Rocky Top is a REALLY nice place. It’s set way back in the woods and surrounded by rolling hills and lots of…cows! The nice thing about getting away from those chain campgrounds is that you can find some real gems with lots of character. Rocky Top Campground definitely has character.

The nice fella who led us to our spot got out of his golf cart and tried to help Richard lead me into the space (I do all the backing-up). I got a bit frustrated when I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Richard waving his arms straight backward while the campground fella was waving his arms left and right. Hmmm.

It snowed and rained all night while we were here so we didn’t get a chance to do any exploring. But, Richard took a shower at the campground bathhouse and said it was very nice. They had a sign up that said “no beard trimming.” That made him laugh and he was good and didn’t trim his beard there.

The wi-fi service here is excellent, perhaps the fastest we’ve ever had on the road. And, it’s free! We were all able to login instantly with no problems.

Four out of five marshmallows.

Rocky Top Campground
(A Good Sam Park)
496 Pearl Lane
Blountville, TN 37617
P(800)452-6456; (423)323-2535

We’re very happy we were able to stop by and the kids had a great time, too! Frank particularly liked their conference room. He sat at the head of the table and, when nobody was looking, pretended to give us a presentation. Just before we left, Max left his mark by spilling his soda all over their gleaming conference table (sigh).

A couple hours down the road, we once again encountered that slow-moving cold front, drove right through it, and now expect it to pass over us again in just a few hours. I did most of the driving today. We ran into a big traffic jam somewhere in the Smoky Mountains (what a beautiful drive!) and again found ourselves stationary on a highway. We didn’t mind so much this time because it was a beautiful stretch of road and it was nice and cool outside.

My curiosity was whispering about the cause of the delay, however, and it was then that I remembered we had my new CB on board! Frank pulled it down and we turned it on and learned exactly what was going on ahead (two breakdowns and an 18-wheeler wreck…a really, really bad one). Two of the truckers on the CB were joking around and insulting each other and the bantering got so funny that we were all laughing hysterically. They definitely swept the boredom from the crowded highway and we appreciated their humor.

We’re in Wytheville, Virginia tonight, at the Wytheville KOA. We ate dinner at the Flying J Truck Stop (I love their Yankee Pot Roast Scramble) because we arrived in town too late to cook dinner. We’re only here overnight and will be leaving for Fredericksburg in the morning.

So, we were surprised when, just a few moments later, the skies opened up. It rained so hard that little rivers were running under the RV. The kids sat outside under the canopy with their new friends and had lots of fun while we dove inside with our laptops. The rain lulled Max to sleep.

It rained all night and all day today. When it slowed this afternoon, we grabbed the umbrellas and walked to Camping World, which is right near the front of the park. We bought $200 worth of neato camping gadgets…which we probably don’t need. We always have wet towels everywhere and I was specifically looking for suction cup hooks to hang in the bathtub. I found some and bought a box of eight, along with some small suction cup containers that I hung from the bathroom mirror. We now have lots more storage space for our toiletries. Suction cups – an RV mom’s best friend! We also bought a fly swatter, some lightbulbs, a magnifying glass (for Frank, the bug hunter), a new RV cookbook, a new campground directory, and a dozen other odds and ends.

Today was one of those rainy, dark days that make you not want to do anything, so we weren’t too terribly disappointed when the wi-fi conked out this afternoon. We crawled in bed and watched the local news before cooking dinner (hot dogs) and then dragging our feet to get back to work. I’m on our T-Mobile connection right now. Tomorrow we’re dropping by our printer’s office for a visit (we’ve never met them in person before!) and are then heading to Wytheville, VA. See ya there!

We sure didn�t make it easy on the folks at the Nashville KOA. Richard checked in but forgot to tell them we were specifically interested in their wi-fi service. We parked and unpacked, even getting our outdoor lights hung up (ours look like little tiki torches) before pulling out the laptops. It was nice and breezy outside so we decided to work at the picnic table. However, once we turned them on, we realized we had an almost non-existent wi-fi signal, and certainly not enough to do any work. We were in spot I1.

