Living Life RV Style

Roan Mountain 2026!!!
We had a great 9 nights of camping at Roan Mountain this year! This is one of our favorite campgrounds at almost 3000 feet, it is cooler in the summer!!! You have to take the rain with the cooler temperatures and the rainforest like atmosphere.

We camped with the Blewett’s and their extended family as well as the Murphy’s. Visiting the Smoky Mountain Bakery, Holy Smokes Barbecue Truck and hiking to the top of Round Bald (5829 altitude) is always on the to do list.

On rainy days, we got in the truck and explored surrounding towns. Checking out their antique stores and cute shops. We visited Elk Park, Banner Elk, Boone, Mountain City, Bakersville, Spruce Pine and Roan Mountain. There is not much to see in Mountain City but we found a shop or two in most towns and ate at three different diners.

Darryl found the Hardware store of his dreams in Elk Park. We looked up and down every isle of Brinkley’s Hardware. The old building with wood floors and separate rooms held a combination of items that could fulfill any home owner or farmer’s needs. The eclectic mix was exactly what that community desired. We left there with a few treasures listening to Darryl talk about the shovel of his dreams.
*When I woke up the next morning at camp and went outside. Darryl was sitting in his rocking chair and said “I’m going back for that shovel, I want it!”

Someone else might not get the same feeling for a hardware store but if you like antiques and junk stores we definitely had a fun time looking through those. Sometimes it just feeds the memories that you had forgotten. Things your grandma had or toys you once played with.

My brother, Todd who lives in Kentucky came to stay a few nights with us. It was his 60th birthday and we had a great visit. We celebrated his birthday with smoked chicken wings and s’mores. We walked the campground, sat by the fire, hung out with all our friends and played sequence while it rained. I gave him a bag full of all things SNOOPY because that is one of our childhood memories.

The campground was alive with animals. We saw deer, rabbits, birds (raccoons got in our out door trash but we didn’t see them😜)and this year a bald eagle!!! There is a photo of the bald eagle but it’s not great .

We hiked with the Murphy’s to Elk River Falls but you had to climb up on rocks to look over and see it. Needless to say, I didn’t see it. 🤣
Darryl climbed up on top and I turned around and didn’t look. I might have also been praying. 🙏
Anyways, I survived that and we carried on.

Something interesting is that last year while driving to the top of Roan, Darryl’s deleted and tuned Ram Turbo Diesel stalled before cresting 5000 feet and would not continue up the mountain. When we got back to Knoxville, he took it back to the tuner who had it reprogrammed to 15,000 feet. This year it powered all the way up and over the mountain with no problems. I might have been saying some big prayers then too!

Kathy and I walked loops around the campground, talked about our kids, all the different dogs and campers and enjoyed this one little three year old boy who spent the week covered in mud. If he wasn’t digging in it with his trucks, he was driving his little balance bike through the mud. I thought he had on rubber boots, but it was mud up to his knees.

Bella and Blitz (Blewett’s dog) had a great time walking, relaxing and tromping around in the rain. Bella is 12 and Blitz is 15.

We are booked again for next year -
Go with us!

Happy Camping ❤️🐾

🍄Mushrooms from Cloudland Canyon state Park. 🍄

Camping trip #70 was to Cloudland Canyon State Park in northern Georgia, just below Chattanooga. The park was established in 1938 and is located on the west rim of Lookout Mountain.

There are paved walking trails along the rim of the canyon and dirt trails that go down into the canyon. Mike and Darryl hiked down and took pictures of the waterfall. They started from the parking lot at the overlook. If you really want to hike, you can take the trail that leaves right from the campground. You have to be able to hike stairs because there is around 600 of them.

We camped here on camping trip #5 and I don’t know why we haven’t been back. We went in March on our first trip when there weren’t any leaves on the trees. You could see down into the canyon. With all the leaves on this time, the view was beautiful but you couldn’t see as much without hiking to the bottom. It is only a 2 hour drive from Knoxville and it is so beautiful! Hard wood trees are everywhere. The campground is very neat and clean with nice flat parking spots. You can tent camp right along side the campers in any of the sites. There is a large open section of pull through spots that we don’t remember from before but they are nice and BIG!!! They have planted small trees but right now they don’t have shade. They do have sewer which is nice because the older shady section that we love doesn’t have sewer hook up. We saw Blue Jays, Blue Birds and giant red headed Wood Peckers.

