rockytopsc
Novice
In 2010, we rented a cabin outside of Gatlinburg, TN to spend a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains. On the way there we saw some smaller type trailers and casually started talking about camping again other than in tents. When we arrived at the cabin it wasn't exactly what we had in mind but was nice and expensive for a long weekend. I started searching small type trailers when we arrived home and saw a few teardrop type campers. First was the T@B, then Camp-Inn and finally a teardrop in Texas. We knew if we went this route we wanted something that would fit in the garage and small but with amenities. Our garage had only had one vehicle parked inside for the 14 years we have lived at our house, so the other bay had become a collect all filled with junk. Long story short we sent the down payment in with our date to pickup in April 2011. With this date we knew we would be forced to finally clean the garage. About two weeks before pickup in April, the clean-up was finished.
On April 20, we overslept and left South Carolina several hours behind our scheduled time to leave. We made good time passing through areas we had never been through and apparently made too good of time traveling when I was pulled over in the upper area of Indiana and received a ticket. Oh well we still made it through Chicago to our hotel in Rockford for the night. Enjoyed our brief time at the Nest going through the crash course of Camp-Inn on April 21.
On to the highlights of 2011:
Previous post about the First Trip and First Trip, cont.
One of our other hobbies is cooking on Big Green Eggs so we camped at Eggtoberfest held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
We attended "The Jack" which is the World Championship Invitational BBQ held in Lynchburg, TN home of Jack Daniels Distillery.
Stayed at Fort Clinch State Park, FL while Angie had to work at a facility her company has a contract with, while I attempted to surf fish. Here we learned how determined and crafty raccoons are into prying open a cooler for my bait!
Savannah, GA is always a favorite place for us to visit. We stayed at a Skidaway State Park that unknown to us was hosting a Geo-cache Gathering for Georgia. I think about 80% of the campground was involved with this activity and their "theme" was Pirates.
We saw ZZ Top in concert in Cherokee, NC. Always a great show with these guys!
Total for 2011: 4,879 towed miles, 658 local miles, 5,535 total trip miles, 41 nights and 12 trips
Highlights of 2012:
We camped across from the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. So far this is the most expensive place we've camped but in the end was worth the expense instead of driving into the area each day dealing with traffic and parking some distance from the speedway.
Camped at Tallulah Falls, GA and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC
We were trying to decide where to go this year for our big trip and kept seeing the Pure Michigan commercials here in South Carolina. Here is the previous post about our trip to Michigan
We decided to camp in style (as opposed to canvas tents) a few miles away from my unit at the 150th Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, MD. We have been Civil War Reenacting for seven years and this originally got us back into camping. The first night of this trip was our first night "camping" at a truck stop. Don't know how many times we'll do this option but it was interesting.
We camped in Western North Carolina and visited the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, drove both the Cherohala Skyway and The Dragon. The Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway, 43 miles of very scenic views. "The Dragon" is popular with motorcycles and car enthusists since in the 11 mile ride there are 318 curves. Great driving trips up high in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains.
Cheoah Dam, This is the Dam where Dr. Richard Kimble jumped in the movie "The Fugitive"
Total for 2012: 6,749 towed miles, 2,311 local miles, 9,060 total trip miles, 53 nights and 14 trips.
So far this year we've been on two trips with many more and exciting trips planned, especially our planned long haul in September out West.
Totals so far: 11,988 towed miles, 3,143 local miles, 15,129 total trip miles, 100 nights and 28 trips.
We are very happy to have found Camp-Inn,
Jason, Angie & Bonnie
