US Road Trip Week 1- Georgia and Tennessee
Disclaimer: During this road trip, I will be doing my absolute best to help stop the spread of Covid-19. I am sanitizing, washing my hands often, practicing social distancing, and wearing my mask anytime inside a building, or near other groups of people.
Day 3:
After parting with my friend Brianna in Columbus, GA, I headed about 3 hours north to Johns Mountain Wildlife Management Area. I had found a free campsite online that looked really nice, called Hidden Creek Campground. It must be very hidden because it was nowhere to be found. The GPS originally took me to someone’s driveway in the middle of a mountain, so I knew that obviously wasn’t it. Right before my last turn, I had seen a sign for Johns Mountain saying to turn right, so I backtracked a bit and took that turn.
It was a one-lane gravel mountain road that went on for what felt like forever. I wasn’t completely positive the campsite would be down that road, much less how far down it would be. I decided I would drive about 7 miles to scope it out before I decided to turn around. Not long after this decision, I lost cell service and hit a massive pothole that was deceivingly disguised by a huge puddle of water. I was going about 20 when I hit it and that honestly scared the crap out of me. I was pretty shaken up after that and decided to turn around.
I have learned in the past that free campsites can be a very tricky game to play with, so it is always a good idea to have a backup plan, and sometimes even a backup plan for the backup plan. I had saved another location that was about 20 minutes north, called The Pocket Recreational Area, and decided to check that one out. Unfortunately, the internet (for the first time in history) was actually wrong. It was not a free site; it was $15 per night. When you’re living on whatever money you currently have in your bank account, you make sure you save every single penny you can. Because of that, I try to always find free sites.
Driving up to The Pocket, I had actually seen some campsites along the road near the creek and decided to check them out. There were a handful of campsites all along the road, each pretty well spread out and with easy access to the creek. I picked out a nice spot, set up my hammock, and took a nap. After that, I explored the creek for a bit, cooked some teriyaki noodles for dinner, did a bit of reading and called it a night pretty early.
So, I’ve had a little trouble sleeping on this trip so far because it has been so stinking hot every night and incredibly humid and is really difficult to fall asleep in. I was too tired to set up my tent, so I would be sleeping in my car for the first time and I knew it would get incredibly stuffy in there. I had planned to figure out some sort of bug protection for my windows before I left home, but I had a million and a half things to do and it was one of those things that just got overlooked. Feeling pretty creative, I actually took my hammock bug net, hooked it on the roof racks, pulled it tight on both sides, and closed the front and back doors on it to hold it in place. With that up, I was able to roll down the windows and have fresh air with no bug issues! I was pretty proud of my little setup I had created. What I’ve learned about life on the road so far is that you work with what you got and you figure it out!
Day 4:
Even with both windows open, it was still pretty hot and I wasn’t able to get the best night of sleep. However, I still woke up with the sun around 7, ate a small breakfast, and then went sit by the creek to have some meditation and journal time. One of my favorite parts of this trip so far is having so much time to truly reflect on myself and life. When you’re by yourself, have little access to service or electricity, you’re almost forced to use your time for self-reflection and meditation. I’m reading a book currently called “If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You’ll Probably End Up Somewhere Else” and it’s all about figuring out what you want out of life and finding ways to work towards your goals in every single small part of your life.
After my very peaceful personal time, I hopped back on the road to head to Tennessee. One of the best part of road trips is the unplanned parts where you leave room for spontaneity. As I was driving, I passed a sign saying Keown Falls Trailhead. I turned in and told myself I would check it out if the hike was 3 miles or less (since I had a few things to do in town that I needed time for). Thankfully, there was a short trial to the falls that was only about a mile each way. I threw on my hiking boots and hopped on the trail.
It was a fairly short and easy trail, which was nice (since I am completely out of hiking shape!), but the fall was less-than-spectacular. It hadn’t rained much recently, so it wasn’t more than a trickle. Just past the falls, there was a lookout platform over Johns Mountain, which was pretty nice, but nothing crazy exciting. I headed back down the trail and made it back to my car around 9 am.
From there, I continued my drive north. Driving through Rock Spring, GA, I was completely amazed at how many yard sales there were! I am not even joking when I say I passed at least fifty, if not more! It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. There was one at every other house! I was so confused about it too, like does this happen every single week? How can they possibly have that much new (old) stuff to sell every single week? And like what about the locals? Do they all just buy stuff each week from each other’s yard sales? And then sell it at their own?