The bathrooms are remodeled and very clean. They are in the process of building a new welcome center and it is going to be fabulous! In the pictures there is a list of all the upcoming activities that are great for kids and families. You can enter the park with a one day pass for $10.
Picnic tables are available at the overlook and it’s a nice day trip.

Saturday, we all ventured over to the Chicamauga National Battlefield. We toured the museum, watched a short movie about the Civil War and The Battle for Chattanooga. These battles took place right on that soil. We looked through the gun room at a huge collection of antique guns and looked through the collection of found items. We read stories and looked at photos of the faces of men who lost their lives fighting.

There are 705 monuments in the park. The first monuments were put in place in the 1890’s with the last ones place in 1976. It is a beautiful car ride along the fields and through the woods where battles were fought and now large granite monuments stand in honor of regiments. The drive is quiet and beautiful and you feel the importance of each monument. The museum is free and makes a wonderful teaching experience for all ages.

Back at camp, Wendy and Jim had their two Great Pyrenees dogs and we had Bella. They were really sweet with Bella and loved by all the people walking by. We built fires, sat around and talked. We played sequence and rummy, we walked the dogs and relaxed.

We were worried about rain but the last few days of May were gorgeous. The temperature was mid to upper 70’s with a breeze. It rained our last night and thunder rumbled but we fell asleep to the rain on the camper roof.

Put Cloudland Canyon State Park on your list. The campground wasn’t even half full and there are so many beautiful sites. I included several camp site photos so you could be inspired!

Thanks for following along!
Happy camping!🐾❤️

Yarberry Peninsula Campground in Lenoir City was camping trip number 69! We are beginning our 8th year of camping and are looking forward to a great camping season!

Yarberry is a beautiful campground just past the dam on 321. It is so easy to visit this sweet campground and you don’t even have to camp! They have boat ramps that you can use for $12 or you can pay a weekly price. There is a sandy beach and a roped off area in the lake to swim. They rent canoes, kayaks, paddle boards and pontoon boats. Pack a picnic lunch and come for the day!

The campground is very neat and the grounds were nicely mowed. There are three bath houses which were a bit older but all clean! The camp sites have 30/50 amp and water but no sewer. There is a single dump station. All the sites are nice and level. We watched the campground host rake each one by hand in between guests. Several of the sites have beautiful lake views and some have access to the water.
We were on the inside lane but we like it there. It’s shady and we don’t have any of the gnats that are around on a hot day.

We arrived Friday afternoon and got everything set up. We proceeded to build a fire and roasted hotdogs on the open flame for dinner. We had three sites booked in a row. The Murphys were right on the corner with the Johnson’s in between us. Jim and Wendy ended up not being able to camp but they still came and hung out with us Sunday. The campground was very nice to the Johnson’s and let them cancel due to an unexpected event.

An older couple ended up in their site in a truck with a soft shell camper top. That lady must have been nicer than me because I watched her haul herself over that tailgate to sleep in the back of that truck. Saturday night it rained from 8:30pm to 4:30am and I thought about those people all night. I’m sure they are used to it but it wouldn’t be for me!!!

We woke up to a temperature of 43’ Sunday morning! The high Sunday was 65 which was 20’ cooler than Saturday. We built a fire that morning and sat around it with coffee. We kept it going all day and it was wonderful. It was sunny and brisk but so so so beautiful. Kathy and I sat there drinking coffee looking at all the birds. Cardinals, Blue Jays, Blue Birds, Doves, Robins, Crows, Geese and Osprey. I am not kidding, it was crazy! The squirrels were plentiful because of all the nut trees. Our Bella is definitely getting old. She used to bark at squirrels and now she’s just too tired.

Kathy and I took lots of walks and Darryl and Mike fished! Boy, the fish were biting!!! Darryl caught about 12. The Keen’s stopped by to say hi and Dolly even got to catch a fish! Camping is so enjoyable. You spend quality time with friends and family just visiting and hanging out.

We grilled steaks with loaded potatoes, hamburgers and chicken wings. I made life easier on myself and hit the deli up at Food City. Potato salad, Cole slaw, broccoli salad and a fruit tray were our sides. Meals were really easy this trip!

It was so nice and quiet all weekend. The campground was only half full but school isn’t out yet. There are some tent sites if you don’t have a camper.

Put Yarberry on your camping list and stay tuned. We have many more trips to come!

Happy camping!!!🐾❤️