Thursday, July 15, 2010
The old song begins, "We're havin' a heat wave, a tropical heat wave," and so it seemed as we arrived
at the Riverpark Campground near Jonesborough, Tennessee. Once again, although the campout was scheduled to begin on Friday, there
were some early arrivals, Jaynes, Thomas, Williams, Johnson, and Murray, with the rig of Jack and Shirley Thomas, this weekend's
hosts, parked in the shade near the Nolichucky river. Their site quickly became our gathering place from which we could watch
rafters, tubers, and funyakers (two-person inflatable canoes) negotiating the rapids. As refreshing as it looked, the river didn't
tempt us.
The Riverpark Campground is small by some standards, with forty-three sites, eleven of which are tent sites. Fourteen sites have full hookups, and the rest have just water and electricity. Not all of the electricity sites have fifty-amp service, so specific information must be given at the time of reservation. Riverpark lies alongside the river and is surrounded by steep, close, high hills and does not offer cable connections. HD television signals do not find their way easily into this valley, and cell phone reception is limited, so would-be campers must be prepared to get away from it all, literally.
In true RV campout fashion, we went to a restaurant for supper. The Rivers Edge BBQ, large and modern-rustic, is part of Cherokee Adventures, the starting point for rafters and funyakers. The food was good, with a variety of bbq plates and sandwiches, hamburgers, and the Southern standby, catfish. Add good service and moderate prices, and outing can be called a success.
No camp adventure can be called complete without a campfire, so, despite the heat, we gathered for one at the Thomas' site. If the weather had been cooler, we would have sat in a circle around the fire, but this time our circle of chairs was off to one side. There was just enough smoke to make it seem right. We were joined by Annie and Darrell Adams, who live nearby and drove in for the evening.
Friday
Another hot day. Fortunately, Joe Jaynes, our president, gave us something
besides the heat to talk about when he related the lesson he learned during his morning misadventure. Shortly after five a.m., he
returned to his rig after an early shower. Dressed in shorts and flip flops, and equipped with only soap and a towel, he discovered
he'd locked his keys inside. Without going into detail, he explained to us that getting forty-inch hips through a considerably
smaller window taught him the importance of hiding a key somewhere outside one's vehicle. We wish we'd been there with cameras to
take pictures of this sheriff's deputy wriggling into a motor home just before dawn's early light.
By midafternoon, with the addition of Adams, Fenelon, Paul, and Hughes, there were nine names hung on the club signboard.
"Potluck" is a favorite word among the Overmountain Sams, and we were a people of joy at this evening's supper. Before this evening's meal we were entertained by Jan Fenelon playing her dulcimer, further evidence of the varied musical talents in our group. Our club has decided that the campout's hosts will provide the main element of the meal, and the rigs' cooks will provide other items, including salads, vegetables and desserts. This evening's main element was ham, and the "the other items" were varied and abundant.
Every campout includes a business meeting, and ours came after supper. The minutes of the meeting have been sent to our members.
We gathered at the Thomas' site for an evening campfire, but the day's heat persisted, so no one objected when the fire part of the gathering was overlooked. Conversations ran from RV specs to recipes, and this was another evening of sharing of things important to our RV community.
Saturday
The light rain during the night did little to cut the humidity, and the
morning air hung heavy and oppressive as some of us made our way to Boomer's Grill, the campground's restaurant, for the breakfast
buffet. Although health-conscious folks might argue the point, Southern health food, with biscuits and gravy, home fries,
scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausages, all accented by coffee and leisurely conversation, seemed a good way to start the day.
Mid-morning and afternoon found some of us playing games, engaging in easy conversations, or napping. All necessary aspects of a weekend were well-covered. Late in the afternoon we witnessed the landing of the Funyaks. A church youth group had rented the rubber boats from Cherokee Adventure and floated, paddled, and otherwise found their way down the river and through the rapids, and their rendezvous point and place to leave the river was near the Thomas' campsite, so we had a good spectator view of the proceedings. Although none of our group took the river trip this year, a look at our club's website for July, 2008, will give you an idea of what it would have been like if.....
The park management prepared a spaghetti supper for us, compete with piano entertainment. The owner had recently acquired an electronic piano and was eager to use it. Very pleasant.
After supper we gathered at the Thomas' site for what turned out to be an evening of music. Jan Fenelon played her dulcimer, and Jack Thomas played his guitar. At least that's what was happening until Joe Jaynes looked skyward and said, "Anyone who walks slowly had better start now." We picked up our chairs and got back to our rigs as the first big drops began falling. The mixed blessing broke up what was promising to be a pleasant evening, but it also broke up the heavy heat.
Sunday
The Thomases had the morning coffee ready, and we gathered in the cool morning air for a continental breakfast of pastries, cake,
and fresh, local cantaloupe. Jane Williams led us in a brief devotional, which included her singing a Gospel song. A good way to
bring our campout to a close.
Drive carefully, camp happily, and don't forget to sign up for the fall Samboree.
Chuck Johnson
Newsletter Editor