I was left with so many questions…. However, I was not going to pass up an opportunity for a good yard sale, so I stopped at one that seemed to be like a community one, where multiple families were set up. I had to be extremely careful because I absolutely love yard sales and could buy just about anything, but I had to remind myself that I am living in a 4×8 ft2 area with very limited space.
After that small excursion, I finished my drive to Chattanooga, and headed to REI to get a few supplies I was needing (including a solar panel, which I’m really excited about!). From REI, I headed over to downtown to explore and take advantage of some free wifi, power, and air conditioning at a cute local coffee shop called Frothy Monkey. It’s inside the Chattanooga Choo Choo, which is definitely something to check out if you’re ever in this area! It’s a retro hotel that used to be a train station, with one of the old trains in the back, a really cool restaurant, a cycling gym, a coffee an arcade, a few shops, a bar, and ghost tours! I was able to get a good bit of work on my laptop done, fueled by their delicious veggie burger with seasoned potato wedges.
Not wanting to get to my campsite too late, I headed out around 6:30 and made my way to Hunter’s Check Station Campsite about 25 minutes outside of downtown. It was a pretty nice place, with about 7 sites, and public bathrooms. I wasn’t in the mood to set up my tent, so basically the only thing I needed to do was set up my stove and cook some dinner. I made some rice noodles, which were pretty good, did a bit of reading, and then called it a night.
Day 5:
I slept alright. My car window right by my bed was facing the moonrise and it was basically a spotlight right to my eyeballs when it finally rose, which woke me up and kept me up for a while. When I finally fell back asleep, there was a family who showed up around 2AM and decided to pick the campsite right next to mine with their bright on, which was not much help with sleep. Thankfully, they just slept in their car and didn’t make much noise after that, so I was able to get some sleep.
I woke up, of course, with the sunrise, ate some yogurt, granola, and fruit, then headed out for some hiking. I drove about 10 minutes to reach Middle Creek Falls. Online, many reviews said the trail is a little unclear and it can get lost about a mile in. I don’t know where those people were, but I lost the trail after about 2 minutes. However, the reviews did say to just stay along the creek and you’ll find the falls.
Wow, what a site! The falls were absolutely incredible. I sat there completely mesmerized for I don’t even know how long. I was honestly expecting a little trickle waterfall, like the one in Georgia, but it was not a trickle at all. It was rushing, from so many directions, and onto so many different platforms. I was completely blown away by its beauty. It was also wonderful because I was there completely by myself, just me and Mother Nature. It’s times like that when you can really just reflect and marvel in the beauty of the world.
I read that there’s more to see if you keep hiking past the falls, but I did that for a while and found nothing but giant boulders and no more water, so after a while I turned back.
When I got back to my car, I remembered how dangerously low I was on water and also realized I had just bought a water purifying treatment from REI. You honestly cannot get any better than natural water from a waterfall. I filled up both of my gallons, then headed back to the campsite.
I had thought about doing another trail that was 4 miles long, but it was very confusing online and I couldn’t tell if it was 4 miles one-way or 4 miles total, and I was honestly not in the mood to hike 8 miles if it was only one-way, and also wanted a day to myself to just get some stuff done that I needed to do.
As soon as I got back to the campsite, I started my first task of completely reorganizing my car. In only four short days, I was able to realize that my car was not organized in the most efficient way and it needed a major change. I took basically every single thing out, organized it into piles of things I use pretty consistently and things that don’t get used very often. The things not getting used much were moved into my hatch storage in the back of my car and the rest of it was put underneath the bed in one of the four storage areas. I’m hoping that this new setup will be more efficient and significantly less frustrating.
After that, I set up my hammock and my tent and spent the rest of the afternoon switching between reading, journaling, editing photos and videos, and playing guitar.
I thought it would be so nice to have a whole day to just be productive, but also relax at the same time and just hang out with Jack and my hammock, but I learned very quickly, even when I have a handful of things I have access to, like guitar, books, bracelet-making string, and a journal, I still don’t do well when I have too much free time to do all of those things.
After my waterfall hike, I got back to the campsite around 10am and had literally the entire rest of the day to find things to do. The first few hours, I honestly was pretty productive, but after a while, I realized I would have been much better off if I did end up doing another hike so I wouldn’t have had quite so much time to find things to do. Hey, I’m learning!
