RE: First " real" camping trip

[labontefan]

 As many of you know, my camping experiences are primarily limited to camping at the racetracks. However, now that I have a pop-up, I wanted to go camping just to go camping. Since I m only about 3 hours from the Smokies, I thought that would be a good place to start. I have a cousin my age who lives in Knoxville (TN), so I e-mailed her about 2 weeks ago to see if she had any time off. She replied that she was taking a week s vacation the week after the 4th, but didn t have any plans. She said camping sounded like fun! So I asked for 2 days off from work and started planning a trip.
 
 I did a lot of searching online for possible campgrounds. I considered the Little River Campground since several people here had good things to say about it. However, I finally decided on the Big Meadow Family Campground in Townsend, TN (just down the road from Little River). It was one of the least expensive ($25/night), and had full hookups on all the sites, including cable TV. It didn t have a lot of frills (no swimming pool, hot tub, etc.), but the website looked nice, and the lady on the phone was very friendly. One big selling point with me was that most of the sites were pull-throughs! (No need to worry about Yellow Xterra sitting somewhere snickering at me trying to backup! [])
 
 This was also the first time taking my dog camping, plus my cousin was bringing her little dog.
 
 I picked my cousin up in Knoxville on Sunday, and we headed for Townsend. The campground is small (86 sites, I think), but very clean and well maintained. We were right across from the bathhouse which was great! The bathhouse was also very clean and attractive. Seems like the people that run the place were constantly doing something to maintain the site (mowing the grass, cleaning the bathhouse, smoothing the roadway, etc.).
 
 The other campers were also very friendly. I m used to racefans being friendly, but almost everyone who walked or drove past our site spoke or waved.
 
 We had a very lazy 2 days. Monday we sat around camp most of the day, and then took a leisurely drive to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and then looped back through the park. Tuesday, we drove to Gatlinburg to visit Ripley s Aquarium of the Smokies. Wow! That place is amazing! I definitely want to go back.
 
 When we were packing up Wednesday morning, my cousin kept saying she didn t want to leave! Neither did I. It was a very pleasant, restful 2 1/2 days. And the dogs seemed to enjoy it also.
 
 One problem...now that I ve experienced camping with full hook-ups, it ll be hard going back to the generator and the holding tank when we head for the race track again! []
 
 Here are some pictures of our camp and the campground (plus some things I ve added to the camper for storage):
 
 http://community.webshots.com/album/80890745iVumkD
 
 (I m still working on captions. BTW, if you look at the pix of the rear bumper and tongue of the camper, you ll see two PUT bumper stickers! [] But I forgot the Arvee sticker. Have to find a place for that one, too!)
 
 And here s Ripley s Aquarium:
 
 http://community.webshots.com/album/80867943rjwadP
 
 http://community.webshots.com/album/80869470hKohao
 
 (I took so many pictures I had to put them in two albums!)

[vjm1639]

 labontefan
[]  Hehe...so now you have the addiction!  We re all camping fools and proud of it. Very nice pictures.  I grew up in the East Tennessee area, know exactly where Big Stone Gap is...use to work in Gatlinburg in the summers during high school and college.  There are many, many gorgeous camping areas around there. Now that you have the bug...just start picking places and trying them out!  Share the pics with us too please!  []
 
 

[tlhdoc]

 labontefan
Glad you enjoyed the trip.  You will have to plan more trips now.

[Jo Ann]

 labontefan
nice campground and great pix!!!  glad you enjoyed it.
 
 I never go for two nights...its always 3 or 4 nights...cuz i hate to leave!

[Ernhrts3n8]

 labontefan
Ann,
 
 I noticed the two yellow stripes on the back of your camper on the bumper.  Are your trying to tell everyone that you are a rookie?...lol.  I m glad that you had a great trip.  The pictures look great.  If you ever come up to Dover, DE for a race, we stay at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, DE.  Also, we have 2 extra tickets for sale for this September s race.  If you know of anyone, let me know.  Thanks.

[labontefan]

 labontefan

I noticed the two yellow stripes on the back of your camper on the bumper. Are your trying to tell everyone that you are a rookie?

 You guessed it!!  That s my " rookie stripe" ! [] I put those on just before the first trip to Charlotte last October. I figure we can take  em off after we get to Charlotte this October, since that will give us one full " season" !  LOL!!