We left this morning at 7:15 AM EDT. We stopped at the Flying J in Salina, KS a couple of hours into the trip and fueled up in a light drizzle. We had just passed through a fairly serious storm front and my mountain girl co-pilot, who has never experienced a tornado, was certain she was going to become “Dorothy” while in Kansas, but the weather cleared up nicely after that.
Beth drove couple of hours in the late morning while I knocked out another nap with Phoebe.
We arrived at Prospect RV Park just 8 minutes away from the kids’ apartment by 5 PM EDT, parked, showered, and went over to see the grandkids (and kids too). It was great to see everyone again and meet our darling Everleigh.
We departed from Jasper, TN this morning at 6:15 AM EDT (sorry neighbors, we tried to be as quiet as possible). There’s no better way for your Caterpillar C7 to start the day than an immediate trip over Monteagle. As we started to lose speed I dropped to 4th gear and were able to maintain a speed of 55 MPH all the way to the top with no change in engine temperature.
We fueled up at a very nice Flying-J in Oak Grove, KY and Beth took over driving duties at that point as I demonstrated how to knock out a quick 2 hour power nap.
The Gateway Arch
I took over driving again once I woke up from my coma and we kept on cruising (only stopping once more for fuel). Beth got to see the Gateway Arch for the first time in her life and in honor of Clark Griswold I made sure to point it out to her and then tell her we didn’t have time to tour it. Unfortunately, we lost nearly an hour when traffic came to a complete stop for road repair just west of St. Louis.
We arrived at Deer Creek Valley RV Park in Topeka, KS at 7:50 PM EDT (it was a long day). This has to be one of the nicest RV Parks we’ve ever stayed in. All concrete pads with plenty of manicured grass between sites. We will definitely try to stay here again on our future trips west.
We showered and watched the USF vs San Jose St college football game before going to bed.
We departed yesterday at 6:15 PM and arrived at the Cracker Barrel in Lake City, Fl at 10:00 PM after topping off our fuel tank at the same exit.
Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel today was great. We bought some candy for the kids and grandkids in the gift shop when we checked out (including a HUGE Tootsie Roll for Beth).
We were rolling by 7:00 AM and made our first stop at the Flying-J in Jackson, GA (just North of Macon). Traffic slowed down to a crawl south of Atlanta near the I-285 and I-20 interchanges, but kept moving and traffic flowed well through the remainder of Atlanta.
We arrived at the Marion County Park Campground just west of Chattanooga, TN along the Tennessee River just after 2:00 PM (EDT) in plenty of time for Brian’s “on call” coverage. It’s important to note that the entrance can be confusing. The campsites are off to the left, but you are required to report in at the office first and the arrows for the office point to the right. The problem is there are two roads to the right. You want the far right road. (the middle road takes you to the boat ramp). This is a nice campground with 50 Amp electric and water and we would definitely stay here again. We camped in Site #34 which is across the road from the lakefront sites, but is a pull-thru.
We sat outside and enjoyed the view for most of the late afternoon and early evening.
Marion County Park Campground Site #34Marion County Park Campground Site #34Marion County Park Campground Site #34
