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I have already given the summary – that the TN7 was the most pleasant, trouble-free RV trip I have undertaken since the trip west in 2017. There were some highlights and lowlights and I will get to those. But first… the numbers:
14 hops
30 nights
2,150 tow miles (154 miles per hop)
3,290 truck miles
$1,435 in campground fees ($47.83 per night)
Because there were no significant problems you might expect that the actual route would be pretty close to the planned route and you would be mostly right. But I changed my mind about stopping near Philadelphia and was forced to add a second stop in MD.
TN7 segment 1 actual
TN7 segment 1 plan
TN7 segment 2 actual
TN7 segment 2 plan
Highlights:
Almost no RV or truck problems. The lone problem – the check engine light in MD diagnosed as a “glow plug controller fault” was dismissed as a minor cold-weather-only problem that could be ignored. The truck performed flawlessly. Even on the mountain hops it barely broke a sweat.
Seeing my stepsons and their families in VA. The timing of the visit wasn’t great as they were in the middle of moving out of the house they had occupied for 17 years, but they made time for me. As always, a pleasure. And I got to hand-deliver one last box of Jett’s memorabilia to them.
Cartersville GA. I picked this location for its proximity to Atlanta but treasure it now for its proximity to the Booth Western Art Museum and the site of the Civil War’s Battle of Allatoona Pass. Both of these were more memorable than Atlanta.
Second visits to Civil War battlefields in Manassas and Chickamauga.
A really fine Italian spaghetti-and-meatballs dinner in Maryville TN.
A poignant return visit to Pigeon Forge TN.
A lovely lunch with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in 35 years in NC.
Lowlights:
A cracked windshield in VA.
Dodging a possible tornado in MD.
An embarrassing back-in debacle in TN.
A sunburn from that NC lunch.
Obviously the highlights outweighed the lowlights on TN7. This is important as this trip was a test of both the truck and my desire to travel solo. I think it was a success on both counts.
If the trip south in the fall is similarly successful I will seriously consider a full summer of travel – possibly to do the “30 MLB stadiums in one season tour” in 2022.
TN7 wrapup
I have already given the summary – that the TN7 was the most pleasant, trouble-free RV trip I have undertaken since the trip west in 2017. There were some highlights and lowlights and I will get to those. But first… the numbers:
Because there were no significant problems you might expect that the actual route would be pretty close to the planned route and you would be mostly right. But I changed my mind about stopping near Philadelphia and was forced to add a second stop in MD.
Highlights:
Lowlights:
Obviously the highlights outweighed the lowlights on TN7. This is important as this trip was a test of both the truck and my desire to travel solo. I think it was a success on both counts.
If the trip south in the fall is similarly successful I will seriously consider a full summer of travel – possibly to do the “30 MLB stadiums in one season tour” in 2022.
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