I volunteered to walk to the office to ask if we could move to a different spot. The poor woman at the desk was giving directions to another Rver on the phone and it was obvious that they were within a mile and wanted her to stay on the phone ensure they arrived safely. She literally spent five minutes holding their hand by phone, and she did it with a smile. I�d have been pulling my hair out if it were me. (Incidentally, this place is VERY easy to find.)

She explained that the wi-fi service is new and that they only got it �a month or two ago.� She said most people can only get it from inside the building (there are plenty of tables and chairs). I asked her if we could move to a spot closer to the building. She found the closest available 30 amp spot and gave us the thumbs up. We moved the RV to K14 and, unfortunately, were once again in a dead zone. There was a huge metal building between us and the office. Richard pulled out his laptop and started walking around, waiting for a connection to be detected. He found one, right in front of the building, but two rows back (J8).

I walked back to the office and apologize profusely for being such a pain. That gal just kept on smilin� and told us it was fine to stay there.

The service worked pretty good (had a few burps) until this evening. We currently have no connection having lost it a couple of hours ago. Not sure why. It rained buckets all day, but it stopped raining before we lost the connection.

There�s a large, clean swimming pool here, a music hall (we could hear live music last night before the storms rolled in) and there are plenty of people here, but it doesn�t seem crowded because there are lots of trees and there�s plenty of space between camping areas. We haven�t heard of any organized activities here for the children, but Ali and Frank have made plenty of new friends already. Everyone we�ve met here, even other guests, has been extremely warm and friendly.

If you come here, walk out front to the Cock of the Walk restaurant. The catfish is delicious!

Four out of five marshmallows.

Nashville KOA
2626 Music Valley Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Toll Free Reservations: 1-800-562-7789
Information: (615) 889-0286

We left Mississippi and drove through Alabama, with Nashville being our afternoon destination. Somewhere in Alabama, the sky turned black and I said, “Richard, wake up! Grab the camera!”

He yawned, “Why?”

I excitedly replied, “Because it looks like tornado weather and I don’t want to miss it!”

He sighed and dug under his seat for the camera. About a mile down the road, the skies opened up and I slowed to 35 mph so I could see while driving through the downpour. I got nervous when I approached an overpass and saw a dozen cars pulled over. I thought, I wonder what they know that I don’t?

So I said, “I wonder what they know that I don’t?”

Richard rolled his eyes, fluffed his pillow, and said, “Probably nothing…”

Sure enough, we came out of the downpour soon after and experienced only a few more showers throughout the afternoon.

But, I let my guard down to early. After we entered Tennessee, I put on my headphones and was cruising to John Denver (yeah, I can hear you laughing at me from here) and, out of nowhere, this guy ran full speed out of the woods, toward the freeway. I knew I was going to hit him and I hit the brakes, screaming at him (duh…like he could hear me), “DON’T RUN IN FRONT OF ME!!!”

He stopped just before he got to the shoulder, wiped the sides of his face with both hands, and turned around, looking at the woods behind him. Good thing he stopped, cause I would have hit him if he hadn’t. I’m going to spend the rest of my life wondering what that guy was running from or toward. We truly were in the middle of nowhere.

And, just a few miles later, I watched a truck, which was pulling a travel trailer, fall victim to a huge gust of wind. As the trees on the highway bent over, the trailer jerked hard, coming within inches of a passing 18-wheeler. We were on a long bridge at the time and I knew they might have gone over if they’d hit. It took a few miles for my stomach to settle down.

The freeway runner reminded me of an incident that happened earlier in the trip. We were at a truck stop one afternoon, right next to the freeway. As we were getting into the RV, Ali screamed, “Look!” We all turned and saw a toddler, running at full speed away from the truck stop, right toward the freeway. A few hundred feet behind him was a sprinting man, probably his father, racing after him. He obviously yelled and got the tot’s attention because the toddler stopped and turned around. The man reached him and scooped him up.

Lesson learned? Do NOT take your eyes off your children at rest areas and truck stops!! That baby was just a few dozen feet from the highway before he stopped.

We easily found the Nashville KOA around 6:00 p.m. and I’m sitting outside right now, enjoying the soft summer breeze. The children spent the evening swimming and made two new friends. They’re all playing cards right now and Max is watching one of his videos. He should fall asleep anytime now.

We’re here for two nights, so we won’t need to dodge any torrential rains, hurricane-force winds, or freeway runners tomorrow.