It is hot in the south in July. What a revelation. On this second road trip we headed off to Cherokee NC and the Smoky Mountains National Park. The ride from Maggie Valley to Cherokee on 19 is not for the faint of heart when pulling a trailer. It was white knuckle. We checked in at the KOA in Cherokee. We made several trips into the Smoky’s, did the Nantahala Gorge excursion on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad in Bryson City, visited the Cherokee museum, and wandered through all of the shops.

Cherokee KOA

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Beautiful day in the Smokys

Typical view of the mountains

Cabin at Oconaluftee Visitor Center

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

Kram + Nerak getting read to board

Its a long train going through the Nantahala Gorge

Museum of the Cherokee Indians

Our next leg of the road trip was a nice jaunt through beautiful country on great roads (64/74) from Cherokee NC over to Chattanooga TN. We stayed at the KOA Chattanooga North/Cleveland. A very nice KOA that was convenient enough to Chattanooga even though it was probably 30 miles out. We had a pull through (site 50) that was excellent. We really enjoyed Chattanooga and visited the downtown area to see the Tennessee Aquarium. While downtown, we googled “best pizza in Chattanooga” and settled on Community Pie. It was excellent. First time I had Calabrian Chilies on a pizza. They come highly recommend if you like spicy pizza. I couldn’t miss out on the Civil War history in the area so we took in Lookout Mountain, Point Park, and Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. We are a sucker for repetitive billboards, so we didn’t miss Ruby Falls, and it was actually pretty cool and worth every penny.

KOA Chattanooga North – Cleveland TN

Site 50 at the KOA – good site

Tennessee Aquarium

Community Pizza downtown Chattanooga

Ruby Falls

The actual falls in Ruby Falls

Point Park Chattanooga

Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center

The next section of the trip was Chattanooga to Nashville. We stayed at the KOA Nashville, which was very convenient to the Grand Ole Opry which was a bucket list item for us. The KOA couldn’t be any better located. We also took advantage of the shuttle service to downtown and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and the bars on Broadway. It was at Ole Red that I was informed of the fact there is a nationwide wing shortage.  Deep down, I always wondered where all of the chicken wings came from, but it was the first time I ever was educated that there is a wing shortage problem. Loved Nashville, but it was hot.

KOA Nashville

Nerak ready for the Grand Ole Opry

Waiting for the show – Trace Adkins

Center seats top level – not bad

Nerak at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash

Elvis Presley’s Cadillac

Ole Red’s

Pretty mellow on a Wednesday afternoon

We left Nashville and headed up to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. We stayed at the KOA in Horse Cave. Another very nice KOA that was super clean. We had spot 84 and it was a large site and pretty quiet, even with the Interstate 65 just down the hill. Mammoth Cave beat all expectations, but all National Parks beat expectations.

Horse Cave Ky KOA

KOA Horse Cave camp site 84

Mammoth Cave National Park

How the caves were formed

Heading down into the cave

Ranger Guided Tour

Heading up out of the cave

We headed home to North Carolina, and stopped over night at the Jonesbourough Cherokee KOA. That is a hidden gem. I am sure we will be staying there again in our travels.

Jonesborough TN KOA

View from campground

This was a KOA heavy road trip. We stayed 4 nights at the KOA Cherokee, 3 nights at the KOA Chattanooga North, 3 nights at the KOA Nashville, and 4 nights at the KOA Horse Cave KY. I read a lot of opinions on KOA’s, but I personally like them. They are convenient with regards to making a reservation (I like to do reservations online as much as possible), you know what to expect (closeness with your neighbors), and they are very clean, neat, and organized.