golf cart every hour to a site near Rosie and checking the rising river. He wasn’t alone as multiple other concerned campers along with us were also frequently checking the river's rise. 

Checking the river from inside Rosie

The water rose beyond the swings and partly up the hill that night

Needless to say, we knew we were not going to sleep that night. The river was rising at an alarming rate and was at the base of the hill behind Rosie by 9 pm. 

I was able to talk to the park staffer as he made his 10 pm check. He stated he had never seen the river flood that high before and the water was still rising at an alarming rate. He also said that NOAA Weather Radio said the river would crest by 11 pm and that was good news. 

I waited until 11:15 to check the river’s level.  The water was still in flood stage, but had receded a significant amount. That meant we could finally go to sleep for the night. 

That was the second time we were in a flood situation while camping in Rosie. We had to flee the campground the first time. We were vigilant in watching the river this time and our site on the hill kept us away from the water. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was paved with gravel and we had to use leveling blocks to correct a side-to-side lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection
• There were several dumpsters around the park
• There was a bathhouse in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on its condition
• The park provided workable WiFi service 
• AT&T provided maybe one bar of unreliable 5Ge voice and data service over our campsites 
• We were not able to watch any TV stations using Rosie’s TV antenna.  The park provided cable TV service, which wasn’t working when we first arrived. A quick text to the office brought two staffers to our site and they quickly found the problem
• This was a pet friendly park 

As scheduled, we left that campground the next morning heading for our next Rosie adventure. We hope that it will not be as exciting as watching a flooded river behind Rosie.

The river after Tropical Storm Fred went through

Chattanooga North / Cleveland KOA Journey - Cleveland, Tennessee (August 2021)

This campground wasn’t where we planned stay for the night in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. Our plan was to head west and join the WBCCI Southwest Adventure Caravan. According to our calendar, we were supposed to be in Mississippi, not Tennessee. 

What changed between making our Mississippi reservations and showing up in Tennessee? 

The answer was that a surge in COVID hospitalizations forced us to rethink going on a caravan. While we love sharing caravan adventures with other Airstreamers, doing so during a pandemic isn’t wise for anyone with other medical issues. We agreed that we needed to go solo for now and move our caravan reservations to another year. 

Instead of heading west, we decided to return to one of our family's favorite vacation spots while our children were growing up. We planned to spend a week in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This change in plans meant that we could leave at a reasonable time and camp north of Chattanooga our first day. This would set us up to arrive at our campground near the Smoky Mountains right after lunch the next day. 

Both the AllStays and Campendium apps agreed that the Chattanooga North/Cleveland KOA was a good choice for the night. The apps were correct. The campground was well maintained. In addition, the office staff was friendly and helpful as we checked in. 

Park registration building

We didn’t unhitch since this park was simply an overnight stop. 

We did notice a problem with Rosie after we arrived in the campground. Water from the hot water heater had an odor. We drained all water tanks and lines after our last trip because we knew Rosie would sit for a month in the Alabama summer heat before our next trip. We forgot to drain the water heater tank and it stunk. We drained and rinsed the tank and that cured the problem. 

Rosie in the campground 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was paved with gravel and was level
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection. Most sites in the campground had sewer connections. Since we were spending only one night in the park, we elected to accept a site without full hookups 
• There was a dump station in the park. 
• There were several dumpsters around the park
• There was a bathhouse in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on its condition
• The park provided workable WiFi service 
• AT&T provided two bars of 5Ge voice and data service over our campsites 
• We were not able to watch any TV stations using Rosie’s TV antenna.  The park provided cable TV service 
• This was a pet friendly park 

We didn’t hear any road noise mentioned by some reviewers on AllStays and Campendium from our site. That isn’t to imply that the park was quiet all night. Somewhere between 10 and 11 pm we heard what sounded similar to a crop duster airplane going through the park. This was startling and a quick peak out the windows was amusing. The yellow KOA golf cart was chasing down an old bus that appeared to have been converted into some form of a motor home after being retired from public transportation. It didn’t take long for the yellow cart to take command of the situation and park the noisy bus. 

For the record, we are looking forward to going on many more WBCCI Airstream caravans once the pandemic is under control. Until that time, we will continue to enjoy going out in Rosie by ourselves. 

Suzy out for a walk

Rosie next to "the bus"

Mount Pleasant / Charleston KOA - Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (October 2019)

The seventh stop on the 2019 WBCCI Southeast Coast Caravan was in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This was just across the bay from Charleston.

The KOA sign at Mount Pleasant

We arrived about an hour before our scheduled time to enter the campground. We found a Costco about half a mile away from the park, so we stopped there and ate lunch inside Rosie, our Airstream trailer. By the time we finished eating, our campsite was ready.

Airstream trailers in the campground

It was easy to see that this was a well-maintained KOA campground. The park had gone all out and decorated for Halloween.

Decorations at the campground

This campground appeared to go "all out" for Halloween

Many southern cities have their own unique charms and Charleston excels in charm. What better way to see the historical district than from a horse-drawn carriage. Our guide was interesting and he knew many local facts and legends.

Our guide on the horse-drawn carriage ride

A horse-drawn carriage in Charleston

Our carriage ride ended next to the open air market in the historic section of Charleston. It was interesting to watch local craftsmen and women weave sweet grass baskets, something that was famous in that part of South Carolina.

Entrance to the Open Market

Our boat ride to Fort Sumter was interesting. We would have disliked be a soldier there because the fort was very small and the only thing on that island.

Fort Sumter

The fort’s design was similar to Fort Pickens, which is at another campground we enjoy visiting in Florida. The difference was that Fort Pickens was larger and it wasn’t stuck alone on a small island.

