We decided to take a short camping trip to Warrior’s Path State Park for a little R&R and to try our Expedition on the road with trailer in tow. We hitched up on Wednesday, July 23 and headed up I81 to Kingsport, Tennessee.
Dialing in the equalizing hitch took two tries and we decided that leaving 3 links dangling was the correct adjustment for our combination of Expedition and Trailer. The trip was comfortable and uneventful except for about 20 miles of really heavy rain from the I40/I81 junction to the Greenville exit. The rig was fine but driving among the trucks in a rainstorm is never much fun.
We arrived at the campground about 4pm as planned and setup camp in about 30 minutes. Our site selection turned out to be good – you never quite know until you see it in person. We grabbed a Mexican dinner at La Carretta (about a mile from the campground) and then took an exploratory stroll around the campground to limber up.
Our first order of business on Thursday was 9 holes of golf. (did I mention that Warrior’s Path is a part of the Tennessee Golf Trail?)
We both played pretty well for old duffers and we really enjoyed the beautiful mountain views from the course.
Of course, playing golf is just a great excuse to get out and enjoy the brisk springlike morning in the fresh mountain air. After the golf, we drove around the park to the Marina just to get the lay of the land.
After lunch in camp, we headed into Kingsport to try to locate the Riverfront and Antique districts. We found the old Downtown and Antique districts but nearly everything was closed by the time we got there so we decided to come back tomorrow and to just get our groceries and go back to camp and relax for the evening.
Friday morning we walked the lakeside trail below our campsite and then I visited the camp office where I discovered that there was to be a Folkfest all day Saturday with an Old Time music concert all afternoon. We were able to keep our campsite for an extra night so we could attend the concert.
I had discovered a restaurant on the internet that claimed to offer New England quality seafood with a river view. So, off to lunch we went and found Riverfront Seafood to be just what the doctor ordered – I ordered the Buffalo Shrimp and Mary tried the Oysters. The food was very good but the view was spectacular. Right on the Holsten River with lots of waterfowl and wildlife. You would never believe that you were inside the city limits of Kingsport.
We needed to walk after Lunch so we headed for the Antique District in Downtown Kingsport (dodged a torrential downpour by ducking into a couple of “Junque Emporiums” and topped off the afternoon with a calorific bowl of ice cream at a downtown coffee shop.
Saturday morning found us on an extended waterfront walk around the peninsula that holds the campground. I carried a spinning rod but fishing opportunities along the shore were few due to many downed trees and high banks but I did manage a few casts to uncooperative fish. We discovered a pair of young lovers in a shared hammock strung between trees on the shore and a group of young boys with tales of fish caught and escaped (the same kind I tell myself).
Our lakeside trek sharpened our appetites so I fired up the grill and cooked burgers while Mary dealt with the fixin’s for our lunch.
Around 2, we dragged our chairs down to the campground amphitheater for the concert. We spent the next several hours listening to local musical groups.
The young men pictured at the left were the closing act and the best of the day. They provided a fitting close to a afternoon’s entertainment
As the darkness began to fall, we gathered our chairs and headed back to camp to have our last night’s campfire and to celebrate another enjoyable trip in our “Land Yacht”. We had thunderstorms during the night but, as usual, we were dry and comfortable in our little home on wheels.
Sunday morning we got a slow start and after breakfast we broke camp and headed home about 11. A great weekend and a good shakedown trip for the new rig.