Around 7:30, I decided to cook dinner and since I had just run out of all my easy-make meals, I had to actually cook something. I decided I would do pasta and grilled bell peppers with olive oil. As my noodles were boiling, I realized the water was starting to turn white and milky. I continued to let them cook, thinking it was fine, but after a minute, I tried the noodles and they tasted pretty nasty, like still a little crunchy, but also kind of mushy, I don’t know, they were just gross. Of course, I mess up on my literal first homemade meal….
I have learned from lots of experience, that I am in no way, shape, or form a chef. I figured the pasta was just bad since it had been in the cabinet at home for who even knows how long. Thankfully, though, I had another box and made a successful pot of pasta. Honestly, with lots of seasoning, it wasn’t a half-bad meal.
Since dinner took so long to cook, it was almost dark when I finished eating. I was honestly pretty tired, so I retreated to my tent, did a bit of video editing and reading, then called it a night.
Day 6:
I woke up around 7 and got camp packed up pretty quickly. I needed to run a few errands, like return a few things, and grab a couple necessities at the grocery store. After my errands were done, I headed back into downtown for more wifi and power at Frothy Monkey. I am not normally one to go back to the same place when exploring a new city, I usually like to find new places, but I was honestly not in the mood to drive around for who knows how long to look for another free parking spot and then walk to a coffee shop where I wasn’t sure if their indoor seating was open or if they had outlets or free wifi. So, I decided to just stick with what I knew and headed back to what I now call my favorite coffee shop in Chattanooga!
I was able to get a good bit of work done and I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch which was a bagel sandwich with eggs, basil, tomato, and feta. Around 4 o’clock, I packed up my stuff and headed to my next destination. I was planning on meeting a friend at Red River Gorge around noon the next day, so I had that afternoon and the next morning to complete the 5-hour drive. I was hoping to drive about two or two and a half hours north so it wouldn’t be too long of a drive the next day, but the only free campsites available were either one hour away or three and a half. I chose the one-hour away one just so I wouldn’t be stuck looking for an unknown campsite in the dark.
Thank goodness I did that because the campsite I found, not too far outside of Knoxville, called Rhea Springs was absolutely incredible! I drove up and was completely blown away by how beautiful it was! It was situated between two massive bodies of water, surrounded by trees, overlooking the mountains in the distance, complete with a dock, a swimming area, and a rope swing!
I drove around the whole area looking for the best campsite, but honestly, they were all pretty incredible, and a good bit of them were already occupied. I picked a good one, right on the water, set up my tent and then threw on my swimsuit. The water felt so incredible! I even made a handful of friends that I hung out with for the next few hours.
After my nice, refreshing dip, I actually took my first shower on the road! Okay, first off, this campsite was free, and second off, they provided free hot showers!! That’s almost unheard of! I have definitely learned to embrace the dirty life, but it honestly feels amazing when you finally get to be clean!
Feeling all squeaky clean, I reheated my leftover pasta from the night before and enjoyed a nice cold beer by the water. Just as I finished dinner, the most incredible sunset started to make its appearance. I grabbed my camera and my gopro and ran to the other side of the campsite to the dock to get an unobstructed view.
Also, surprisingly, I was the only person watching it so I was able to get a bit creative with my tripod. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of being solo so far has been spending literally as much time as I want at any particular area working on my camera skills and working with different angles and settings. It’s been such a fun skill to learn and grow with.
When I was done marveling in the beauty of the sunset, I headed back to camp to work on some video and photo editing. It was a bit hard to focus because the campsites directly to my right and left were family and they literally went back and forth between their campsites probably about a dozen times. The catch was, however, that even though they were literally about spitting distance from each other, instead of walking back and forth, they literally drove. Every. Single. Time. I literally could not believe it. I was torn between being annoyed because it was so distracting and being just completely amused at how crazy it was! Finally, around 11:30, they called it a night and I was able to get some sleep.
Whelp, there you have it, that’s my first week on the road. It’s been a week of highs and lows, excitements and frustrations, and so much more. It’s been a heck-ton of learning and figuring things out and I know that will definitely continue as life on the road continues. So far, I am loving it and I honestly cannot wait to see what else this road trip has in store for me! Jack and I are bonding in so many ways and I am honestly falling more in love with my little home every day!