Next, we visited Patriots Point and the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown. This ship entered service during World War II until the Vietnam War.

The Aircraft Carrier Yorktown as seen from the ferry boat that took us to Fort Sumter

The Yorktown in the shadow of the bridge 

Flight deck on the Yorktown

Costco was our final stop in the Charleston area. We noticed that a tire on our truck was losing about a pound of pressure a day.  Costco found and patched the problem. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a pull thru
• Our site was paved with gravel 
• We had to use leveling tools to correct a left-to-right lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection
• There was a dump station in the park 
• The bathhouse near our site was clean and well maintained 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS,  FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna 
• We were able to watch TV digital channels Antenna, BUZZR, Decades, Get, Grit, ME-TV and MY-TV
• The campground provided basic cable TV service 
• AT&T placed one bar of service for voice and data over our site 
• The campground provided WiFi service that appeared to be overwhelmed

This campground was along a lake. It seemed that a sign was in front of every body of water in South Carolina warning that alligators may live there.

A hayride at the campground

The bridge connecting Mount Pleasant and Charleston

Selfie at Fort Sumter

Eating crabs in Charleston

Airstream trailers from our WBCCI Caravan in the campground

Cape Hatteras KOA - Rodanthe, North Carolina (July 2019)

We decided to head for North Carolina’s Outer Banks after the 2019 Wally Byam Caravan Club’s International Rally in Virginia. We traveled on a Saturday and some of our friends at the Rally told us about some good back roads we could use to avoid the backlog of traffic heading to the Outer Banks for the weekend. That turned out to be an enjoyable route to kickoff our first visit to the Outer Banks.

Welcome to the Outer Banks

We found the traffic as we pulled in to the Cape Hatteras KOA. The staff was trying to make room for all the RVs that were parked at the camp store to check in. After paying more money for a campsite than we had ever paid before, we were escorted to our site across the street from the dunes separating the campground from the Atlantic Ocean.

Our site in the campground

If you have read several postings from this blog, you know I have struggled with KOA campgrounds. Some are great while others fail to measure up to anything more that a parking lot. This is more of a square peg fitting in a round hole. 

For example, the campground is at a great location along the beach. Why distract from the camping experience by cramming as many sites as possible into the space? Our neighbor’s truck was close enough that we could touch it standing in Rosie’s door. (Rosie is our 25 foot Airstream trailer.)

The Atlantic Coast off the Outer Banks

The closeness of the sites and the narrow roads meant we had to plan our exit from the park at the end of our visit. We could only imagine how the rigs bigger than Rosie pulled out of their sites. 

This campground may hold some record for having the most families with small children. With more than 500 sites, the park is huge and July is prime time for family vacations. 

The campground had many features that would attract families. These included the beach, swimming pool, the playground, the huge jumping pad and the pirate ship. 

Speaking of the pirate ship, the park has one on wheels that was pulled behind a golf cart on weekend evenings and weekday afternoons. A pack of kids on bicycles followed the pirate ship as it meandered through the campground during the evening runs. 

It was fun to watch the evening pirate parade the first time or two as it rolled past Rosie. The enjoyment waned a couple of hours later as it continued to pass playing its loud “pirate” music and followed by fewer and fewer children. Mercifully, it stopped around 10 p.m. 

The afternoon visits had the pirate ship full of kids with super soaker squirt guns drenching anyone foolish enough to cross paths with it while the pirates were aboard. The afternoon pirate attacks ended when the buckets used to reload the water pistols ran dry. 

Only a couple roads in the park were asphalt. The remaining roads were very narrow gravel paths. That meant the paved road attracted walkers, kids on bikes and scooters. You have to be very cautious when driving in this park. 

There is no shortage of things to do when visiting the Outer Banks. The obvious draw to the area was the beach.

Sunset as seen over the Sound

We both grew up in Florida living near the Atlantic and remarked that these beaches were very nostalgic to us. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was gravel and a pull thru 
• Our site was slightly off level
• Our site was across the road from the dunes along the beach
• Our site had 30 amp electrical service. You could pay an additional fee for 50 amp service. Our site’s voltage tended to hover in the 108-112 range 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The park had a popular swimming pool 
• The park had a very well used playground 
• The park had a jumping pad that was a favorite with the 12 and younger crowd 
• The campground had three restrooms we could find. These were probably inadequate for the park’s size and they were normally sandy due to the beach traffic  
• The park had a couple of showers for its guests. As expected, they needed to be cleaned
• The campground advised us when we checked in that the WiFi was terrible. That description may have been too optimistic 
• AT&T placed two bars of 4G service over our site 
• The TV Towers app on my iPhone could not find a TV station closer than 100 miles to our site. The park provided a basic level of cable TV service, but our TV antenna coax cable was only 25 feet and we needed double that to reach the box. Once again, our over-the-air DVR stepped up and provided our entrainment 

In addition to being on the beach, we were able to visit three lighthouses, a life-saving station (forerunner of the US Coast Guard) and rode the ferry over to Ocracoke island. We didn’t suffer from a shortage of things to do while on the Outer Banks.

On the ferry

Our truck was the last vehicle on the ferry

The GPS wasn't confused about being on the ferry

Suzy enjoyed the ferry ride

I started this posting by calling the Cape Hatteras campground a square peg in a round hole. You start to think this is a good campground only to be shocked back into the reality of this being a maxed out parking lot that you couldn’t squeeze another camper in for any reason. After talking to the families around us, our view wasn’t unique. It is a great place to take young children to. If you are traveling without children, you may find the park is not geared towards you. 

There must be better choices of campgrounds on the Outer Banks. I think we will hold out for a space in one of the National Park Service campgrounds next time. 

Bodie Lighthouse

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Ocracoke Lighthouse